All About Knitting

 I am not going to whine about my job in this post (though, I certainly have enough material to do so!). This week, I had a knitting victory: I finished a sweater that actually fits me! All my previous attempts were on the small side.

It's on the big side, but it works for this layering piece. I also think I'm going to add buttons so it hangs more evenly. It has i-cord edging, which was easy to do, but very hard to join in pattern. This is the first seamed sweater I've knit, and I have to admit that the first side I seamed is a bit wonky.

The yarn is buttery soft Shepherd's Wool. It is 100% wool and 0% itch. However, like most soft yarns, it pills. I'm OK with that, since I can't tolerate most wools. I only take it off to sleep because I am so in love with it!

The pattern is the Adult Modular Cardigan. I'm linking the pattern here because it's really hard to find on Ravelry: Adult Modular Cardigan Jacket.

I've already picked out my next sweater: Porto, made with Berroco Medina, which has no wool.

The stashing could get pretty bad around here. Sunset Yarn just opened its doors a half mile from my house. It is in the cutest building:

It is absolutely adorable inside, too, but it's not like I can really hang out in there at this point. It's Madison's only yarn shop at the moment, so I hope she makes it through the pandemic. Plus, the owner is super nice.

Fortunately, I needed yarn. My daughter wants a pair of gray mittens, and I didn't have anything appropriate in my stash, so I picked up some Rowan worsted

Moving from Miami to Denver is a big change. I know her hands get cold, so I'm making her stranded mittens. 

Sadly, I will be working much of the weekend. But I do need to find some time for those mittens!

Persians, Yarn, and Art

If you haven't been to Thunder Bay, Ontario -- and you probably have not -- then you are unlikely to know that a pink-frosted pastry called a Persian is the official food of this city on Lake Superior. We wanted to taste the best so we headed to:

I know, it looks modest, but this is one fine pastry. The frosting recipe is a closely guarded secret, but it is fabulous -- tastes a bit like strawberries.

The name for the pastry comes from General Pershing, not the Persia of the Middle East.

The pastry -- and The Persian Man -- fit this down-to-Earth city perfectly. It is very much a city of the Upper Midwest, struggling with loss of industry but scrappy and making a come-back. It has lots of fun little art galleries, which we toured. 

And then there is yarn!

Who can resist a store with this sign outside?

Olives and Bananas is named after the owner's children's favorite foods. Cute, huh? Definitely an unusual name for a fiber shop. This darling downtown store is filled with colorful yarns, but I wanted local yarn -- and I found it:

This is a Fire Fly Fibre Arts kit for a shawl designed by Fire Fly owner and dyer, Maggie Erickson. The kit contains the yarn for a Fringe Frenzy Shawl, which I fell in love with as soon as I set eyes on the store sample. Maggie lives and works in Thunder Bay, so this is perfect souvenir yarn -- and thus does not count as stash yarn.

On our way back to Grand Marais, we stopped at the Thunder Bay Art Museum, where we saw an amazing exhibit of the art of indigenous artist Christi Belcourt.
Her paintings are incredibly beautiful -- and reflect her deep love of her people and the Earth.

She is very concerned with proposed oil and gas pipelines that could affect waterways and has made some stunning banners to convey her concerns:

Do check out her website, which I linked above. I admire so much the way she has combined her talent with real world issues.

Now, to end on a sweeter note. I have a sort of obsession with candy bars you can't buy in the States, so we had to stop at a convenience store, where I picked up a few of my favorites:

You might guess that the Coffee Crisp is my favorite. I'm wondering why I only bought two? Calories? Silly me.

As we came back into the States, the customs agent asked us, "Are you bringing back anything purchased in Canada?

"Yes," I replied, "five candy bars and three Persians."

He had a good laugh.

The Day Before Surgery

So, the timeline here is a bit wacky. Surgery will do that to you. I had my surgery yesterday and it went well. I'm home recuperating, but on quite a few pain meds -- so you can't hold me responsible for any spelling or grammar errors!

I did some yarny retail therapy on the afternoon before my surgery. Knit Circus has a new retail shop, which I hadn't visited before. As I told the clerk there, "I figured this was a good time to buy some yarn because my husband can hardly complain when I'm about to have surgery."

Of course the new store is bigger and thus better than the original. So much amazing yarn! Owner Jala Spiro and her crew have amazing color sense and they come up with the most surprising and beautiful gradients. I was only going to buy one, but ended up with two. I justified this because I'm using both in shawls that will also eat up some stash yarn. I know: I'm way too good at justifying yarn purchases!

The skein on top is going to be part of a Free your Fade. I've been wanting to do a Fade. A completed Find your Fade was on display at the store and it is more blanket than shawl. The Free your Fade suits my taste better. The second skein is going to become an On the Spice Market, like the one here.

Although, the more I look at the finished shawl, the less sure I am that my skein is right for the project. No problem. I'm sure I can find a pattern for that beautiful skein. 

Knit Circus has an online store, too, so don't feel left out because you're not here in Madison.

Before I left school Wednesday, a couple of my students came to say goodbye to me Wednesday afternoon, and they brought me this:

There are some things about work I don't miss. But I do miss "my" kids.

Reading, Listening &Knitting

It is supposed to start snowing any moment, and I'm hoping for more than the 3 to 5 inches that have been predicted. Maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow! I'm pretty sure every teacher in southern Wisconsin has his or her fingers crossed right now.

I'd love to stay home and read. Right now I am loving both the books on my bedside table.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry is written in modern English but has the feel of a Victorian novel and is set in 1890s England. There are rumors of a serpent, as well as a widow with a socially conscious friend, her autistic son, and a bevy of other intriguing characters.

I've been waiting for Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein to come out in paperback. The book tells the story of what happened in the city of Janesville, Wis., after GM closed a huge plan there. I grew up in Beloit, just 15 minutes from this plant. Beloit was always Janesville's poor sister city because we never had a plant like the GM monster in Janesville. Back in the '70s, tons of my schoolmates were happy to head for those great union jobs rather than college. Of course, I want to know the rest of the story.

As for listening, I am still making my way through Prairie Fires, about the life and times of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Lane. The real story is so much darker and more complex than the rosy world set out in the Little House books. I'm listening to this on Audible, and it's perfect for knitting.

And then there's knitting.

I decided to make this hat after a sock I made from this yarn just didn't feel right. The yarn is Cascade Heritage Prints, and the sock was stiff and kind of small. I also wasn't happy with the striping. But, I love the way this hat is looking. 

Best of all, this is a stash-buster. That sock has been sitting in my basket for a couple of years.

A Sin, A Vow, and Other Stuff

 One party down and one to go for the weekend. The Special Ed Department at my school has an epic holiday party every year -- and last night it did not disappoint. We do a hilarious White Elephant Exchange. I schemed to get the item I wanted, but can't show it yet as it's a gift.

So, on to the sin:

I swear this is the last skein of yarn I'm buying until 2019. OK, I am making an exception for my guild's Knit-In and the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. But that's it! I've decided that 2018 needs to be the year of stash busting. It's not like I don't have plenty of yarn right here.

The little needle has been busy, too. Now there are two bird in my Happinest cross stitch. This will be a holiday gift in 2018! This shows an unusual level of organization for me.

And I've been photographing jewelry for my poor neglected Etsy store. There are some really cute knitting earrings, like these:

If you have a minute, check them out at www.etsy.com/shop/caffeinegirl1.

Enjoy your weekend!

It's Thursday Already?

How did that happen? This week is just flying by. Work has been busy, but mostly enjoyable. High school students are generally a lot of fun to work with.

I do try to get in a little knitting before and after work, and this has allowed me to finish one of my Knitvent projects and start another. Here is my completed Land of Sweets cowl, made from left-over sock yarn and a ball of KnitPicks Hawthorne:

 I have to admit that I am very pleased with it. I will try to get Keith to take picture of me wearing it this weekend.

I immediately cast on another Knitvent project, the Tchaikovsky Hat in a skein of Sun Valley Fibers DK that I've had for a couple years. 

It seems like it is going to go fast, and will go in the gift bin. I rarely wear green, even though I like it. I mean, who doesn't like green? 

At any rate, I am so glad that I joined Knitvent, and I won't be surprised if I end up knitting all six projects in the next year.

For now, I'm looking forward to the weekend, but also kind of dreading it. Two holiday parties! This requires more energy than I usually have during the school year. I'm determined to make them both. After that, things will calm down and I'm hoping for a restful break over the holidays.

Advent Isn't Just About Christmas

Being a Jewish girl, I tend to tune out Christmas projects such as Helen Stewart's Knitvent. But then I saw Deb's post about the Land of Sweets Cowl, and I fell in love. Not only is it a gorgeous knit, but it is perfect for stash-busting.

Here are the scrap yarns I'm starting with. I have no idea if they are going to be enough, but in a squeeze I could force myself to buy more yarn! There is yarn that is designed just for the cowl, if you don't feel like stash-busting.

So, with ANOTHER cast-on coming up, I felt obliged to pick up a WIP, and what is more perfect for the season than a wool hat? This one is Snawheid by Kate Davies, knit in KnitPicks Telemark, a yarn that sadly has been discontinued.

Telemark was similar to Jamieson & Smith that Davies calls for, but more affordable! It softens with use, so I love the stuff. But I am almost out of the supply I bought years ago.

It's a cold weekend here. But I'm not complaining. It is perfect weather for cleaning and baking. Then this afternoon, we are celebrating Thanksgiving with Keith's family. 

Oh, the weekends just fly by!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while, but starting school and getting through the High Holy Days is just exhausting!

As always, I enjoyed the holidays. I try to make them peaceful and reflective, which would be easier if I didn't host the Break Fast that ends Yom Kippur. I fed around 35 people this year -- some of whom had fasted for 25 hours.

My friend Richard makes the most beautiful -- and delicious -- challahs.

We are having a gorgeous fall -- thanks, no doubt -- to global warming. The most exciting part is that I can bike again, now that the scar from my surgery is healed. And the fall flowers are stunning.

I know I swore not to buy any yarn or cast on any new projects, but I have finished a few things, so I gave in when I saw a sample of a ZickZack Scarf at an LYS. Here's my new beginning:

Besides, it seems only right to start a new project at the beginning of the new year! The yarn is Lang Mille Colori Baby. It feels like it's very thin sock yarn, almost lace. This is going to take FOREVER, but I think it will be worth it.

I hope to get back in the blogging groove. Work has just been overwhelming! Many days I'm at school from 7:30 to 5:30 without even a break for lunch. I feel really lucky to work at a great school where the staff is amazing and the students are diverse and interesting. I like my work -- there's just too much of it!

I Swore I Wouldn't Buy Yarn

In fact, I walked past two yarn stores in my first few days in Copenhagen and didn't even consider going inside.

But then one day I went to what turned out the be the worst, most depressing flea market ever. Used shoes and clothes, mostly.  At one point, I glanced across the street and saw this:

It was just such a cheerful sight that I had to go in. And the inside could not have been more cozy or inviting:

The store mostly carried Drops, a brand I've heard of but never encountered. As far as I can tell, it isn't widely available in the United States. Well, it is beautiful, affordable stuff. I spent way too much time fondling all the various blends.  And we all know where that leads!

Yes, I bought a couple skeins. These two beauties, which will likely become a pair of fingerless mitts some day, cost less than $10. No kidding. On the off chance that I ever run out of yarn, I'll be looking for more Drops.

The store was different from the stores I'm used to here. For one thing, there were tons of sweater-quantity bags ready to be bought. Also, there were very few needles for sale and no accessories, like stitch markers. Maybe Danes are minimalists in their knitting, too!

There was more unknitting than knitting in Copenhagen. Here is the beginning of an Almondine Sock.  I was halfway through the heel flap when I realized I had misread the directions and had not divided the stitches correctly for the heel. I frogged the flap and tried to pick up the stitches. Too many dropped stitches! I went all the way back and cast on again.

Not surprisingly, I'm reading The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, a Londoner who moved to Denmark when her husband got a job at Lego. Russell is a journalist and an excellent writer. The book is both amusing and interesting.

I just have to point out that Lego is far from Copenhagen, so I may have to write the Copenhagen version of this book some day!

A Class With Laura Nelkin: Swoon!

Madison may not be a big city, but it is a big knitting city. We had our Knit In this weekend, and the line-up of teachers was amazing. Saturday morning, a friend and I took a class on knitting with bead from Laura Nelkin, author of Knockout Knits.

The class was amazing. Did you know that you should never use beads on single-ply yarn? Me, neither. It's not strong enough. Also to be avoided are wool/silk blends and cashmere. I also learned that you need to use bigger beads when you are placing beads (like with a crochet hook) than when you pre-string beads.

This is the Stellanti Shawl, which was our favorite one of her samples. The beaded sections are super easy so this is definitely going in my queue. Nelkin is quite funny. She described more difficult projects as being "anti-Alzheimer's patterns."

I do love knitting jewelry, though I haven't made any for quite some time. Nelkin's samples gave me plenty of inspiration.

The class was just for a half day, so we shopped after scarfing down some sandwiches from home. It turns out that I am quite the Wisconsin shopper. The two reddish/pink skeins are going into a second Perhaps, Perhaps. They were dyed by Sun Valley Fibers (Mount Horeb, Wis.), and I cannot say enough good things about their yarns. They are stunningly beautiful, a joy to knit with, and hold up well to wear.

I could not resist the mini skeins from Ewetopia (Viroqua, Wis.). All my favorite colors in one package! I'm looking for the right poncho or shawl pattern. Let me know if you have any ideas -- though I should mention that the yarn is DK weight.

Last but not least is the gradient cake in blue and purple, which I bought to make an Antarktis out of, but now I'm thinking it would make a good Stellanti. Such tough choices.!The yarn is by Knit Circus, which is right here in Madison. Yes, I am lucky!

This seems like enough for one post, so I'll tell you about fair isle with Mary Jane Mucklestone later!

The Fourth Time is the Charm -- I Hope

One of the key ideas in Sequence Knitting is that it is supposed to require a minimum of thought: Memorize the sequence and knit. Of course, nothing is that simple in my knitting world. I ripped out the first cast-on because I though (mistakenly) that I had made a mistake. I recast on and then ripped it again because I didn't love the colors. When you are knitting with 800 yards of fingering-weight yarn, you must love the colors!

Then I picked out these two colors from the stash. I've been looking for the right use for the red ball, which was a gift from my daughter.

I was happy with the colors but my stitch count was way off after knitting 8 rows of the 3rd attempt. So I ripped a THIRD time. I'm hoping the fourth time will go better.  As you can see, I put in some stitch markers.

Cecilia of Sequence Knitting holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry (the very definition of super smart, in my book), so maybe what's easy for her isn't so easy for an English major like me!

Sequence Knitting Really Is All That

I first heard about Cecelia Campochiaro's book Sequence Knitting at Knitting Camp this past summer. Meg Swansen sang its praises, and I was able to page through a copy, but I didn't get what the hoopla was about. Besides, it's a large book with a price tag to match.
Then I saw that Campochiaro was going to be speaking at our Guild and teaching an all-day class on a Sunday. OK, I thought, it might be fun to take the class. And it was.

The book, my notes, and one of my sample knits

A Ph.D. chemist who works in Silicon Valley, Campochiaro is smart, funny, and down-to-Earth.  She is a patient teacher who knows how to start with one skill and build on it. She brought a trunk-load of samples, and they sold her method (which I'm not even going to try to describe for fear of not doing it justice) as much as her lively enthusiasm. I was experiencing a lot of pain on Sunday, but her class was both fun and calming -- and for 6 hours I was able to ignore the pain!

Samples from the class. Mine is the blue one in the center.

The scarf in the photo above is my next project. I've been auditioning yarn from my stash. When you are knitting a scarf out of fingering-weight yarn, you need to love the project; you are going to be knitting this for a good long time!

As for reading, I just finished The Light Between the Oceans. It is, as my friend Joan claimed, a very good read. It is also a heart-wrenching story and there were times when I found it a bit hard to read. I'm not sure how I feel about seeing the movie. I don't know how it could live up to the book.

I'll be joining up with Ginny for Yarn Along. See you there!

"Yarn" the Movie

A couple of friends and I dragged ourselves out of bed early on this Saturday morning to see "Yarn" the movie, which was playing in Stoughton, a small city about 30 miles from Madison.

The movie is entertaining, but kind of a disappointment. It's only about a small group of yarn artists -- and crochet is the main technique involved. There are beautiful scenes of Icelandic sheep in their native habitat, but no explanation of why these scenes are included. There are some nice street scenes from cities like Copenhagen and Havana. If it's convenient, go see it. But I wouldn't recommend going to great lengths.

The movie was sponsored by a Stoughton yarn store, Spry Whimsy Fiber Arts, and we enjoyed looking around there. One of my friends bought a skein of yarn, but she was more interested in their felted items:

They specialize in felting, needle-felting, and spinning. They have  small but lovely selection of yarn.  I stuck to my yarn diet  and came home with no wool! Yay for me!

At Least Two Reasons to Visit Oakland -- And One Involves Knitting

Oakland is becoming the hip place in the Bay Area, the beneficiary of the expense of living and doing business in San Francisco and Berkeley, so Joni and I have made a few trips there in the past week.

First we went to Brown Sugar Kitchen, a restaurant that specializes in southern-style food, for breakfast. Located in an industrial area, the building in so modest it would be easy to miss it - and that would be a shame. It's famous for its fried chicken and waffles, but we luxuriated in the grits. These folks have figured out how to make grits taste like heaven!

And then there is this store:

A Verb for Keeping Warm is truly unique. It features commercial fabric, dying supplies, and yarn -- and does a great job at all three. A Verb even produces its own very yummy yarn, much of which has cashmere! And it comes in amazing colors:

The store is decorated very simply, but every item is intriguing. I love both these sweaters:

And I have fallen in love with the idea of dying fabric! Who could resist this array?

And, yes, I bought a skein of souvenir sock yarn. Notice the emphasis on "souvenir." I'm on a year-long yarn diet -- with the exception of souvenir yarn. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist travel yarn, so I built in that safety valve. Other than that -- and we don't travel a lot -- NO new yarn until July 15, 2017.  I think it will feel good to make a dent in the stash.

Off to more adventures! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, too.

Some Stash Enhancement

What is it about acquiring yarn that is so irresistible? Just a few weeks ago, I went through my stash and culled out quite a bit of yarn. Yet, I've already added a few more skeins. I seem to have a problem. (I'd like to point out that it is healthier to be a yarn addict than a heroin addict.)

First up is a shmooshy skein of Miss Babbs Yowza. I have to point out that I didn't pay retail for this one; nope, I shopped stashes on Ravelry and saved a few bucks by ordering from a Raveler.

I do try to only buy yarn that is intended for a specific project. This is going become a Brickless, a pattern that I learned about from a friend a few weeks ago at the Sun Valley retreat. I think it was designed for this yarn, as the pattern calls for 560 yards -- the exact amount in Yowza! I expect to start this one pretty soon.

I've been jonesing for some Arne and Carlos Regia Sock Yarn. It came out a year or two ago, and it was impossible to get then. People just snapped it up. So when I saw a display at a LYS, I grabbed this skein:

Do you know Arne and Carlos? They are a Norway-based couple, both personally and in business, who design all sorts of things, including knitwear. I own their book on knitted dolls and I will (I swear) actually use it one of these days.

I know what this will become: socks! (Duh.) It may be a while before I get it on the needles, but that's OK. It will get used!

BTW, there's a reason that heroin was on my mind; last night, Keith and I watched a documentary on Amy Winehouse on Netflix. Such an amazing musician; such a sad person. A tortured soul. I used to think her song about refusing to go to rehab was funny. It doesn't seem so funny now.

Have you "enhanced" your stash lately?

Stash-Diving

I did a stash dive this past weekend, looking for some sock yarn that had a decent amount of purple in it. A purple-loving friend dropped a strong hint that she'd like some handmade socks for her upcoming 60th birthday. Since I usually grab onto any excuse to hit a LYS, I am feeling quite proud of myself.

I'm knitting up a skein of Regia that I bought a long time ago; the ball band is long gone. I"m knitting it up in my new favorite sock pattern, Blueberry Waffle.

I picked up Savage Girl because it got a good review from the New York Times and it's about a topic that just fascinates me: feral children, the kind allegedly raised by wolves (or some other animal). It is very, very slow to start. I'm on page 80 and the plot is just beginning to take off.

I'll be joining Ginny today for Yarn Along.

It's About Time

I have finally started a Tin Can Knits project. So many bloggers have raved about Tin Can projects that I've wanted to try one for myself for some time now. A friend who loves purple hinted that she'd love some handknit socks, so here is Winding Way:

I just love the lace portion. It's geometric with very clean, modern lines. I have always struggled with knitting dark yarn, so I'm trying to work on this when I can use sunlight. Even our pale winter light is better than artificial lights.

And remember this messy picture from a recent post? This is how it turned out. Here is my stash in a much more presentable form.

Now, I want to point out that most of these crates are not full. I just like to organize my yarn by weight. The bag on top of the crate in back is filled with yarn that is going to school with me. Next year I may have two boys who knit! And the bin is filled with yarn that is going to be sold at our next yard sale!

That's progress. If only the rest of my house was so orderly!