Knitty Kitty

Summer Projects

I talked with Rob at Threadbear - they are so friendly and helpful (and ironically i found them through a rant someone had against them on knitters review!)

I got the makings for Charlotte a few weeks ago, and I am having a custom multi-fiber shawl (mock collinette!) kit put together for one of my weddings this fall. He even pointed me to this free pattern that I can use - since i said i wanted feather and fan, but was unsure about how to make one with multi fibers. (Obviously I will make it larger to turn it into a shawl!)

Also, i wanted to make the Tasia Cardigan (on Rob's blog for today) for a friend who just announced a boy will be born in October! it seems easy (no seaming!) and I am making it in Lapis.

I guess I have a lot to knit this summer! Deadlines: Multi Fiber Shawl - Oct 10; Baby cardigan - October; Lace Mohair Shawl - November 27. Plus all my other projects! Yikes. At least I can wear my wool and shawls in the office - now that the AC is on, it's like a meat locker in here!

I finally updated my sidebar - not that there's much there.

Also, for the mohair beaded stole from Lily Chin's book - I lucked out and had a teeny tiny crochet hook (size 10?) needed for stringing the beads on the yarn. (You don't prestring for this pattern - you do it as you go!) I swatched a little for it to see how it works (which is the first 1%!), and i love it! the hardest part is that it is so airy it can be hard to grab and do what you need to do... anyway - i had to order beads (i had some that worked but there weren't enough for the pattern) so they'll be here soon. I am giving mom (her mother's day gift - she picked the color) the black one with silver beads. the grey with silver beads and the teal with either teal or silver beads will be mine, unless i really need a gift for someone.

congratulations are in order for nicole!!!

and - i hope that the reason she stood me up on thursday (for SNB) and never called is because of the engagement and private celebrations thereafter. it better not have been for "Friends"! ;o) (luv ya nicole!)

Yarn Crawl Report!

The yarn crawl was a ton of fun!!! No, 30 people did not show up. I think there were about 17 - I had nametags, but one or two people onky came to Purl and didn't take one, and 15 were used.

Anyway - to start at the beginning. I had friends over for dinner on Friday night, then we went to the bar.... Saturday morning I was exhausted and hung over! not good. but i finally managed to drag myself into the city. (Between the hangover and so many people, I have been really bad about names! So i won't label the pictures. I am sorry!! Anyway - anyone who came is more than welcome to put in their two cents in the comments!)

I got a call from Jessica (who went to high school with me - and was on the same train but a different car!) and we went down to Purl. It is such a cute shop!! Joelle is one of the owners, and she is great! she opened the shop JUST for us! (Good thing since it was small... and good thing 30 people didn't show up!)

Purl is small, but really covers a lot of variety of yarns. Joelle was great about helping you pick out yarns for a pattern. (I got some red mohair and a pattern for a shawl, hopefully it will match the bridesmaid dress for one of my fall weddings that I am in! I am not good at remembering prices and comparing, but I'll post my prices here in case anyone else wants to know! the mohair is Rowan Kidsilk Haze, $13.50 each, and the pattern is Fiber Trends Baltic Sea Stole for $5.00. Photos at bottom.)

After a bite to eat at "Once upon a tart" (next to Purl) to settle my stomach, we went to Seaport Yarns. This started a trend of stores that are not store fronts. in fact, once you are buzzed in and go up the elevator, you actually go IN an office! The yarns are spread everywhere, in the hallway and rooms. Andrea is the owner who helped us and she was great. From what I have seen in NY, I can back up her statement that they have the best variety of yarns in the city!! I can't think of anything that wasn't there!

I got some of that sari recycled silk ($23.50), Blue Heron dark sandstone rayon flake (1500 yds in 1 skein!!!! $20.00), an oriental bag to carry stuff ($16), 6 skeins of Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets - Canasta (cotton) in Jewel Tones ($10.00 each), and a small pattern book of Adrienne Vittadini patterns ($10.00). (the cotton is to make a top in the book similar in construction to Knitty.com's "The Cherries".)

If you are shopping in NY for yarn, I say you cannot miss this place!!!

Next stop was School Products - where we had the added bonus of meeting Lily Chin, talking shop with her, and getting autographed books! Several of us are making the crocheted stole on the cover of her new book, "Knit and Crochet with Beads" - which uses only one skein of mohair. School Products is definately the spot to be if you either machine knit or make lots of aran sweaters - they have great wools and other yarns available in bulk. If you want more "novelty" yarns, there is more of a selection at Seaport or the smaller shops. We had less customer service there, but it may be because they were really busy. They were very friendly, just not as availble for advice on projects. Maybe when they do not have a guest like Lily it's quieter.

I got Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting without Tears" ($16), Lily's book ($21.95, autographed!), and three skeins of mohair ($15.95, minus 10% for the sale they just started (20% off cones!))

(I'm in blue on the far right! Lily is in the middle row, second from the left - in a green sweater)

Next was Yarn Connection. I was so beat that I actually spent more time sitting on the stairs in the hallway, but I did go in and look around. Besides the basics and novelty yarns, there was a lot of embroidery floss and other yarns that I gues are used in crewelwork and things like that. I think they also had nice buttons and findings. The owner was very nice, but for me I probably wouldn't be interested in going back there. I didn't get anything (feeling broke after all my earlier purchases!! ;o)

After considerable debate (I was thinking of throwing in the towel myself), we decided to skip Knit NY (which from what we have all heard - is better for atmosphere than shopping) and went to Downtown Yarns. The only other real store front, this was a great little shop!! they really had a nice selection and they were very helpful as well. (They gave our group 10% discount, which was very nice!!)

I bought a pattern (Fiesta Yarns Butterfly Shawl, $4.50) - which I may use for the blue heron yarn (although i'd have to double or triple the strands... I have to swatch it. Regardless, I like the pattern a lot.)

Basically - for myself anyway, and the kind of knitting I do, I will definately be back to Seaport a lot!!!! I really enjoyed Purl and Downtown yarns, and I would go there in the future if I am in the area, but they seem fairly comparable to my LYS (Accents on Knits in Morristown NJ). School Products would only be if I hade a special project in mind, like a wool sweater or an afghan. (I am working on my first sweater, with the second one being the yarn I got at Seaport for a summer top. I am not sure if i like making sweaters yet! Being larger sizes, I have to modify patterns, and they take much longer. And while I am trying to lose weight, I don't want to make something if I change sizes. So we'll see!)

Here are the photos of my stash!

OK - well thanks for reading if you got this far. Thanks everyone who came to the yarn crawl! Sorry I can't remember names, but please post in comments or email me so we can stay in touch! I had a blast, and just wish I had more energy! Maybe next time!

yarn crawl tomorrow!

sorry i haven't posted - work has been crazy this week. and of course that's when i get my best posting done!

tomorrow is the yarn crawl! what started out as me and a few friends from SNB turned into me and 30-35 strangers!! plus a friend from high school that i haven't seen in years. it'll be crazy!

tonight some people from work are coming over for a barbecue. just for the hell of it. of course there is a chance of showers.... oh well!

not much else going on. didn't really knit this week - busy - working, planning yarn crawl, cleaning for company tonight, etc... but i should have quality knitting time on the train to NY tomorrow, and hopefully come home with a lot of yarn! i'll post about it here with pictures afterwards.

dreams

i had a dream about the yarn crawl last night. i don't remember much, but i had forgotten to bring the maps and route info for people, or stickers to identify them, and it was chaos. and like 40 people showed up. i think i ended up going to a movie instead of the yarn stores. (well, it is the tribeca film festival!)

i don't know why i had a stress dream about it. i decided last thursday with the number of people, i would have to hand them the stuff and just say "go have fun". with 20-30 people coming, i can't do anything else. just hope they play nicely. i'm really not a control freak, but i'm the kind of person that either someone else has to be in charge and taking care of things, or i do. so it will be a challenge to let what happens happens. but i think it will be a lot of fun! and nothing like my dream!

i got my koigu for charlotte's web! i was expecting much more yarn. i've never done a lace project before, and i can't believe that little bit of yarn is enough!

i have to take some photos this week of WIP - but nothing exciting has been going on.

boogie sweater - still on the back, almost to the armhole decreases (this is going very slowly!!!!)

alpaca shawl - i had frogged it several times before decided on a pattern, and started the final(!?) version at SNB a while ago... but it was dark there and i screwed up the pattern within the first few rows. i started again last night and got much further.

wool poncho - i did the neckline and about 2 inches of the body and that's it so far.

i guess it's the warm weather - i haven't knitted much lately compared to my winter marathon knitting. but i guess that's ok. sometimes i almost wish i commuted to the city and had 2 hours of knitting a day.

sometimes.

i also started a head band last night - both since i am starting to grow my hair out and it's definately reaching headband stage already - and because at the yarn crawl i can say look for the person with a green knitted headband. (same yarn as the green scarf below!) i think in my dream i also stressed because that wasn't done and people wouldn't know me.

oh well, back to work. pleasant dreams!

as promised so long ago ;o)

first - sorry it's blurry - but this is when i let the birds out to fly around. (no one was hurt!)

i made a scarf last weekend - it's about 11 feet long, (touches the ground when i wear it without wrapping!) and took me about 3-4 hours to make! i wore it on the colder days this past week.

this was the blanket i made for ella (pattern from crafty bitch - the hexagonal one)

and the cute guy from pagan pride... i think in normal clothes he wouldn't be nearly as handsome. but he looked like he stepped out of an enchanted forest!

ok. i need to pick up the co-op veggies, take a shower, and hit the road. i guess i'm going to new paltz because it starts later, and i know i'll get there when mapquest says i will. if i go to LI it can take twice as long with traffic (plus its a nice day, so good chance of that!)

later!