a dillydallyknitter

Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday: Seeing Red

It's been a long week at work and I was to0 tired to make it to Knit Night, but I can prop myself up long enough to finally post my my haul from Stitches.


My very first purchase was a sweater's worth of yarn at the Black Water Abbey booth to make the Swing Coat pattern. It was like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Coat because the display model seemed to fit everyone who tried it on and it looked good on everyone who tried it on.



Black Water Abbey
2-ply Worsted
Colorway: Haw



And the buttons. Because buying buttons for an actual project will mean I'll actually knit it. Actually all four of us bought yarn to make various coats and jackets so maybe they'll hold me too it.



I also managed to fight the mob of crazed knitters and grab a skein of Socks That Rock heavy weight Rare Gems.


I had to. It's rare.


I also treated myself to Ernst glass circular needles. The seller had walked up to Josie while we were waiting for the Market to open and handed her a pair and had her take them for a test knit and we all knit a row and they were so pretty and smooth. Well that, and because LeftCoastknitter bought some and honestly, if she jumped off a cliff I probably would too.


Unfortunately, some woman snapped up the all red ones but I was happy to take these:



The final yarn purchase I'll blame on Josie and Knitpsycho because it's easier to do that than take responsibility for an unplanned yarn purchase. They wanted to "stop by" the Webs booth to check out the Valley Yarns. I normally don't go to the Webs booth because it's usually jammed packed and the line to purchase stuff is so long. So I wandered around while they were taking notes on the Valley yarns and looking through Nora Gaughn pattern books so I was wandering aimlessly through the aisles when I saw it and my heart stood still.

madelinetosh.


"Gee, thanks Mika, do you mind? I'm trying to photograph some yarn here."


The first time I saw madelinetosh in the wild was at the Skein lane retreat last year when I saw purlsjustwannahavefun knitting on her February Lady. It was love at first feel. I wanted to grab the sweater and run but she's so nice.


They had it in red. A whole sweaters worth and add on top the Webs discount and I weakened.


toshworsted
100% superwash wool
colorway: Vermillion


Can you blame me?

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posted by cpurl17 @ 6:57 AM   15 comments

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Sweet Saturday

My sister often taunts me with photographs of yummy cupcakes she gets at her LCS (local cupcake store) so today I get to return the favor. This one's for you Casey!

A few days before Stitches, I actually finished a knitted object that wasn't a dishcloth. It's the Gathered Scarf knit out of a skein of A Verb For Keeping Warm Alpaca Silk yarn that I bought at Lambtown last year:

Pattern: Gathered Scarf
Yarn: A Verb for Keeping Warm Alpaca Silk 70% baby alpaca 30% silk
Needles: Size 7 & size 4 needles

The yarn feels good against my skin and I love wearing it. One skein was the perfect amount to make one long scarf:


It's the simplest of patterns but I liked knitting it so much that I bought some kidsilk haze at the Purlesence booth at Stitches in a dark teal shade to knit a second one.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 3:06 PM   13 comments

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Stitches '09, Part II

I took a couple of classes at Stitches this year. *LeftCoastKnits suggested the first one -- "Backyard Birds", a needle felting class taught by Sharon Costello. I was skeptical at first but I should have known better than to be skeptical of a class that LCK would suggest because it was SO much fun!

Here LCK is sewing the bead eyes onto my bird for me because my eyeball sewing skillz are not so great:

I made a chickadee (or attempted to) and LCK made an adorable Blue Bird. Christmas ornaments anyone?


Then on Saturday we learned that:

毛糸 = wool
編む = knitting
棒針 = knitting needle
ゲージ= gauge

in an all day class called "Understanding Japanese Knitting Patterns" taught by Gayle Roehm. The class was both interesting and informative and we both left feeling inspired. I'm not sure I'm ready to attempt a complicated Aran but I'd like to try something basic, like a simple cardigan or hat.

Actually, LCK didn't need the class--she was wearing a hand crochet and knit cardigan that she made out of cashmere from a Japanese knitting pattern! I was with her all day and neglected to take a decent photograph of her so will have stalk her with my camera. Here we are at the Saturday night Student Banquet.

Josie, KnittingPsycho,Beadknit and LCK.

And here she is modeling it at the Student Fashion show with commentary by the colorful and flamboyant Rick Mondragon, editor of Knitters magazine:

Since it's WIP Wednesday, here's a shocker: I'm actually using yarn I acquired at Stitches to make a sweater. The pattern has become so ubiquitous that I won't even mention the name but there were many pretty versions at Stitches, including Irishgirlieknits. Josie and Knitpsycho and Beadknit are going to make one too.

Below is the gauge swatch in Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks That Rock Heavyweight in the Jasper colorway:

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:00 PM   15 comments

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Warm Up to Stitches

Every year, a week or so before Stitches, Mama C hosts Yarn Swap and Knitting Frenzy Potluck at her gorgeous home. The usual suspects were there:



Sunbny & J.


Knitpsycho & LeftCoastKnits



Yarn to be swapped


The frenzy begins...

I ended up taking 2 balls of Kaffe Fasset kid/silk by Rowan, 2 skeins of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille, 7 balls de Tiber New Angora (50%) and 5 balls of Wonderwool in red.
I also finished my February Monthly Dishcloth Midmonth KAL:

It's the Circle Cloth and I used Peaches N Creme Fiesta on a Peaches N Cream yellow background.

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posted by cpurl17 @ 5:20 PM   11 comments

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Countdown to Stitches

Next week is Stitches West....it's like waiting for Christmas! One of our knitting friends will have booth there Snicklefritz Yarns(#637) and I'm super excited for her. She's a scientist and the colors she comes up are gorgeous colors. Her blog is here.

Last Spring when we were training for the 3-day walk, she showed up with big bag of yarn colors she was playing with and we all played at naming the colors. She held up a skein and I blurted out "Gnome Running Through the Forest Naked"! Well, she's perfected the colorway (the naked part got dropped but we know he is, wink) :




I can't wait to knit a pair of socks with it.

She'll be there with Pigeonroof Studios and they'll also have designs by Kira K so it's going to be a fabulous booth!

###



Last weekend I dragged Left Coast Knitter out to run some errands with em and we had lunch at Chow in Lafayette. Perfect comfort food.

We split a side order of mac n cheese.

Sadly it wasn't as good as it looks (not enough cheesy richness) but we inhaled it anyway. The BLT & Avocado sandwich and fries I had was delicious.


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posted by cpurl17 @ 9:09 PM   11 comments

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Back From Stitches

Tired. Broke. Happy.

More to come but here are a couple of highlights:

I got to take a class with Nancy Bush and got to see and fondle all those vintages socks in real life.



At a booth promoting the Mother Bear Project, I saw my own bear as a "booth bear" before taking her trip to Africa:

LeftCoastKnitter was the enabler. Signature needles with stilletto tips. Too pretty and smooth to resist:


The long line to the Friday night Fashion Show. Like the line to get into Stitches. Or the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. Or the woman's room during the breaks. My lucky totem:


And I may, just may, finally have a few skeins of yarn to show off in upcoming YPFs!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 7:49 PM   17 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?



More Stitches Yarn!
Once I got into the Stitches Market Preview I got sidetracked by the Foxy Knits booth (aka the Koigu Booth) but quickly moved over to the Bay Area Knit Co-Op's booth to check out Cookie A.'s new yarn and patterns up close. The patterns are even more amazing and beautiful in real life. Her skeins were already flying off the rack but I managed to nab two skeins and and also picked up two of her patterns, Gothic Spire and Twisted Flower.


The colorways are nameless but I think the colors speak for themselves:




I got this skein because some fool someone one put it back long enough for me to nab it with lightening fast Kung Fu speed:




Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
Cpurl stole the cookie from the cookie jar!

Who me? Yes, you!
Couldn't be!
Then who?


Cary stole the cookie from the cookie jar ...

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posted by cpurl17 @ 12:00 AM   7 comments

Sunday, February 25, 2007

I Survived Stitches West

...But My Wallet Didn't

XRX had a photobooth where you could send a e-postcard home. This is a tired & broke me after a 6-hour class on Saturday:

I had so much fun! I hung out with Ceallach and *LeftCoast Knitter and B, a blogless friend from knitting group. I didn't meet any Knittyheads (that I know of) but there were people there from all over the country. Sadly, they didn't allow photographs from the Market floor so I abandoned my camera in the hotel room and forgot about it and missed my chance to take some group photos.

I took only two classes this time: Toe Up Socks Your Way taught by Merike Saarniit and Fair Isle Knitting taught by Candace Eisner Stick. Both teachers were very knowledgeable and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed both classes and walked away with new skills so it was money and time well spent.

Stitches held a 2-hour Market Preview on Thursday night for students & teachers and it's definitely worth going to since so many yarns and tools sell out quickly. Mostly it's a madhouse. Hundreds of knitters walking around with zombie eyes on complete sensory overload.

I'm saving my yarn posts for future YPFs but over the 3 days I was there, I did pick up a few things, like some cute freshwater pearl stitch markers ($8 bucks!)

Some teeny tiny sterling silver markers (great for socks or lace). And modeled by one of the ebony Lantern Moon Sock Stix I picked up to try (they come in a cute little bag):
I also picked up a couple of the new Addi Turbo lace circulars. The tips are sharper so I can't wait to try them. By Saturday these were sold out.

At the Fashion Show banquet on Friday night our table was having a bad luck streak on winning a door prize when suddenly the presenter called out ticket number "5-Oh-9"! It was me! I won a Duo Nocturne hand tooled leather tote bag! It's super huge and I kept getting stopped by knitters who wanted to pet it.
One cool thing about Stitches is meeting all the crafters and teachers who produce the patterns, books and products I lust after. At one point, LCK put me on a NO MORE sock yarn ban which was abandoned when we found the Fleece Artist. So here's my yarn haul:

Black Water Abbey (8 skeins + a pattern)

Fleece Artist

Lisa Souza (She was there!! I ran into the beautiful Nathania who was there with my fav LYS, Purlescence)

Ceallach Dyes (Busy woman: she looked great, is about to start a new & exciting job and was debuting her yarn at Full Thread Ahead's booth!!)

Cookie A. (Cookie was there too with her fabulous sock patterns (the girl needs to write a book) and her stuff pretty much sold out on Thursday night.)

Yarnplace (a local woman who produces gorgeous lace yarn)

Blue Moon Fiber Arts (they had one of the longest lines on Thursday night and people kept coming over to ask us what the fuss was all about. They must not have an internet connection.)

I guess I didn't do too badly. Some woman pull mini carts on wheels to haul their purchases around in. My favorites from last year, Brooks Farm and Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm had beautiful yarns again but I didn't find any in my colors. Now I just need the time to knit up the sweater, 12 pair of socks and shawl that this yarn is intended for!

I also bought 3 books. I'm not sure what crack they put in the water that makes you stand in line and pay full price for books at the Yarn Barn that you can buy cheaper online but it happens. I even renewed my Knitters magazine subscription so I could get a free circular needle tote case.

All in all, I had a great time and can't wait for next year!!

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posted by cpurl17 @ 10:08 AM   11 comments

Thursday, February 22, 2007

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

Hi. Gangsta kitties here. It seems we've been abandoned for a few days while the Maid goes to something called Stitches West.

I'm sure she'll spend our kitty inheritance money on more yarn so stay tuned for future Yarn Pr0n Fridays. In the meantime she asked us to show you this:
Moutain Colors Bearfoot in Juniper. She mumbled something about how they'll be perfect for Socktopia's March theme.


She'll be back in a few days. Meanwhile we're off to rip up the sofa....

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posted by cpurl17 @ 3:47 PM   5 comments