Flair Cardigan on I-95
Driving up to Rhode Island for Andy’s sister’s wedding – and finishing the Flair Cardigan in New England Tweed!
We’re trying to get Mystic, Connecticut in time to go to Mystic Yarns. Send good travel vibes our way…
Sock the Vote
I am such a sucker for a gimmick. I realized this when I almost bought a really bright colorway of Schaefer yarn just because it was called “Emily Dickinson.” [If those people ever come up with a “Jane Austen” colorway, I will buy them out. Over and over again. There will be a worldwide shortage, with rationing and everything.]
And Schaefer has done it again with Sock the Vote, sock yarn in four colorways celebrating the women of the 2008 election. The last thing I need is more yarn! [Please don’t tell me sock yarn doesn’t count…much as I would like to believe that, my closet tells a different story.]
Nevertheless, I drool…
Upcoming Class: Flair Sweater
This is a cross-post from the Knit-A-Gogo blog.
You Can
Dearest KAG-ites, it’s Kathleen (again). I’m blogging about my upcoming class, the Flair (rav lnk) cardigan by Wendy Bernard.
I am so excited about this class. We’re holding it at the fantastic Buzz Bakery, which has yummy pastries for normal people AND amazing gluten-free cupcakes for me. What’s not to love?
Flair isn’t just a popular project – it’s also a great first sweater. Those of you who feel intimidated by the idea of making a sweater should set your fears aside and try this one. You’ll knit, purl, increase, decrease, and work in the round.
Flair is knit from the top down, which means there’s very little finishing involved (my personal hurdle when it comes to sweaters) — and you can try it on as you go, which means you have a great chance of making a sweater that fits you well and looks good on you.
Supply Notes
Yarn…I knit my Flair out of Harrisville Designs New England Highland (rav lnk), a lovely tweed with a lot of depth but much less itch than most tweeds (just ask Holly!). Best of all, the price tag was much less than I’d have expected for enough yarn to make a sweater.
Needles…I knit a medium Flair, and ended up needing a third needle – a 42-incher – to knit the bottom of the sweater comfortably. You won’t need that until the second class, though – Oct. 22.
I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday at Buzz!
Cardigan on Duty
I am on dorm duty this weekend, which means lots of time to knit while I spend the day (and night, until way too late) in the common area. This is a good thing for my progress on Wendy Bernard’s “Flair,” which I’m teaching next month (through Knit-A-Gogo).
Tried it on, which was pleasing although needle came out and had to pick up some stitches…
Wool in the Woods
Blogging from a backpacking trip with 14 year olds. It’s a little like having 12 Sherpas. But they don’t know how to, well, sherp.
Not knitting out here, but I AM wearing fantastic 100 percent wool socks. With reinforcing thread in heel and toe!
Living in a Cave. Also, Knitting Classes
Dear all, I have not forgotten you. I have just been buried in an all-consuming work project. The culmination of 10 months of work, in fact. It is like I have been running one of those egg-spoon relays, wearing a backpack full of bricks.
I believe it will calm down by the weekend…but I thought that a couple of weeks ago as well. So. I will be posting again tonight or tomorrow; I have a review of Mystic Yarns in Mystic, Connecticut (as well as one of My Favorite Yarn Shop (no, really, that’s the name) from a few weeks ago) and updates on the accursed CPH and my Flair sweater for next month’s class.
Speaking of classes, my fall line-up for Knit-A-Gogo is up on the Knit-A-Gogo site. Check it out! Only two classes this time around, but I can always do private lessons, and will have more for the winter semester.
So…not dead yet! Coming back soon!
We Take Care of Our Own.
Andy actually in a yarn shop?!?
Yarn Shop #1: Ewenique Yarns.
Our detour for needles in Maryland was really, really fun. At Ewenique Yarns (rav grp) in Bel Air, not only did I get some lovely clover circular 7s — on which I would, later, immediately get the correct gauge — but also some gorgeous Manos yarn, and excellent insider information on traffic and the area.
As soon as I told Maggie Jackovitz, the owner, what I was up to (“I left my husband in the car! I need some size 7 circular needles!”) she and her husband, Steve, snapped into action. They insisted I bring Andy in for a cold drink, a bathroom break, and some directions.
There was an awful car accident on I-95, we learned, and Steve and Maggie saved us a couple of hours of misery by directing us through Maryland on a back road that was not just clear, but beautiful.
I bounced out to the car and brought Andy in; while he and Steve pored over Google Maps, I talked to Maggie about knitting and teaching and just how much we enjoy them both.
This is something I love about knitters, at our best: we take care of our own. Most every yarn shop I walk into is its own little small town, with a community of knitter-neighbors who help each other through life’s bumps. And if I stranger happens to wander through, they’re just one of the gang.
Maggie Jackovitz, the owner of Ewenique Yarns: a little blurry, but surrounded by an amazing fiber selection
Maggie was sitting at a large table in the middle of the store, seaming up what looked suspiciously like an Elizabeth Zimmermann Adult Surprise Jacket (but, given that the ASJ has no seams, and judging from the shop’s blog and ravelry group, is more likely to have been a Hanne Falkenberg pattern, or possibly the Sally Melville Einstein Coat (rav lnk)). Two other knitters were there, working on their projects and gabbing. One, Patty, said I could only take a photo of her with the other two. Since those didn’t come out…I can’t show you Patty! But she was friendly and working on a lovely orange sweater. Meanwhile, Steve was at the register – a CPA, he comes in once a week to pay bills. Maggie told me that they, too, had spent a lot of time on road trips, stopping in yarn shops for forgotten items (or just to explore).
What I liked best about this place was that it felt both homey and open. A community of insiders can be a little too close when an outsider wanders in; a gathering of people who don’t really know each other can feel awkward. This little interlude was neither.
The new Manos yarn takes a ride up Route One
Maggie seemed really to know the women at the table; she remembered Patty’s favorite yarn, and, later, broke into her own project bag to give her the color she needed for her next project.
Bought the aforementioned (and pictured) Manos yarn, in a nice masculine black-brown-gray colorway, to make Andy a scarf. Took a few photos, too, as you can tell. All in all, this was a beautiful start to our trip, and a reminder of the worldwide fellowship of knitting
Maggie and Steve, watch out: we’ll be up your way again.
Too Many WIPs (WsIP)
Well, already it’s exciting out here on the road. I opened up my Denise case to find…I have way too many projects on the needles right now. Sizes 6, 7, and 8 are in use elsewhere, and I need the 7s (probably) to start Flair.
The 6s and the 8s are back home in CPH limbo. I have no idea where the size 7s are…but they ain’t here, baby. Tried swatching with bamboo 6s and 8s (I didn’t come out utterly unprepared, people) but no dice.
But I bet you all know what’s coming. Yarn shop trip! We’re off to Ewenique Yarns in Bel Air, Md., found using my iMiraclePhone. More soon!
Sometimes I Just Don’t Know. Also, Traveling.
Please know that I am not exaggerating for effect here. A few days ago afternoon, I brought my pot o’ flowers in from the deck because a storm was coming. One of the flowers was leaning over a bit funny due to damage in the last story (hence the protectiveness now). It was really leaning over badly and looked truly sad.
“Gosh,” I thought, “if only I had some string I could stake the flower and give it a little help.” I walked around the house, looking for twine, or possibly thick thread, or anything, really. “Why I don’t have any string in the house is beyond me,” I thought. “Some sort of…”
Riiiight.
- Stick and String (and Green)
I do indeed have string. So I grabbed me some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky (rav lnk) from the end of the baby blanket, and started looking for…a stick. Maybe a nice drinking straw, or a chopstick, or…
Yeah. My brain is clearly on vacation, even though I have not been.
So anyway. An old dpn, some Debbie Bliss, and my JaneLawton wildflowers are the fanciest staked plants on the block.
This weekend Andy and I are going up to Massachusetts for his fantastic younger sister’s bridal shower. [Andy and the groom will go see “The Dark Knight,” which is fine by me as I found the entire middle bit to be way too complicated.]
[I loved Heath Ledger as the Joker, though.]
[I just generally have a problem with the Batman movies. Oh, whatever.]
[Anyway.]
The point is that I will be in a car, but I’ll be trying to blog from my iPhone, using the nifty WordPress iPhone app. We’ll see how it goes! I’m excited to get out of Dodge again and to start work on my sample of the Wendy Bernard Flair jacket (rav lnk), which I’ll be teaching for Knit-A-Gogo in October. I bought some beautiful tweed yarn — New England Highland (rav lnk) from Harrisville Designs — from Knit Happens for this sweater. Cannot wait. [By the way – they have a sale going on this weekend. Run! Don’t walk! Go! Now!]
Am also super-charged to see my nieces, for whom I will be knitting socks. Am bringing them way too much sock yarn to choose from. Evidently I am going to become that aunt, the one who makes you a sweater you hate for Every Single Birthday.
I guess everybody needs one of those.
Not Dead Yet!
I’m still here! I just have been buried under something large — to wit, the relaunch of the website for my day job. But it will be over soon…and I plan to write more tomorrow. In the meantime…here are some CPH photos. I may not have enough yarn. But am trying not to think about it…
Knit Like You Mean It. 