Take Me Out to the Ballllllgame!

Take me out to the crowds....

Buy me some cotton and mer-i-no....

I don't care if you crochet or sew...

'Cause it's root, root, root for the fiberrrrrr....

With knitting, you know you've got game...

Wait a tick...those aren't the words to that song?  You're kidding!  Could have fooled me, considering where I was this past Saturday.  Behold the power of the Stitch N' Pitch!  Where a couple hundred crafty fiberistas (fiberistos?) can commingle, craft, and cheer on the Durham Bulls.

I have to confess, since I'm not from these parts, I always want to say Bull Durham rather than Durham Bulls, all because of Susan Sarandon.  I tried to channel some Annie Savoy, to no avail.

 Yeah, there's only one Susan Sarandon, but I can dream.

It was a wonderful experience, seeing all these...people, just scads of them, knitting, crocheting, hollering at the game.  All united under one roof in their love of using fiber and their hands to create.  Pretty. dang. cool.  If you didn't make it there, please consider it for next year.  

Other than that, this is shaping up to be a rather busy week.  Tomorrow is my birthday and I already got myself a little something fibery to celebrate.  It is coming along very nicely, and I adore it.  Can you guess what it is?

The yarn, the glorious yarn, is Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Stovepipe (bluish grey), Ophelia (blackberry), and Calligraphy (oatmeal-y grey).  The pattern is Color Affection, which is blowing up all over Ravelry and the blogosphere.  I adore it.  Strongly recommend it, actually. 

Next week my family and I will be at the beach, and I am looking forward to it immensely.  I am not looking forward to the packing of two small children for the beach, however, yet I AM looking forward to packing up my knitting for the beach.  Silver lining.  The beach is totally the silver lining too, come to think of it!  See you next week!



A Quick Knitterly PS!

Hey yoooooou guyyyyyyys!

(Remember "The Goonies"?)
There is a fantastic outing coming up where we can all hang together, knitting and crocheting in public, making those regular folk nearby elbow each other and remarking upon our general fabulousness.

What is this outing, you ask?  Do tell!

Why, it's the Durham Bulls Stitch N' Pitch!

As you can see here, it's Saturday, May 19th.  The game is at 7pm, and tickets are only $9.  Nine bucks!  Only nine bucks to channel your inner Susan Sarandon and knit while you do it.  What a deal!

See you there, right?  Play ball!

It's Like Magic

When you first finish a knitting project, it can look a little....blah.

Of course, what you need is a good blocking.  In a sink or tub, run cold water with some gentle detergent...Euclan is a good choice, and you can find a selection of such things at your local yarn store.  I fill the sink up with the sudsy soap first and do not leave the water running onto my newly finished hand knit, which can make for a surprise felting and a few tears.  



Rubber Ducky, you're the one....you make bath time lots of fun....

Don't be surprised to see some dye bleeding out into the water.  After draining the soapy water, fill the sink again with cold, clear water, not letting it beat down on your hand knit. If there's a lot of color in the water, be sure to rinse an extra time or two to make sure the water is clear.

 

You can use blocking wires, straight pins, foam blocking boards, sock forms, the list goes on and on with what you can use to facilitate blocking out your hand knit.  With this particular shawl, I just decided to lay it out flat on a nice fluffy towel.  After I had removed it from the rinse water, I gently squeezed it, but DIDN'T wring it out (oh that would be so bad for a hand knit!!) and laid it out nice and flat.  Easy-peasy.

Check it out again.

Before:                                                                               After: 

 

Blocking makes a big difference, doesn't it?  I'd show some better shots of it being worn...maybe shots of me channeling my inner hobbit, dancing barefoot in a field of grasses with the shawl held lightly overhead, but the lighting outside is terrible today, folks.  Super cloudy.  Yeah, I'm totally blaming the weather on that one.  Ha ha!

In other fiber-y goodness news....there is a new arrival or three at Yarns Etc and Great Yarns.

Also, did you know that it's the 26th anniversary for Great Yarns???  26 years!  Happy Birthday!  May you have many many more!  On Friday and Saturday of this week there will be a big ole party, with cake (YAY!) and a sale (YAYAYAYAYAYYYYY!) on pattern books and loose patterns. 

Another gem to look forward to is the Stitch N' Pitch to be held May 19th at 7pm.  Section 211, only $9 a ticket, and lots of fun knitting and crocheting with friends and scaring the Muggles.  I'm looking forward to that very much!

Play ball!!