Portable Knitting

Stuff and stuff

Last night I finished up weaving in the ends on a newborn hat and the boy scarf so those are completely finished. This weekend I'll try to make some progress on the baby fairisle and the frances cardigan.

I put in an order for some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino at Hill Top Yarn as they were out of the blush pink color when I was last there. I'm going to make the little Matinee cardigan from the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits book for my niece.

I've also been thinking about checking out for Koigu and in searching the web I learned (via Yarn Harlot's book tour notes) that Weaving Works is the only local shop that carries Koigu. That seems unlikely to me but Stephanie's a pretty thorough person so I bet she knows. My mother liked the blue cardigan shown in the bottom center of this page, but that pattern isn't listed inside the sections so who knows. I know you can order online but I need to see the color IRL and feel the wool to know if I like it or not, so in-person shopping is required for me.

Yeah for relaxing weekends.

All Organized

I've been wanting to get a binder for a while to organize all the loose patterns, my sketches, measurement notes and the like. I didn't want a regular plastic covered binder, I wanted something that was inspiring to me. I considered getting one from a high-end paper store but one of my employees told me I should go check out what they had at Office Depot. Since I knew I wanted to buy some sheet protectors anyway it seemed like a good place to start my shopping. Eventually I came across something that really interested me -- a zippered binder with pockets!

It's sort of like a bag and a binder together. It has a shoulder strap and handle which make it good for porting about.

In the front pocket I put my measuring tapes, needle gauge and my needle holder.

In the second outside pocket, which is larger and has a zipper that can make it expand to hold more, I put most of my needles, at least the circulars and the double points. I could easily carry yarn in this pocket if needed.

Inside I have dividers which I can use to organize by pattern type, and put scraps of paper and yarn into the pockets. In the front pocket I've got my yarn requirments guide.

I also got those sheet protectors to slip my patterns and sketches into. All organized! (I saved this photo larger so you could see better)

How's that for portable knitting?

My NYC Adventure

I broke through the barrier and had an IRL extra-blog experience with Two Purls Jen on Friday. We met up in Grand Central and then made our way downtown to visit Purl Soho. They have a nice bright shop that is really friendly and has an interesting selection of yarns, some that I haven't seen before though perhaps I just missed them in the Seattle LYSs. I loved the feel of the bamboo yarns, and there were some really interesting linen and hemp yarns which probably would turn into something amazing given the chance. I picked up some yummy Classic Elite Lush in a rich red and soft yellow and it just seems the perfect thing for a hat and scarf combo.  We were lucky to have a chance to meet Joelle Hoverson, Purl Soho owner and author of Last Minute Knitted Gifts, a recent addition to my knitting library.

Jen picked up a copy of a brand new book by Elizabeth Zimmerman, The Opinionated Knitter, that was compiled by her daughter. I had heard of Elizabeth Zimmerman, but perhaps only in passing, probably online mentions here and there. Jen filled me in on some of the intrigue as we took the subway down to our next destination, Seaport Yarn.

I didn't know the story about Seaport Yarn, that it was in an office space and not a shop at street level or anything. Jen and some of my other online knitting buddies had visited before though and Jen thought I should see it as well. Imagine an office space with multiple rooms and corridors, not a large office space but one where 20 people might work. Now imagine that there are only a few desks in there, reception and  maybe another room or so. Imagine the corridors lined with shelves spilling over with yarn and the walls of a couple rooms likewise, a kaleidoscope of colors and textures. There were books and patterns and sale yarns and needles and lots of really amazing yarns. I contemplated all of the things I might make, and again there was linen yarn that was nudging me, but in the end I decided to get a few skeins of Silky Wool. The color of the Silky Wool I selected reminds me of the sea, not the Long Island Sound that I was out sailing on today but like the deep blue green of the Puget Sound. I look forward to playing with it. I just found this review of the yarn if you are interested to learn more about it...Knitter's Review: Yarn Profile:
Elsebeth Lavold Designer's Choice Silky Wool.

I grew up in the suburbs of New York, up north of the city so this visit was just for family and friends. I'm here until Monday evening and of course I brought knitting to work on. I cast on for a little fairisle cardigan of my own pattern while on the plane Wednesday night and I've been making reasonable progress on it. I could have done stripes (if you look in my past projects you will see a fair number of stripes in my portfolio, but no this time it will be the fussier fairisle. I'm knitting using Lion Brand Microspun which is inexpensive, soft, and easy to care for. It was a quickie splurge when I was at the fabric store last week, just to keep my fingers working while on the road.

What to do?

I bought some Rowan All Seasons Cotton last weekend and now I'm trying to figure out what to knit with it. I would need to pick up a few more skeins I've figured out after looking at patterns online from the Rowan ASC pattern book. I could knit the Asana top from Knitty though and still have some to spare. I like it but I wonder how much wear I will get out of it. This pattern is cool too: Hot Lava Cardigan (PDF) but I would have to figure out the gauge change.

My partner says I don't need a yoga top as I don't go to yoga (so what). I could try to stop by the LYS and see if they have a few more balls and pick up the pattern book too.

Little things

I've almost finished the orange baby hat, though I think I might add on some embellishments but I haven't decided what. Crocheted something-or-other or perhaps just colorful buttons, we'll just have to see what inspires me.

I finished the fourth square of the Mitered Square rug and I'm 1/3 done with the fifth square. It is looking cute and I totally need to post a photo of it for you to see.

I've been playing around with some new Rowan All Season Cotton Print that I bought on Sunday to make myself a sweater. I might make a raglan from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts (new to my knitting library and I love it) but having knit a few inches, in spite of my swatching for gauge, I don't think the size is right so I'm going to use a larger gauge set of needles and try again. I'm also going to scan my Rowan book to see if there are any patterns there that inspire me.

I am also now the owner of #8 circular needles and so very proud. Some day I will have to organize them all and do an inventory of my sizes.

Baby Alpaca = Baby Hat (and socks?)

Last Summer we took the ferry over to Vashon Island to a farm tour. One of the places we stopped was the Island West Alpaca farm. They had a bunch of lovely animals which we were able to hand feed. There was a very cute couple of baby alpacas, who were so shy they would sprint past to get back behind their mamas.

They had a bunch of alpaca yarns for sale there; some manufactured and some handspun. I bought 3 hanks - one black with flecks of green which was alpaca/wool/mohair; one that was heathered pink in a wool/alpaca blend; and the last one was baby alpaca from their youngest, whitest animal and it is just the softest fiber ever. It's a lovely natural off-white color and I think it would be just great for a newborn. I'm going to start on a hat soon and see how much is left over after that, perhaps I could use any remainder to trims some booties to go with it.

Note:  The Island West Alpaca farm now has an online store called Purely Alpaca, so you can order yarn directly from them if you are craving alpaca.

Rug Colors

So, I decided on Thursday morning that I really wasn't happy with the color mix I had for the rug and decided to stop at the store and just buy some additional colors that would add more pizzaz to the design. It was partially due to Natalie asking me what colors I was going to use and seeing from her block that she was just working up the squares however she liked made me think that I should just go be bold. So, here is my stash of Lion Kitchen Cotton -- I'm guessing that I'll be making dish cloths or potholders with the remainder.

Knit a little

I finished the second striped baby hat for the year, with the exception of the crocheted flowers that will decorate it. I have no idea if it will fit my niece just now, it might be a little big still.

My nephew sweater I've gotten up to the divide for the neck and I'm working up one side to the shoulder. Making better progress now.

Yesterday I figured out what a backward loop cast on was, as called for in the Interweave Knits Mitered Square Rug pattern. It's just a variation on a knitted cast on, though I usually do a single loop cast on -- it's what I learned as a kid. I have almost one square completed but I think that I need to back up and swap out the dark teal/green because it is looking a big Christmas-y my friend pointed out. I wish I could find the aqua in stores around here but I've had no such luck. I could order the yarn online but I like the immediacy of just picking it up in the store. Though, with the amount of shopping I do (next to nil) it is probably a more efficient use of my time to order online. It's Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton and their web site has a whole range of colors that are not in stores and they themselves aren't selling online. What gives?