NEW BLOG

Hi everyone!  I've moved my blog over here!  It's been a good run here at Blogger, but the time to move on was upon me.

Hope you like the new site!

A NEW DAY

Thanks to a Google + mishap which deleted most of my older photos from my posts, 

I'll be moving my blog over to a new provider... stay tuned for details!

Wool People, Vol. I

The cat's out of the bag!  I've been bursting at the seams to blog about the exciting opportunity to work with Jared Flood's company Brooklyn Tweed and his yarn, SHELTER.  Months ago, Jared contacted me via e-mail to see if I would be interested in such a thing.  To see if I would be INTERESTED?!?!  Before I could regain my composure, I did a snoopy dance of excitement, ran up to yell the good news to my husband (so confused, poor thing) and ran back down to sit in front of my laptop to reply.  It took all of my willpower to write something that didn't make me sound like a:

1.  Stalker
2.  Desperate-o
3.  Drooling idiot.

As things progressed and I started to think about what I would design, my thoughts shot all over the place.  Immediately, I thought cables.  This yarn just screams cables.  And then I thought, it would have to be an accessory, a cowl or tam of some sort.  Then, it was a jacket - tweed calls for a jacket, right?  Right?!  I was slowly losing it, and losing a lot of sleep.

Then, I started to inquire and learned about some of the other knitters who would be taking part in this project.  I don't think I have ever felt so insecure in my life.  I kept thinking that the company I would be in would surely dwarf any attempt at a design I could conjure up.

I sketched and swatched and slowly I realized I had to approach this design in a totally different way.  I had been used to being inspired by a yarn, or something I had seen on someone on the street.  I would just go and grab a yarn from my stash, and swatch away.  With SHELTER, I was not only representing myself and my thoughts on knitwear, but a company - Brooklyn Tweed.  I wanted not only my aesthetic to come through, but also what the company has always stood for, and what the yarn represented.  I suppose some artists would think that would be a compromise of their creative integrity.  For me, it was a way to focus my creative energy and conversely create outside of my usual box.  My boundaries and horizons had to shift.

So I made a list of what I thought were the similarities between Brooklyn Tweed and me.  This is what I came up with:

1.  Wearable
2.  Complimentary to a variety of sizes and figures
3.  Unintimidating to knit
4.  Fun to knit.

Voila, the Perry Cardigan was born. 

Since I had immediately thought of cables, I wanted to do something more unexpected, so I went with lace.  

 And since I immediately thought of something thick, dense and substantial, I wanted to make sure it was light and airy - again, something unexpected for this yarn.

I really love this cardigan.  It's nothing earth-shattering design-wise, but I think it's something that will turn into a favorite - the one you grab to run errands, meet friends on the weekend, or keep in your office to fight off that chill.

I hope you like it, and I hope you enjoy knitting it should you choose to.  I think I'll have to make one for myself in Sweatshirt - a great SHELTER gray.

Dabbling with color

I love using socks, baby sweaters and gifts as a way to knit with color I otherwise wouldn't use.  Yes, I love neutrals.  Yes, I'm made fun of by most of the people I know.  So when the occasional bright color(s) catches my eye (and literally falls off the shelf into my hands), the unending commentary from my buddies at Knitty City start swirling about.  "Wow, what are YOU going to use that for?"  "You're finally branching out!"  "It's about time - give up those grays!"  Most of the time, I don't have the heart to tell them it's for someone other than myself.  But here it goes:  those two skeins of Plaid Blanket I bought?  It was for a baby sweater.

My friend had a baby boy a few months ago, so I thought an Autumn sweater in Madelinetosh's Plaid Blanket colorway was appropriate.  The seemingly random colors in Plaid Blanket remind me of autumn leaves and come together perfectly.  I loved watching the colors go by as I knit away.  If you're madelinetosh-o-philes like myself, I just whispered the colors to myself as they slid over my fingers: glazed pecan, lettuce leaf, nebula, tern.  At least those are the colorways I saw combined in this beautiful yarn.

I followed the Gramps Cardigan pattern by Kate Oates.  It's a great little pattern with a wide size range.  But, in my humble opinion, the colors in the yarn really makes the little sweater sing. 

And maybe I was inspired by the color of my spinning wheel, but I just had to start spinning some red wool.  Bright red. 

I bought some Louet Corriedale Wool Top, and have been falling more and more in love with this red with every treadle.

Please don't tell anyone I said that.  I'll never hear the end of it.

Treats for Dad

Mr. Migglesworth is a cherry-holic.  He loves the real thing; he loves the fake thing.  He'll take cherry any which way he can have it.  (Out of context, that sounds incredibly wrong.)

Upon our return from a recent trip, I found a bag of very ripe cherries sitting in our refrigerator.

And thus, the cherry cobbler was born.

Mental note:  must pick up a cherry pitter.

Legacy

My heart broke yesterday morning.  I sat down at my laptop and started reading through my e-mails when I came to one from a dear friend.  Her mother had just passed away.  I met this friend through knitting.  We met at the back table at Knitty City and our friendship developed over the past year as we started talking yarn and fiber, and moved onto our careers and dreams.  Her mother had come to stay with her for a month late last year, and I was lucky enough to spend some quality time with her.  We talked knitting, shared found projects on ravelry and passed along tips to one another.  I had assumed that my friend's mother had taught my friend how to knit.  But, I had it wrong.  My friend had taught her mother, and she was instantly addicted.  She was known to finish lengthy projects in record time, and never a piece for herself.  She constantly passed along her beautiful knits to friends' newborns and her daughter.

I feel lucky to have been able to meet her, and even luckier to have been a recipient of one of her knitted gifts.

I will treasure it always.

Shame on me

Holy cow.  It's been over 3 months since my last post.  Time flies when you're trying to get in as much knitting as possible before the NYC Summer throws it hot, humid and muggy veil over the 5 boros.  The first sign of Spring for me?  Peonies.  I treated myself to a little bouquet from my favorite neighborhood florist, fLorEsta.

Once I see those beautiful blooms, I start to pack away the cashmere sweaters.

But, it's been a really exciting past few months.  I've made some great new friends!  (More to come on that.  I just love a good surprise!)  And, I've been doing so much knitting, that I felt I needed a hobby from my hobby.  So... enter Miss Ladybug.  She's a beauty.

 

Admittedly, I completely forgot how frustrating it is to learn something new.  I've bonded with her since, but that first night... we quarreled.  A lot.  And I said a few things to her that I probably shouldn't have.  But we've made up.

Every Ladybug Spinning Wheel comes with a little ladybug.  Schacht places it in a unique spot for each wheel, and I found mind right behind the wheel.  It has been so much fun learning a new aspect of knitting, fiber, wool and yarn.  And while knitting needs my undivided attention, spinning allows me to calmly let the time pass.  It's mesmerizing.  Here is my first ball of "yarn".  Unplyed.  It's completely unusable, but I'm going to keep it around as a reminder.

I just signed up for the Beginning Wheel Spinning class at Purl Soho.  It starts later on in May, and the class is taught on the Ladybug!  I'm very excited.  I feel like I could figure it out, but just want to make sure I've got a good foundation.

I also jumped on the Rock Island Shawl bandwagon.  What a great pattern!  It's gorgeous, simple enough for a knitter willing to try out a little lace.  And that Grand St. Ink color!  Whoa!!  Jared's done it again.

I had such a great time knitting this.  I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock instead of the Helen's Lace.  And for no other reason than it was sold out.  I had to "settle" for the sockweight.  I love it, but I would like to try it in the laceweight once Knitty City gets some in stock.  I think the color is darker in the sockweight too.  Gorgeous, nonetheless.

And something I failed to mention in my last post: I've thrown another pattern up onto Ravelry for sale.  It's a cabled hat, which spotlights a really interesting yarn - Lana Grossa's Chiara.  I don't usually knit with yarn so slinky, but I couldn't resist.  The sample is at Knitty City and the pattern has been flying off the shelves there.  I don't think the pictures do it justice, but I named it Tortillon because of the sort of smeared-charcoal effect the yarn ends up having in the cables.  It's really pretty cool.  If you're interested, you can pick up the pattern here.  It only takes one ball, and is a super quick knit.

Last but not least, I just had to share some pics of my last vacation.  I spent a long weekend in Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos.  This was my second time there, and I think it was better than the first.  It is absolute paradise. 

I'll leave you on that note.

Bonding

I'm a huge fan of swatching.  I'm always surprised when I hear other knitters talk about either not swatching all together, or just flat-out detesting it.  For me, it gives me the time to practice a stitch pattern, get to know the yarn and develop a little bit of muscle memory for a particular match-up between needles, yarn and pattern.  I call it bonding time.  Sometimes it's hard for me to leave bonding time and actually move into the project.  I have a whole bag full of swatches which I try to remember to label with what yarn it is and what needle size I used, and whether or not I used a stitch pattern from a particular book.  

I'm not always successful, and I find myself treasure hunting for all the missing information.  I pull them out of the bag every once in awhile and lay them out on my table, like puzzle pieces.  Turning them right side up and positioning them correctly, I remember back to what I thought a particular yarn would be good for, or where I bought it.  They're like little bits of memory for me.

So when I finally finished my poncho design from VK Holiday 2010, I had quite enough bonding time with Cascade 128 Superwash.  Quite. Enough.  But, I do love it and wear around the house all the time.  When I sit on the couch, it sort of lays out like a blanket and I've started referring to it as my Snuggie.  It's just better 'cause it's got a hood too.

 

Speaking of bonding, I had a lot of extra bonding time with Cascade 128 Superwash.  The design I have in VK Winter 2010/11 is knit in the same yarn.

 

I do love it.  It's a bulky weight workhorse'uva yarn.  I had such a great time knitting up this particular design.  The cabling becomes mindless, and the switch-up towards the top with the lace keeps it fun.  Annie Maloney, the author of Aran Lace, the book where I got the stitch pattern from, gave me a shout-out on Ravelry and is knitting it up herself!  I was so flattered when she e-mailed me.

And, what better way to bond with your fellow knitters than at VK LIVE!!!  I was there yesterday helping out at the Pro Lab with one of their technical editors (Hi Lori!), and what a blast!  I've had good and bad experiences when it comes to conventions, and this one was done right.  Very organized, great venue, plenty of space and just enough to see, hear and talk about.  Amidst all the yarn, I came across the most adorable knitted and felted dolls from ak traditions.  I'm not a huge fan of knitting and sewing little things.  I always lose interest by the time I have to put all the little pieces together.  But, I couldn't resist these little cuties!  So I bought one of their pattern books and am going to make a "Huggable".  The little huggable bodies are like pillows.  So adorable.