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!

Unraveled Wednesday

I have made significant progress on my gray Kate's Poncho. I'm on the ribbing at the bottom. 

And yarn for the third one arrived just in time this morning! I ordered from The Loopy Ewe, and the yarn got to me in record time.

I have to admit that I am doing more quilting and embroidering than knitting these days. For one thing, both the poncho and the blanket I'm working on are getting too big and too warm for some of the really hot days.

I went for a lovely walk yesterday with a friend in the Arboretum. 

July is beautiful!

Joining with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday.

Unraveled Wednesday

Joining with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday. 

I loved my Kate's Poncho so much that I decided to make one in gray for Rachel. After all, she's moving to Denver after 6 years in Miami. 

It's coming along so quickly that I think I'll make one for Clara, too. That's Seth's girlfriend.  This will require ordering yarn, though -- so sad! 

I love this gray wool. It is Shepherd's Wool Yarn from Stonehedge Mill. For a 100% wool it is quite soft and it knits up beautifully. I'm sure I'll be using more of it. 

Yarn and Knitting First!

My travels to Riga and Vilnius were amazing, and I will do a very short travel post (I hate long travelogues) about a few highlights, but let's get to the important thing first: yarn! These are cities where knitting is happening -- and with knitting history.

Wouldn't you know? There was a yarn store around the corner from my Air Bnb in Riga, Tines:

Mostly it has finished knitted sweaters, hats and mittens for sale, but I couldn't resist this colorful skein of Latvian yarn:

There was another store a block away, but I didn't even set foot in it!

If you follow knitting books at all, you've probably seen this very popular recent book about Lavian mitts and mittens:

Well, there is a store in Riga's Old Town that has dedicated a large section of the store to it, Hobbywool. This makes sense because owner is the author of the book! Hobbywool has the cutest facade ever, complete with yarn bombing!

The store is incredibly gorgeous.

 You can't stop looking at all the yarn and knitted items:

I was most taken with the small skeins made out of the very yarn used in the Knit Like a Latvian book. These 25-gram skeins cost about $2.30 each, and you only need three or four to make a pair of mitts or mittens. I came home with a few (arranged by intended project):

Don't worry, you don't need to travel to Riga. You can get these skeins from Hobbywool's Etsy store!  The owner assured me that shipping is very modest. I want to point out that you can buy mitts and mittens completed at Hobbywool -- for $35 and up! See, knitting is budget-friendly!

I had set up a sock project to travel with, but I made the same mistake I have for the last two summers: it was too complicated for travel knitting. Luckily, I only had to walk a few blocks to Midara in Vilnius, where I practically drowned in gorgeous yarn.

It's another gorgeous store in a charming old building:

I usually only buy souvenir yarn that isn't readily available to me in Madison, but I needed to be practical. She had an amazing selection of Opal sock yarn, which isn't sold here in Madison, and she had a line that I hadn't seen before: Impressionist. I picked up a skein from the Monet line and went home to relax and start some easy socks on my charming Air BnB balcony:

Before I went to Midara, I'd read online about a great book about knitting Lithuania, Lithuanian Knitting: Continuing Traditions by Donna Druchunas. Unfortunately, it isn't available in the States -- not even through Amazon. Imagine how happy I was to walk into Midara and find this:

Even though it is a large hardcover book, I had to haul it back home with me. I mean, how could I resist it when she covers Jews and knitting in Lithuania? This is not commonly addressed.

I am looking forward to catching up with you. I can't say that I'll read a lot of back posts, but I am going to jump back in today. I have missed my blog pals!

On Not Being A Yarn Snob

Full disclosure: I totally am a yarn snob. I don't mind paying $28 for a skein of good sock yarn if I really love the yarn. I'm a bit wool-sensitive, so I'm a sucker for wool mixed with silk or cashmere.

But I do get seduced by less expensive yarns from time to time, and I have to admit that they can be nice to knit with and wear. This hat was a pleasure to make:

It's just a simple beanie with a bit of slouch that I made with Lion Brand Cupcake. I saw these sweet cakes at Joanne Fabrics, and I had to try one out. I like the hat, but I would have preferred more graduatl color changes.

And then there was another Lion Brand product that I saw at Joanne's. The spring colors captured my attention and I added a cake of  Comfy Cotton Blend  to my cart.

Cupcake is 100% acrylic, while Comfy Cotton is a blend of cotton and polyester. I don't think any fiber is more pleasant to knit with, more reliable, or more hard-wearing than wool. I love that you can play around with the blocking and that it has memory.

But I know I'm not the only wool-sensitive knitter out there. These two yards were pretty enough to grab my attention. I'd love to find a non-wool yarn that works for sweaters. I have high hopes for Comfy Cotton. In fact, I'm trying it out on Hitchhiker #3:

And I have to say that these Lion Brand non-wool yarns are very easy on the bank account.

I worry about cotton stretching out too much. If you've used a cotton or other non-wool yarn for a sweater and it worked out, let me know! 

Kitten, Kids & Mitts

So, where I have I been for the last month? Well, here is one of the highlights:

Mostly I've been working, practically drowning in paperwork and testing. And there was the matter of the lab stool that came crashing down on my foot in biology class, prompting weeks of light-duty. I still can't wear most of my shoes.

But spring break was pretty amazing -- as well as insanely busy. I started by flying to Miami, where I got to have dinner with my photo-shy son. Seth is working 20-hour days, six days a week, so I was thrilled that he was able to get away for dinner.

I had a wonderful time hanging out with Rachel and my grand-kitty, Delilah. Rachel is a true minimalist --except when it comes to her kitty. Delilah is one spoiled kitty.  

This is probably the special ed teacher in me, but I could swear that kitty has an attention deficit disorder. No matter, I fell in love with her. I think Rachel would have disowned me if I hadn't.

Miami is a great town for coffee shops, restaurants and bookstores. This coffee art came to me at Brewing Buddha, where the coffee was velvety and rich.

We spent a morning wandering around Wynwood, the artsy part of Miami. The murals there are phenomenal.

And we found these amazing gourmet donuts:

Then it was off to Seattle. Take my word for this: Flying from Miami to Seattle is a very long trip. But my aunt was celebrating her 90th birthday, so Rachel and I spent 12 hours getting out there.

We didn't have much time for sight-seeing (although we did walk past the original Starbucks), which was just fine. Many of my favorite people were there, so it was a wonderful weekend.

Rachel, left, with two of her cousins, Robbie and Jennifer. I wish
they could spend more time together!

Of course, I had to have some good travel knitting with me, and I was very pleased with my choice:

These fingerless mitts are based on a recipe by Kirsten Kapur. I grabbed a skein of Crazy Zauberball from my stash, and I love the results.

I'm going to get two pairs out of one skein, so I'm quite pleased with that. It's a mindless pattern that was perfect for travel. 

I hadn't knit with this yarn before, and I found it to be a fun yarn to work with. It's hard to stop because you want to see what color is going to come up next. It's a bit scratchy, but I think it will soften with a good soak and some wear. I definitely want to keep one pair for myself.

Keith met us in Seattle, and then he and I took a red-eye back to O'Hare. I actually made it to work that day! 

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.

About That Sweater

Way back on May 20, I went to a nearby coffee shop/yarn store, the Sow's Ear, with a friend. The point of the trip was to sketch, and we did indeed sketch:

Of course I had to wander through the store and check out the goods. I stumbled on the spring issue of Knitscene, which I hadn't looked at before.

I flipped through it and fell in love with the sweater, that looked both cute and easy.

The pattern, Fullerton Cardigan, is made with Brown Sheep Worsted, but I don't like mohair, so I bought an armful of the wonderfully affordable Berroco Vintage. Now I have this:

I think that someday it really will be a sweater!

And what is it about sleeves? They are so boring to knit!

Recuperating

The recuperation from my surgery is not as painful as the doctor had predicted, so of course I'm relieved about that. I am housebound and not really up for visitors, but I can manage knitting. 

I pulled out these three colors for my Free Your Fade shawl. 

I'm not sure if I'll use all three or just the gradient and the blue. I'm going to see how it looks when I get to the first "fade." So far, the gradient is just gorgeous! And it matches the project bag -- one of the many that my sweet MIL has made for me.

I set up another Tchaikovsky Hat before my surgery. It's such an easy pattern and I had the perfect yarn: a skein of Casual Fashion Queen in Bohemia. 

This might be my favorite colorway of all time.

While I'm not up to visitors, I do appreciate it when Nagi and Kola keep me company.

It's actually been cool here so I've enjoyed having them on my lap.

At the rate I'm recovering, I'm going to have to start doing useful things soon, but I'm trying to enjoy this "vacation" while I can.