Nupps to You!

I have been a bad blogger this week. However I have been an excellent knitter. I will snap many photos of the many wonderful things I have done a little later. I did manage to get a decent photo of my Nancy Bush sampler bag so you can see my nupps. Man, I feel like should blush when I say that.



Here you can see the braided (Kihnu Troi) cast on, nupps and the lateral (Vikkel) braid. Neat stuff!

Lazy Post

I'm beat and feeling lazy so here's a super quick post.
Have you seen the new Rowan yet? I'm not totally sold on it yet. A little too fashion forward/slutty for my taste.
Have you seen the new Interweave Knits?
Are you interested in making a Go-Everywhere Cardigan? Then hop on over to Elann. They have three new yarns that are the perfect gauge for it.

I finished knitting Lottie/Hottie today. I also finished the front of my GE Cardi. I will cast on the sleeved tomorrow. I cast on for Lola tonight at Stitch 'N Bitch. I'm using some purple Cotton-Ease and it's knitting up nicely.

More tomorrow. 'Night!

A Day of Knitting

I spent my entire day knitting. I took Nancy Bush's Discovering Estonian Knitting workshop today from 10-4:30. I came home and kept working on my sampler bag until I finished it.

I learned so many new techniques. The sampler begins with a Kihnu Troi cast on which is a lovely braided cast on. It was pretty easy to learn and makes such a special edge. Then we learned Nupp, or button, stitch. It's an unusual (to me) slip stitch technique that makes little decorative nubs. (The nupps and Vikkel braid are really hard--okay, impossible--to see in this photo. I'll try to get a better shot tomorrow with some day light.) Then there is a traveling stitch of Vikkel braid, followed by some basic color knitting. Nancy is a thrower (yay!) and demonstrated two color knitting carrying both colors in her right hand. I only fiddled with it for a few minutes and didn't quite get the hang of it. I went back to one color in each hand just to get through that section. The next technique was the two color traveling stitch braid. I had a really hard time with this. It turned out I was doing it right. I just thought I was making some mistake and ripped it out several times. This technique has a lot of pop and has a really crisp edge. The twisted braid is done basically by braiding the three yarns and using slipped stitches to secure them. It's very simple but slow and there is no knitting involved. It also makes a great accent which stands out nicely from the knitting. Then there's the Kihnu Vits which creates yet another braid. This also creates a small bit of patterning above and below it. The large star design was created using Roositud patterning. I'm not really sold on this technique since it seems like a lot of trouble and could just as easily be accomplished with a needle. And lastly I cast off using two colors which creates still another braided effect. Whew. I'm tired. My wrists are really sore from this knitting workout but it was a great class. It was well organized and the hand outs are clear and informative. I think much of the information is in Nancy's three books. She also showed a fringing technique but we all, Nancy included, deemed it a little too 70s. So I skipped it.

Oh yeah. The Fiber Gallery called. I got the job.

Three New Stores, Two Sleeves, One Peeve, a Visit and an FO (and knitting is still sexy)

We all know that there is a knitting explosion going on right now. Here in Seattle we have six yarn shops (Acorn Street, Full Circle, Hill Top Yarn, Seattle Yarn Gallery, Tricoter and Weaving Works). We are getting three more shops in the next few months. There is a new shop opening on Capitol Hill called Stitches which will feature fabric and fiber. It's in a young, funky area. It's next door to Toys in Babeland. The shop where I just interviewed is The Fiber Gallery and it's located in the Greenwood/Phinney Ridge neighborhood. And when I was out for an early birthday dinner with Wes on Monday I saw a shop called So Much Yarn opening in trendy Belltown. Nine yarn shops in a city with under a million people. This should be interesting.

I think I mentioned yesterday that I'm knitting both sleeves for Lottie/Hottie at the same time. So far it's been great but it's occurring to me that by the end when I have 150+ chubby little stitches crammed onto my needles and two long sleeves flapping around it won't be quite as much fun.



I had a little free time between working out this morning (45 long minutes on the elliptical trainer) and picking up my younger son from preschool. I grabbed a (hideously bitter) cup of coffee at a local coffee shop and knit a bit of the second front sides of the GE Cardi. It's just straight stockinette stitch and I can knit it without looking. I was just scanning the coffee shop and found one of my biggest spelling peeves. I am not a great speller. I don't always know the right way to spell a word. But I do know the wrong way when I see it. Chocolate Carmel Hazelnut. I have to assume that this confection does not hail from the fair city by the sea, Carmel, California. No. It was a combination of chocolate, hazelnuts and caramel. Caramel, people, not Carmel. (And, for the record, they were giving out samples of this particular treat and damn! was it good.)

After we got home from preschool I had a message from the listowner of Purlygirls. She was in my neighborhood and wanted to know if I'd like to get together and knit. Heck yeah! I finished feeding my son lunch and put a Zoboomafoo video on. I got to sit and visit, chat and knit. Very nice.

Last night I finished Sherbet Ripple. Here they are.



Rachael has changed her t-shirt design a little. Cute.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and good job interview vibes.

Quick Update

Boy, it's late.
A quick update on what's up with me.
Wednesday was my birthday. My best friend got me the new 1000 Sweaters book. It's cute and I like it but I wish it wasn't written entirely for dk weight yarn. Wes got me a blank journal and the promise of a new MP3 player. We'll see...
Yesterday I finished the front of Lottie/Hottie. Today I finished Sherbet Ripple #2 and knit six inches of the sleeves (knitting at the same time) for L/H.
Today I had my interview for the new yarn store. I think it went very well. Unfortunately the owner doesn't have a lot of hours to fill and has a lot of applicants. I'm hoping my very extensive retail experience (and winning personality) will get me the job.
Now to bed.

No Slacker

I've been working hard and I have proof.
Here's my progress so far on Lottie/Hottie. I finished the back and and most of the front.



It's been sidetracked lately by Sherbet Ripple.



I've barely touched the GE Cardi in the last two or three weeks. I tried to snap a picture but it just looked like a bland brown mass--which is pretty accurate.

I'm taking a workshop with Nancy Bush on Sunday. The supply list is a bit puzzling. It says, "Please bring the following items to class: 1 skein of heavy worsted weight wool (170 yds-100 gram skein) in a light color, and 1/2 skeins of two other colors-- these may be different, for example, red and black or two shades of the same hue, for example, light blue and medium blue. A set of US#4 or #5 double pointed needles, or 16” circular, stitch markers, scissors, and a blunt tipped tapestry needle."

First off, if you're going to specify yardage and weight than you might as well just come out and say what yarn we're supposed to bring. I've been looking and I can't find a yarn that's exactly these stats. Secondly, a size 4 or 5 needle for heavy worsted yarn seems way too small. I think this is a typo for "bring 4 or 5 double pointed needles or a 16" circular." I'm probably going to bring some Lamb's Pride Worsted and size 8 needles and call it good.

Super Sized Weekend

This was a big movie weekend. Wes and I finally watched In the Mood for Love, which we received from Netflix in January. It was lovely. That Wong Kar-Wei really can create atmosphere. Today we had a screening for our film series. We had a hard time getting a film this month and ended up showing Happy Hour. Then tonight I got to see a free screening of a Super Size Me. And the director, Morgan Spurlock, was there for Q&A. It was a great film. It was repulsive. It was beyond repulsive. I was very pleased a few weeks ago when my five year old, out of the blue, was trying to find a toy he got from McDonald's. But since we stopped letting the kids eat there about two years ago he couldn't remember what the restaurant was called. He just remembered the big yellow "M." Progress, I guess.

I worked on the second Sherbet Ripple while I waited on line for the movie. I'm just starting the heel flap. The woman next to me asked if I was knitting or crocheting. Why do people always ask that? Anyway, she wanted to know how long it took to make a pair of socks. Then when I sat down in the theater the woman sitting next to me said, "Oh, you're the knitter from the lobby." I'm famous, I tell ya.

Oh! And I'm going to interview for a job on Thursday at a new knitting shop! Busy, busy, busy.

Weaver's Wool Quarters

Just a quick note since everyone is dying to know. I got the Mountain Colors yarn at my LYS, Acorn Street. I don't know if they have any left. They don't have online ordering but you could give them a call.

Ripple Effect

One Sherbet Ripple done!

The cast on for the second and have finished about 14 rounds or so. This sock is so easy and fun to knit. It's not complicated and doesn't require a lot of attention but it's not just knit, knit, knit ad nauseam either. It's a happy middle ground. And making a sock on 3s is very appealing to me too. I don't enjoy knitting on teeny tiny needles.

Lottie/Hottie is still moving along nicely too. I didn't get a chance to snap a photo of it. I was too distracted by all the new yarn that's been accumulating on my desk. After my online shopping frenzy I announced that someone should restrain me if they saw me about to buy more yarn. Well, let me tell you, not one person has tried to stop me and look what happened!



I found Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters on sale. On sale, people. A mere $9.99 a skein to use to make some lovely socks or gloves. These colorways are Obsidian and Red Tail Hawk. Aren't they lovely?
Then--now this is not my fault--Nanette sent me this Pingouin sock yarn as a thank you for some soap I sent to her.



It looks like there will be many socks in my future.
Now this last one I already confessed. I bought Cotton Ease to make a sweater for a friend's daughter's birthday. The horses were clearly disturbed when more yarn showed up on the desk.

Knitting is Sexy

I accidentally posted the link to Rachel's cool Cafepress shop all by itself the other day. We already know that knitting is sexy but in case you want to inform others you can go stock up. I, of course, discovered that some other people also find knitting sexy...

After Stitch 'N Bitch last night I realized that I forgot a decrease row in Lottie (should I call it Hottie? Damn, I'm bad at this nickname thing). I pretty much had to rip out everything I did when I was out last night. I managed to reknit most of it this morning. One of the knitters I met last night told me that Lion Brand Cotton Ease has the same gauge as Cotton Angora. Woohoo! I've been wanting to try it so I got some in the lilac color to make a sweater for a friend's daughter.

Today I taught knitting to some students at my son's elementary school. The school nurse had decided to try to teach the older (4th and 5th grade, I think) students in the Bilingual Orientation Center how to knit. She made needles for all of them out of dowelling and Fimo clay. Some of the kids just don't seem to have the manual dexterity yet to manage both needles. A few kids really got the hang of it but mostly they were adding stitches like crazy, dropping stitches and making holes. None of them speak English very well so it was difficult to give clear instructions. I'll try to get back in there to help some more in the next few weeks.

Sherbet Ripple

It seems like most knitbloggers are not content to call a pattern by it's given name. They rename them to claim them and make them their own. I think I'm too lazy for that. In a half-hearted effort to create a unique title for my current socks I came up with Sherbet Ripple. Thrilling, isn't it? Why can't I come up with cute names like Pumpkin Fluff or Roguesberry? Ah well.

Sherbet Ripple is growing rapidly. This sock is fun to knit. I love working on two circulars. I was up past one last night turning the heel. I couldn't put the damn thing down all day.



I finished the back of Lottie and am 40 rows into the front. It looks pretty grey and dull in the photos. I'll try to find a way to make it look more exciting.

And come up with a cool name.