Winter is coming.

Are there any of you out there completely addicted to the "Game of Thrones" series on HBO?  If so, then this title might have made you smile....But truly, winter is coming. (Cue "serious" music)
Did any of you out there enjoy donning some handknits when the weather turned chilly this past weekend?  I was so happy to be cold.  I wore my February Lady sweater, and my daughter was decked out in her Baby Surprise Jacket.  It's times like these that a knitter and his or her handknits are appreciated properly!

I've been lucky to get some pictures of what the knitters of Great Yarns have been working on.  I don't have names to go with the faces, so give a shout out in the comments, will you, if you see your mug on here!



This is the mitered squares blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. 




No clue what this is, but I want it desperately.



Look at the edging on this, just stunning.



I have a friend who is going through a feather-and-fan phase.  I bet she's delirious right now.

These accomplished knitters look like they have been very busy all summer long, with gorgeous knits to wear and use once the heat is long gone.  And, on a different note, I have to tell you about my friend.  Let me change her name first...um...Miz.  My friend Liz Miz learned to knit from me, and knitted happily all winter long.  She went to the yarn store quite a bit, and even chewed me out in a friendly way when she had a bit of a shopping splurge at the yarn store.  Somehow she thought I was "enabling"...whatever that means.  But Miz doesn't knit in the summer.  Not a stitch.  She just stopped cold turkey.  Hey, Miz!!  See what you could have in time for fall and winter if you weren't off the wool, eh?!?!?  Anyone else remember that story about the grasshopper that sang all summer?  Uh huh, Miz, I'm talkin' to you!

Lesson learned:  winter is coming.

This knitter has been working at the Cardigan-That-Will-Never-End.  I know a lot of projects get to a point where it's like a marriage.  There were fun times, there will be fun times ahead, but right now we're trudging along together.  No fireworks, no fire, just blah.  And there is an excess of blah going on with my Farmer's Market Cardigan.  You would think that, after you knit the body and both sleeves, you would be on the homestretch.  It all seems rather final.  But not with this puppy.  Then I am supposed to hem the sleeves and then pick up the provisional stitches on the body to knit pockets.  Then add a shawl collar, mow the lawn, feed the pigs, dust the furniture, and finally, FINALLY, I can block it and sew it up.  Lesson learned:  read the pattern all the way through before you look at the picture for too long and are hooked.  So help me, this sweater better fit like a dream.  I could have knit a house by now.  Here are some pictures of it:




Is it just me or do these sleeves look about a mile long?



This is Cascade 220, called "Eggplant". 

This yarn is so dark that I think my vision has gone from 20/20 to 20/2000.  It sucks all the light out of the room like a black hole.  In fact, knitting on it is rather black hole-like, too.  I'm resisting the urge to stick it back in the closet. 

Since that sweater is SO dark and I have been knitting on it for SO long, I had to get some little projects out to take the edge off.  They had to be small, easy, and brightly colored. 

These are "Picky Pants", made of Malabrigo (am I the only one who constantly mispronounces it?).  It is my first time with the Malabrigo, and I'm resisting the urge to sell all my furniture to buy a large amount of it.  It's so soft I almost think it's cotton candy and I should taste it to see if it tastes as good as it looks.  Is it just me that feels like that?   Ooookay...awkward moment.

I am also working on another small, colorful project.  But it is a secret, for someone for their special day.  And they read this blog, so...


                                                     

I promise you, it's not this.  What are you knitting?

Six (Or More) Degrees of Separation

I call my mother every day, pretty much, just to keep up with all the exciting things that aren't really happening for either of us.  We're not dashing people, constantly on the go, having parties on a whim, and  up until today, I felt pretty reassured that I knew everything there was to know about my mom.  But yesterday, I was in for quite a shock.

I found out that my mom had knit once.  One project.  And finished it.  Shocker #1.  I had not known my mother had knit anything.  She said it was a scarf, and her tension was so tight that it was almost impossible to move the stitches on the needles.  I totally sympathized with her on that one.  When I first learned to knit, I made stockinette stitch resemble Kevlar.  She carried it to the movies to knit on it before the show would begin, and finished it in time for Valentine's Day, or their anniversary, she couldn't recall which.  She never picked up needles again, but I was impressed.  She knit a scarf.  Just one.  Did not feel the wooly fingers of addiction grab her in the least.  But...she did finish it.  She has a waaaay better track record (percentage-wise) at finishing stuff than I do.  She bats .1000 on that one. 

I had to laugh to myself when I asked her whatever became of it.  I presumed that it must have been lost or abandoned or thrown out years ago.  "Oh, it's still around here somewhere," she said.  My parents just moved to North Carolina from out of state this past June, and have moved six times since I was born, and this scarf was knit over a decade beforehand.  Even a non-habitual knitter, having knit ONE OBJECT (and finished it--dang!), has the presence of mind to know that a handknit is something to hold on to.  Hey, are you still a non-knitter if you have actually knit something?  Discuss....

Then she casually mentions how she had learned to knit whilst watching a "show on PBS" and, I swear, my skin prickled.  My ears perked up.  My hair stood at attention.  "Um, mom," I said, "was it 'The Knitting Workshop'?" 

"It was so long ago, honey," she said, "before we had Lynda [my oldest sister], and--"

"Did she have long gray hair pulled back in a bun?"  I blurted out.  I was rooted there, just gripped.

"Well, yes, and she had an English accent and was very funny about how people didn't have to knit so tightly, unless they wanted to," my mom said.

"HOLY COW THAT WAS ELIZABETH ZIMMERMANN, MOM!!!!!  YOU SAW ELIZABETH ZIMMERMANN ON 'THE KNITTING WORKSHOP' WHEN IT ORIGINALLY AIRED!!!!"

Enter big fat SHOCKER #2.

You may be sitting there, reading this (hey, how're you doin', by the way?), and going, "yeah, so?" or something like that.  But, I swear, this was the equivalent of finding out your mom hung out with...oh, I dunno...Mick Jagger.  It's like that time my sister Lauren sat down in the food court at the mall and realized she was sitting across the aisle from Andrew Dice Clay.  Well, that's not exactly a moment you would want to brag about, perhaps.  It's that buzz you get from realizing you know someone who knows someone who actually rode in an elevator with Benecio Del Toro.  I do know someone who...um, yeah, the Benecio thing.  Cool, huh?

I told my husband last night, and I got all wild-eyed and overly excited all over again.  His counter-story included someone he knew who rode in an elevator with Elvis Costello AND Joan Jett.  But neither of them are knitters.  Are they?  I googled it, just to see.  Can't say I'm not doing research here, folks. 

Perhaps this conversation seemed such a bombshell because Elizabeth Zimmermann has been on my mind lately.  Her newest book,

Knit One Knit All,

published posthumously, recently arrived at my house, and I've been devouring the beautiful designs in it.  I wanted to write about EZ, but what in the world could I say that hasn't already been said, and said much better than I ever could put it?  My mother holds Julia Child in the same esteem that I hold Elizabeth Zimmermann. 

I still qualify as a "blind follower", as she would put it, but I have high hopes that one day, thanks entirely to her "unventing" things, and her EPS percentages for making your own custom-fitted knits, I will be a fearless knitter. 

Whoa.

This past week has been rather interesting, hasn't it?  I mean, for one, we have the horrible, devastating earthquake that shook up the entire eastern seaboard.  Did you see some of the pictures of the aftermath?  It's pretty gruesome stuff.  Please, let's have a moment of silence.

...shudders...

Ok, moving on now. Oh yeah, then there was the hurricane.  Hurricane?!?!  I'm from St. Louis, my friends, and I have lived here seven years and have never had to do "hurricane grocery shopping" before.  I bought water, I bought flashlights, I bought batteries, I filled up the cars with gas, I considered buying tarps, and on and on.  I was thisclose to buying a freakin' generator!    I haven't seen that much of The Weather Channel since that time I went to the periodontist, and novocaine was involved in that one.  Oy....

It's times like this that make me very glad to be a knitter.  When I am stressed out, overwhelmed, fearful, worried, am being bugged out of my mind by my children and/or husband, I turn to knitting.  I don't gamble, smoke, drive fast, drink, and my coffee intake is starting to moderate after all these years, so knitting is my one and only obsession.  Well, that and yarn.

See this?

This is some of the yarn I bought when visiting my in-laws in Cincinnati.  This crazazy yarn called Frivola, and it is my first foray into the world of novelty yarns.  It is this very soft yarn, with little cocoon-like nubs in shades of green (with sparkles in it!).  When I was out on Saturday with it, several friends remarked that it looked like I was knitting with broccoli.  Hmmmm....

Broccoli:

Frivola:

Ummmmm...ok, they have a point. 

One skein of this knitted up faster than you can say "choppin' broccoli" .  I finished the skein in 15 minutes, to my surprise, and I have another to add to this scarf.  I hope it will make one of my nieces happy this holiday season.  Oh yes, I am knitting already for Christmas, but even thinking about it makes me twitchy.

I am also knitting for the upcoming fall weather.  I had this epiphany, really, that if I took something out of my stash that I had cast on for months (ahem...years....ahem) ago and, like, knit it,  then I would have--get this--a FINISHED PROJECT!  So I delved into my stash and considered many pretty, neglected balls of yarn, and found this little number:

This is the Farmer's Market Cardigan, by Connie Chang Chinchio.  I always find myself gravitating towards her knitting designs.  They look so chic and pretty, yet comfortable.  I am knitting this one up in Cascade 220, in a color called "eggplant", but doesn't exactly resemble that.  It's black and deep slate blue plied together (eggplant?  really?), and I may be sorry at the end that I chose such a dark yarn, that it may not show off the gorgeous cabling in the collar, but 12 inches of it was already knitted up when I got it out of the closet, and I'm goin' for it!

CHAPEL HILL CLASSES

Learn to Knit       $25
Always wanted to take up knitting? Now is your time, come learn from the best! One time class.
7-9 pm
Monday, September 19
Monday, October 17
Monday, November 21

Learn to Crochet.      $25
Here's your opportunity to get a beautiful start on your crochet adventures! One time class.
7-9 pm
Thursday, October 6
Thursday, November  17

Knitting 201: Beyond the basics      $25
An enthusiastic boost to get your knitting up to the next level! One time class.
7-9 pm
Thursday, Oct 13
Monday, November 14

General Knitting      $60

Tuesday 7-9 

Session 1  September 13, 20, 27, Oct 4, 11 & 18
Session 2  October 25, November 1, 8, 15, Dec 6 & 13

Sunday 6-8pm

Session 1  September 11, 18, 25, October 2, 9 & 16

Session 2  October 23, 30, November 6, 13, 20 & 27

Toe Up Socks     $50

From the tip of the toe to the top of the cuff, socks will have you hooked! Four sessions to sock Mastery!
6:30- 8:30pm
Session 1  Monday, September 12, 19, 26 & October 3
Session 2  Monday, October 10, 17, 24 & November 7
Session 3  Monday, November 14, 21, 28 and December 5

Special Skill Series      $40 for all three or $15 per class
Fill your knitting toolbox with some great new tricks, take one or take all three!
4-5:30 pm

Session 1                                          Session 2

Get Gauge, and Basic Pattern Reading

Sunday, September 11                       Sunday, October 16

Magic Loop for Knitting in the Round

Sunday, September 18                       Sunday October 23

Continental Knitting Techniques

Sunday, September 25                       Sunday, October 30

Finishing Help and Techniques      $25
Get the tricks to polish off any knitting project for the best finished look.
9-11 am
Wednesday, Oct 19
Wednesday, Nov 9
Wednesday, Dec 7
Saturday, October 22
Saturday, November 12


Classic Knit Hat in Any Size      $30
Come pick out your favorite yarn in the shop and we'll create a great hat together. 
4-5:30 pm
Session 1  Sunday, October 2 & 9
Session 2  Sunday, November 20 & 27


Fingerless Mitts          $30
A Simple project with universal appeal!
4-5:30 pm
Session 1  Sunday, November 6 & 13
Session 2  Sunday, December 4 & 11

LEARN TO SPIN         $60

Introduction to spinning technique on the spindle and spinning wheel. A perfect activity for fall! Includes Materials.

6-7:30 pm

Wednesday, September 14 & 21

See details and sign up here!

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!!

Once upon a time, a prince fell in love with a girl.

And married her.

And the entire world went nuts about them.  Just lost their frickin' minds.  They couldn't get enough of them, seeing them together, separately, clubbing, brushing their teeth, whatever.  And not just the normal folks.  Knitters went nutsy foo-foo as well.  See this?

My friends, what we have here is commemorative yarn for the Royal Wedding.  Ta-dow.

It was truly a beauty of a yarn, a deep blue with just a little bit of sparkly tencel, and very reminiscent of a certain sapphire engagement ring.  This lace weight yarn is not only gorgeous and a bit unusual, it is a true collector's item.  Only 1000 skeins were made by Fyberspates, and this skein came with its own numbered certificate of authenticity.  And, if you too are an Anglophile in love with the newest Windsor smug marrieds, you may be able to order your very own skein at their website (ahem, I'll wait while you go check it out...no really, it's cool).

I got to touch the Royal Yarn when I came in to Yarns Etc this past Friday.  Leslie, who works there, had gotten this yarn, along with several other wonderfully sheepy things, from her mother, who had been to Britain recently.  Other gorgeous items included yummy wool spun from British sheep, and these really great little coasters...

And, lest you think I am moving on from the Royal Awesomeness of the Brits, I present this to you as well:

Now that is what I love about knitters.  It's one thing to be sitting there with your buddies, and cracking jokes about the royal family, but it takes a knitter to see the yarn potential in Prince William marrying Kate Middleton.  They not only have the balcony scene...

...they also have a Youtube video of the whole dang thing!

"Mawwiage....mawwiage is whut bwings us togethuh todaaayyyy...dat bwessed event, that dweam within a dweam.  Have you da wing?"  Um, sorry, got off track there.  Anyone know what movie that is from? 

Speaking of the Brits, another invasion of sorts was happening at Yarns Etc when I was there on Friday. 

Can I tell you that there is an obscene amount of Rowan yarn at the store right now?  Just for starters, I saw Roawan Colourspun, Purelife, Lima, Felted Tweed, Big Wool, Cashsoft Baby DK, Pure Wool DK, Kidsilk Haze, Purewool 4 ply, and the Rowan Studio Issue #23.  

All in beautiful colors for fall. And fall is coming, this summer nastiness can't last forever...uh...right?

I also saw Misti Alpaca Baby Me Boo, this sweet thick and thin yarn:

I also had a bit of an attack of glee when I spied a basket of this:

KAUNI EFFEKTGARN!!!!  This stuff looks so cool when I have seen it used on Ravelry (like this, this, or this) and I have had trouble tracking it down before.  I was so pleased to see some here!  I also saw a delivery of Shibui come in as well, and I had to breathe slowly and relax so as not to tear 'round the store like a Tasmanian devil. 

I know for a fact that the hot, sticky summer can't last much longer.  Want to know how I know?  Looky here:

Can you see it?  Try this one...

 
It's a gnarly old tree near where we live, but if you look closely, the leaves are turning....

Look What's New!

As if you needed a reason...

to go to the yarn store...

to come and see what's new...

  what's gorgeously soft and beautiful...

unbelievably shimmery...

a palette of colors to work with...

and exciting new patterns to knit up...

Seriously...why are you still looking at this?!?  Come on in!

That Dang Duck

Below is the pattern I have been tweaking for knitting my son a duckling from a children’s book that he loves.

1. Cast on 30 stitches. Knit four rows. On fifth row, knit into front and back of each stitch, 60 stitches.

2. Knit 1, slip 1 all the way across. Continue until you realize that this doesn’t seem to look like double knitting as it was explained to you by Elizabeth Zimmermann’s books. Also realize that this seems a little big for a duckling. Frog, and tell yourself that it was a good thing you did it sooner rather than engage in Knitting Denial (a real syndrome) and keep going.

3. Cast on 20 stitches. Knit four rows. On the fifth row, knit into the front and back of each stitch, ending up with 40 stitches. Again (because you’re on autopilot) knit 1, slip 1 across each row. Realize that you have now knit something that you will have to turn inside out, so the smooth knit stitches will be on the outside of the duckling rather than in its innards. Frog again.

4. Cast on 20 stitches, again knit four rows, again increase to 40 stitches as in previous directions. Think long and hard about what is confusing you about double knitting and why you’re not getting the result you want, and decide (inexplicably) to do. the. same. thing. again. Knit 1, slip 1. Have at it, go to town. Now you tell yourself you WANT to flip the bird—inside out, that is. Tell yourself that you meant to do that, what with those two garter ridges at the bottom and all. Tell yourself it’s for stability or something…anything. Knit on. Remember the syndrome mentioned in Step 2, but shrug it off.

5. Get to about 3-4 inches in length, gloating to yourself about how cute this little alpaca/wool yarn is, and how it looks just like the ducky in the book. Set duck body aside and prepare to figure out how to knit its feet.

6. Cast on nine stitches in the softest, sweetest, carrot-y colored alpaca yarn ever. Melt internally when you picture how it will go so well with the gray duck body. Imagine that your son will, for once, fawn nonstop over the knitted duck, as opposed to the other knits you have made him. Cunningly shape the feet, using SSKs and k2togs like a champ. When down to three stitches, work I-cord, smirking to yourself about how these look SO much like duck feet that you feel like your IQ just went up three points. Repeat with second foot, and add additional five points to IQ.

7. Return to duck body, and prepare to sew/graft duck feet to garter ridges, but properly, so it will look ridiculously cute when the body is turned right side out. Cut gray yarn with enough tail to easily thread (on a yarn needle) through every other stitch on one side, turn work and thread the needle through every other stitch on the way back. Remove work from knitting needle and feel a little nervous. Luckily enough, the

knitting opens up in the middle, just like it ought to, like a pocket. Feel free to say “Squee” in a high-pitched voice now, like a pre-teen at a Justin Bieber concert. Turn duck inside out.

8. Realize that duck isn’t properly turning inside out.  Make this face: 

9. Realize that there is one. single. stitch. that you mis-knit/slipped and now, you have made a duckling with one heck of a belly button.

10. Spend too much time trying to come up with some kind of knitterly work around, to no avail. Console yourself by realizing you knit the cutest duckling feet ever. The first ever knitted duckling feet?  Decide to go back to the drawing board....