Jaded, Like Me

At TNNA I noticed so much cool jewelry on the attendees. Melissa LaBarre has purchased beautiful cloth flower and bead asymmetrical necklaces* for herself and co-author Cecily Glowik MacDonald. She told me she got them on Etsy so when I got home I searched for "flower necklace." I didn't find the same necklaces but when I saw this one I let out a little squeak.



Plus it was called Jaded Birdie. And it was, in my opinion, very inexpensive. It's available now with free earrings! Check out the sellers shop.

*Thanks for the link, Melissa.

Start of Summer

The Seattle Schools let out on Tuesday. I took a few days off work and spent the balance of the week at home with the boys doing not terribly interesting things like getting them new sneakers and jeans. Because of bad planning (mine) and a bad tummy (not mine) we ended up having to make two separate journeys to the mall. We rounded out the weekend with a trip down to see Wes's parents while his brother, uncle, aunt and cousin were visiting, hosting a sleepover (younger son, going to a birthday party (also younger son) and taking George to two dog training classes.

I did manage to finish the second sleeve on Lloie's Cardigan and start the body.



My hope is to finish this in time for Knitting Camp which is startlingly soon.

Last night, to keep older son from disturbing younger son's sleepover, I watched Jaws with him. He's not like me. He doesn't scare easily. Watching it with him was just like watching Lord of the Rings with him--and endless barrage of questions. "Is he going to die?" "Do they get eaten?" "Are they all going to die?" In the end he declared the movie awesome. Which it is. But I doubt he'll be going swimming in the ocean any time soon.

Muppety Fun at the Webbys

Plus there's Ira Glass, OK Go and Zach Galafianakis.

Knitscene Preview

It's up. Congrats to Romi for landing the cover!
I'm seeing a lot of very knittable, wearable designs here. The Brise-Soleil Cardigan combines one of my favorite lace stitches with one of my favorite yarns, Portland Tweed.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

The videos of the fall fashion show from TNNA are up now on Youtube. I have selected a few to highlight what I felt were the most "Thursday" of the offerings.

If you jump to 8:09 you will see a sweater desperately in need of a set of Neuticles. Someone prop up those shoulders!



Here at 2:55 is a sweater called the "Clown Cardigan." That's the actual name. I am not just being cruel and calling it that.



Clown Cardigan. Really.

Celtic Bunny Hat

Pattern: Celtic Bunny Hat by Michelle Camancho
Yarn: Toots le Blanc 60/40 Angora Blend
Needle: US3 Addi Turbo
Notes: I don't know why this took me forever to knit but it's lovely.

Mondo Cable Cardi

Pattern: Mondo Cable Cardi
Needles: US7 and 5 Addi Turbos
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade
Notes: This is a smidge too small. I'm still wearing it but leaving it open.

Hey, Hey, Hey!

We all went to see Bill Cosby perform at Benaroya Hall tonight. We'd never seen him perform live and figured the chance of seeing him again were slim. The performance was really hilarious and wonderful, like spending time with an old friend.

On the way to the theater Younger Son asked, "What does Bill Cosby look like now?"
Older son replied, "Like Nelson Mandela. But funnier."

Overprivileged?

We went for breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Older son saw a small dish of whipped butter on the table. With excitement in his eyes he pointed and asked, "Is that Mascarpone?"

TNNA Part 2

Saturday is the first day the show is open. There are 15 or so aisles of booth to check out. I'm always looking for something new and interesting. Sometimes it's a new vendor; sometimes it's a known vendor with new products. I had to skip a lot of booths on my first pass because they were swamped. Madelinetosh has two (maybe three booths) this year. Last year they had just one little booth. It was absolutely packed.

Random stuff that I saw that I'm excited about (but did not necessarily buy):

• Bijou Basin has teamed with Lorna's Laces to create their first dyed yarns. Up to now they've only sold naturally colored yak yarns.
• Swans Island had the most gorgeous organic merino yarn that is naturally dyed. It felt divine and the colors were lovely. However, at $30/220 yard skein of worsted, I don't think it's viable in my shop.
• Imperial Stock Ranch has a great story. They also have fabulous yarn that has an undefinable wonderfulness to it. The Columbia 2-ply is minimally processed and spun on an 1860s mule spinner. It's plump, robust and has loads of character but is still wonderfully soft. I can't wait for this yarn to arrive at the shop.
• Books, books, books! So many great new books are coming this summer and fall. Cookie A's long-awaited Knit. Sock. Love. is due out in November, New England Knits from Cecily Glowik MacDonald* and Melissa LaBarre comes out next month, The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book: 26 Patterns Celebrating Four Decades of American Sweater Style is full of retro-fabulous designs, More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts is bound to be a monster hit, Miriam Felton's Twist and Knit will be available soon. There are many, many other titles coming up.
• Namaste has a new urban, unisex line coming out with the Hip Holster and a new messenger bag. You can see them here.
• Elsebeth Lavold is bringing out Silky Wool in an aran-weight. The colors are gorgeous.

The biggest splash at TNNA this year was made by Ysolda Teague. She had a block of four booths in which she created a parlor with tables, chairs and a sofa. She was there to promote her new book due out this fall. In her booth you could try on the sweaters and have your photo take in her photobooth. She served tea and cupcakes each day at three. It was delightful and definitely where all the cool kids were hanging out.

I'm leaving out a million things but it's all a blur at this point. The Ravelry folks did a great tumblr that is really worth checking out.

*check out Cecily's cool new sweater, Goodale. She was wearing it at the show. It's really lovely with clever construction.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Thursday Checklist

Mishmash of textures check
Mishmash of patterning check
Sickly color check
Poorly Photoshopped background check
Appearance that the models shoulders, boobs and stomach are sloooooowly sliding toward her crotch check

Part One

Wes kindly took Younger Son to school so I can start attempting to assemble my thoughts on TNNA. Overall it was a great show. There was a much higher energy level than the last few shows I've attended. Attendance also seemed quite high. In fact when the show opened I headed to the first row of booths (I wanted to walk through the entire show before making any purchasing decisions) I couldn't get into most of the booths. So I hurried ahead and looped back around later.

When I went to my first TNNA it was also the first show that Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather from Ravelry attended. A lot of people still hadn't heard about Ravelry, weren't using it, etc. Now they are heavily involved with the show. They hosted an ice cream social on Firday night after the fashion show that was absolutely mobbed. I waited in line for at least an hour for ice cream. They also put together a very cool Tumblr and Twitter feed called Hello TNNA with snapshots and videos from the show floor.

Friday is for classes. This year TNNA offered a new set of mini-classes called TIPs, which is an acronym for something I can't remember. (Trends, informations, products? Something like that.) There was a series of half-hour sessions, with a wide selection of sessions for each time slot. Some were informational. For instance, I attended one in which Norah Gaughn and Cirilia Rose presented a slideshow of Berroco's fall books and explained the new yarns. Some were instructional, Clover was doing sessions to teach Tunisian crochet. I attended a session presented by Alpaca with a Twist about easy class ideas. I also went to a presentation by Beth Casey of Lorna's Laces about creating custom colorways. I had the most fun in Ysolda Teague's presentation about her new book due this fall, Little Red in the City. You can see some gorgeous preview photos here. The sweaters are all presented twice in the book. Once in Ysolda's size and once in a plus size with information about modifications. She asked for some plus-size volunteers to try on some of the sweaters and I very happily obliged. The designs are all really lovely and I can't wait for the book to come out. I pre-ordered a big pile for the shop.

Friday evening is Sample It! During this event, that only buyers can attend, vendors offer a sample product or small selection of products at wholesale or slightly below. The original idea is that it allows you try a product out and see if you'd like to bring it into your shop. I believe the reality is more that buyers use it as an opportunity to get cool stuff for themselves that they wouldn't normally stock. Namaste always sells a bundle with one of their bags and accessories and their table is deluged with buyers. And if you look around the show floor most of the buyers--myself included--are carrying Namaste bags.

After that comes the fashion show. It's always quite a mixed bag. Last year's was so long I thought it would never end. This year I was smart and ate some dinner beforehand. It was also a much shorter show. The trends I saw repeated quite a lot in the show were cables, lace, bobbles, drapey cardigans, boxy vests and the color burnt sienna.

On Saturday the show opens and it's eight hours of walking the floor and learning about all the lines and products.

More later!

Home from TNNA

I may have to turn in my blogger card. I spent five days in Columbus looking at yarn, patterns and accessories and talking to the people who create them and I didn't take a single picture. Honestly, not one.

The show was great and I do have several things I'm feeling pretty excited about. But I have a ten year old who needs to go to school so I'll have to start filling you in later.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

I'm trying to imagine the thought process that went into this.


Cons

Distasteful

Tacky

Pros

Keeps can from sweating

Keeps drink cold

BOOBS!

Make your own.
Previous crocheted boobs.

One More for the NPR Fans Out There

Batman, Take Over!

I'm busy/distracted/anxious because I leave for TNNA tomorrow morning. One the one hand TNNA is a big yarny party and all the cool kids will be there. On the other hand I have a lot of work to get done when I'm there. It stresses me out worrying that I either won't get enough done or I won't have a chance to see people I only get to see at TNNA. It looks like there might be some really exciting things this year. I'll give a full report when I get home.

In the meantime my older son and I had a really good time reading through the tweets of @God_Damn_Batman. Our favorite so far.

WIP It

There is progress being made. My Mondo Cable Cardi needs only half a sleeve and the collar. I finished the cabled band for the Celtic Bunny Hat.


Click for more fuzziness!

I started this charity scrap hat while at Secret of Kells a few weeks ago. It's pretty obvious it was knit in the dark.



My restarted for the sixth time Lloie's Cardigan is working out well. I finally got the gauge I was aiming for and now have a good hunk of sleeve.



I knit most of this last night at the final season bout of the Rat City Rollergirls. Erin put together an outing for a group from Purlygirls. It was so much fun! Key Arena was full and the match between Grave Danger and the Sockit Wenches was incredible. I just watched Whip It a few weeks ago so I was primed. I will definitely go again. It was a seriously good time. Now I need to watch the documentary about RCRG called Blood on the Flat Track. It's available on Watch Instantly on Netflix.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

It's never too early to start your holiday knitting. I know it's only June but December will be here before you know it and won't you feel the fool if you haven't completed your holiday version of the Yarngina by then.



Previously: Yarngina 2.0

I Bought One Anyway

Making Errands Fun

I wish I had seen this full set of Sesame Street Envirosax before last week. I bought the Oscar bag and I love it. It's huge and holds a ton of stuff. Plus it makes me smile. And, according to the official Sesame Street Twitter-stream, today is Oscar's birthday!