Adventures in Chart Knitting

Sep24

I cast on for a new cowl yesterday. I had that lovely Mochi Plus in shades of blue and found this perfect wave cowl pattern called Clemence. I downloaded it and cast on, and then realized the stitch pattern was in a chart. See, sometimes knitting patterns use charts with little symbols to represent a stitch, like shorthand or something. And sometimes they write out each line. It’s just personal preference. I suppose charts take up less space or something, which is especially important in complicated lace patterns. In any case, I prefer written patterns. It’s hard for me to remember what each little symbol means, so I’m always looking down at the key to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing. But I love this cowl and it was just right for this yarn, so I did the first row without problems.

At least I thought I did. Then I re-read the instructions and realized the chart is meant to be read bottom to top and right to left. What is this craziness? I texted my knitting SIL to vent and she pointed out that you knit bottom to top and right to left. Stumped, I had to agree she was right. But still, I said, I read left to right. Her response? “Pretend you’re Hebrew.” All righty then.

I ignored that first (wrong) row and just started the next row doing the chart properly. And once I figured out how simple the pattern really is, it was fine. I even took it with me for car knitting during the girl’s flute lesson and worked without the chart and didn’t mess it up (I don’t think.) And I’m glad I kept going because I think it’s going to be gorgeous. It’s knitting up quickly and I’ll have enough yarn left over to do matching fingerless gloves and a hat.

Here’s a fun puppy photo from the other day. We took them to the dog park on Sunday and they wore themselves out big-time. That night Grace crashed on the couch and the kids thought it would be fun to wrap her up in the blanket. She didn’t care a bit. She looks like she belongs in Star Wars, like she’s Obi Wan Kenobi or something. Funny dog.

My New Local Yarn Store

Sep23

People, yesterday was a big day for me. You remember I recently moved to a new city, and the only crafty store I could find was Michaels? And that the yarn selection at Michaels is, well, it’s kind of crap? I mean, there’s some okay stuff, but it’s just a really small selection, and…it’s not GOOD yarn. Well! I have found salvation.

I had lunch with two long-time friends yesterday. They came to see my new house and then we went to Rock & Run Brewery, a locally owned pub. Great drinks, great food, great atmosphere. I loved it. Then one of my friends asked if I’d been to Corbin Mill yet. (It’s an old mill with several crafty shops in there; I thought there was quilting and beading and antiques.) I said no, not yet, hadn’t had the time. “Did you know there’s yarn there?” she asked me casually. Nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. Are you kidding me?? Six weeks I’ve lived here and had no idea I was two minutes away from a yarn store?? It was decided: after lunch we were going to the mill.

So we did and it was marvelous! It’s called the Old Mill Stitchery (see, that doesn’t scream yarn. No wonder I was confused.) The yarn section wasn’t huge but it was fantastic. Lots of Classic Elite Yarns, Berroco, some Shibui, and more that were new to me. Even the Berroco, which you can find in most LYSs, was really well-represented, with yarns I hadn’t seen before. There were samples hanging up everywhere, gorgeous complicated knits. As I wandered through petting the yarns, I chatted with the lady working there. Apparently the store has been there for 20 years or so, though I’m not sure if it’s always had the yarn. She was the needlepoint lady; the knitting lady would be in the next day, as would a knitting group. Oh, and get this: I had JUST missed a yarn tasting by a day or so. And the next one won’t be until spring. Argh. You can bet I signed up for their mailing list immediately.

The hard part was that my friends are not knitters. One is a rug hooker, so she appreciated the large section of dyed wool. The other is not crafty. As she said, we can make it and she can buy it. So I didn’t want to torture them too long. We browsed through the yarn, the wool, the little antique store section, and saved the bead store for last. Lots and lots of pretties! I can’t wait to go back and look for materials for some new stitch markers. I didn’t wait long for the yarn. As soon as my friends dropped me off, I let the puppies outside for a few minutes, then drove right back up to the yarn store. I even had some birthday money to spend! An hour later, it was gone, but my arms were full of these luscious treasures. Araucania Ruca Solid. This is 100% Sugar Cane. What?? I didn’t know such a thing existed. I don’t usually buy much brown yarn, but this one reminded me of milk chocolate. It’s also extremely soft but what made me buy it was the drape. It feels very elegant, and I think this will become a gorgeous shawl. Bonus: it was 50% off!Classic Elite Yarns Chateau. I’ve played with this yarn before and it’s heavenly. It’s so lightweight and soft, it’s cloud-like. It’s mostly baby alpaca with a bit of bamboo, so of course I love it. Alpaca is my favorite. This is going to become some kind of striped scarf for me. I’m a fan of sparkle so this Ava by CEY caught my eye, and I snagged the last two skeins of silver. I haven’t decided if this will become a project by itself, or if I’ll use it as an accent on other projects.More sale yarn! This is Kodiak by Berroco, another new yarn for me. Another bulky, super-soft alpaca blend; this is obviously the type of yarn that speaks to me more than any others. It was all 50% off, I loved all the colors and I couldn’t decide which one to get. I also couldn’t afford to buy as much as I wanted, so I got a pink, a cream and two dark grey, and I’m pretty sure they’ll play together to become some kind of cowl/scarf thing.

It was such a fun day, and it pleased me so much to find such a wonderful creative haven so close to me. I’m not normally a very out-going, social person, but I do think I’ll go up there one day and check out the knitting group. It might be neat to have some new yarny buddies.

Here’s the downside: I came home and started putting my new yarns away, and looking at my gorgeous gorgeous stash actually made me sad! I have so much beautiful yarn, and I’m afraid now that I’ve got SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) and that’s not okay, because I want to have time to use all these fantastic yarns I’ve collected. Does anyone else ever feel like that? I either need to knit more often and faster, or I need to stop buying yarn, and not buying yarn isn’t going to happen, so I better stop typing now and start knitting.

Except I’m tired of all my WIPs. Time to cast on for something new?

More Rehab on the House

Sep22

My weekend was not knitting related at all. When we bought this big old house that needs all this work, I guess we resigned ourselves to weekends of manual labor for the rest of time. We’re still working on the fence. It’s slow going when you can only work one to two days a week, but I keep reminding myself of how much money we’re saving by doing it ourselves. And we’re getting SO close! I spent early Saturday digging up weed roots along the fence line, and took great joy in knocking down this stupid rickety old trellis.That afternoon, we strung the line and measured for fence posts.Sunday morning, we went to work with the rented auger and it went much more smoothly than I anticipated. We have a huge yard, around 300 square feet, and with mostly 8′ sections, that’s a lot of post holes. There were maybe four or five where we hit root, and we’ll have to go back and dig by hand. The rest we got done in half a day. The worst were the ones were we’d get down maybe two feet and then hit the thick, dense clay. We’d have to pull the auger out, clean off the mud, and try again, and several of them took four tries before we got down to 30 inches. But we did it, and I’m encouraged! We might actually get a fence this fall. The best part was when one of the neighbors stopped and told us how nice it was to see us working on this house. It’s been neglected for a long time, and I’m loving the fact that making it pretty again will bring joy to the neighborhood, not just us.

I also moved my daughter’s desk down from the attic into the sitting room. She’s been doing her homework at the kitchen table, which isn’t ideal for any of us. Plus this desk, which my fantastically talented husband built, is gorgeous and I wanted to be able to see it. I love it here in front of the window. (Side note: I cannot WAIT to refinish these floors. I know the water damage won’t go away completely, but man, this wood will be gorgeous after being sanded and refinished. I’m just not brave enough to do it by myself.) Anyway, yes, love the desk here and am in fact sitting here as I write this, loving the view and being downstairs with the puppies. And the girl seemed to appreciate it last night. It’s much more comfortable than the attic room, and she doesn’t have to move everything when it’s time for dinner.I haven’t completely neglected my yarn. I did manage to get another Yoda hat knit, so I have five hats done. Last night I got three sets of ears knit. Just a couple more hours and they’ll be ready to go, either to sell on Etsy or for my craft show next month. And I do have a finished object to share, even if it is from last week. This is the Bit of Lace Hemp Triangle, and I used some shimmery purple Merletto. I love this project. I love the big hook and the skinny yarn. I love the loose lacy fabric it creates. I love how fast it works up. I love the versatility of the finished piece, how it can be a shawlette or a scarf. I’ve got enough left to make another one just like this, so I’ll be able to keep one and sell one. I should be able to get some knitting done later today, but first I get to have lunch with two wonderful ladies from my Coldwater Creek days. Should be a good day all around!

If It Makes You Happy

Sep18

I have been nominated to name 50 things that make me happy, and ever since I found out, things have been running through my head, and it’s been making me smile. So thank you, Inger Kenobi, for sharing your list, and for helping me focus on the positives. As she said, these are in no particular order:

Puppy snuggles
Hearing my daughter play the flute
My son’s art
Holding hands
My husband. Everything about him.
Silence
Lying in the grass watching trees sway in the breeze
Brandi Carlile’s music
Tight, complex harmonies in a song
Chocolate cake
Margaritas
My family
Little babies you can cuddle and then give back when they get cranky
A new, thick book
Libraries
Notebooks
Beautiful pens
Memories of my dad
My craft room
Yarn
Twilight (yes, that Twilight)
Long-distance friends
Friendly neighbors
Soft furry kitties
Mountains, especially the Rockies
Hot tea
Antique stores
Local yarn stores
Knitting blogs
Editing someone else’s writing
Singing
Musicals
Sleeping in on Sunday morning
Playdates with knitting friends
Jodi Picoult novels
Dancing when no one else is home
Fresh sheets on the bed
Having written something that pleases me
Roadtrips
Christmas time
My mom’s pumpkin bread
Singing Happy Birthday
Live music
Baby photos
Handmade jewelry
New clothes that make me feel pretty
My ipod classic that holds ALL my music
Thick socks
A hot bath
Hugs

That was fun! Now, who else wants to play? These are the people I’d like to see make a list:

Celeste from Learn Her
Rachelle from My Tangled Yarn
Talya from Duck and Cover
Polo from The Knitter Nerd
Kerry from Love Those Hands at Home

What’s the Next Step?

Sep17

I love my blog. I love being a small part of this really cool community. I love all you readers, those who comment and those who don’t. I love sharing photos of what I’m working on and what the puppies are destroying. It’s been over a year now, and I’ve been on the free WordPress plan the whole time. Well, it’s time to think about the next step. I’m at 75% capacity for storage, which I think means eventually I won’t be able to post new photos. That’s not okay, not for a knitting blog. So I’m asking you, fellow WordPress users, what do you do? Do you upgrade? Do you delete old photos to make room?

I’ve been watching Property Brothers while I knit, and it’s making me want to do more to fix/decorate my new house. So yesterday I hit the thrift store and found an awesome zebra print bag (Not for the house. Whatever. A bargain is a bargain), new curtains for the door in the bedroom, a new curtain for the kitchen window, and some frames for my favorite kids’ artwork. I’ve been saving these for ages and I’m glad I finally can hang them up. This is the one I like the best.

Yoda All the Time

Sep16

This week has been all about Yoda. If you remember, I got my new batch of Yoda green yarn (aka Knit Picks in PeaPod) in the mail on Saturday. Sunday night I started knitting hats, and Monday afternoon I listed them on Etsy again, available in three different sizes. I sold one pretty quickly, soon got a custom order for a bigger size, and then got two more orders! I spent all day yesterday knitting, finishing and mailing three different orders…and I loved it! It made me feel like my little business is going in the right direction. I think it’s safe to say Yoda’s a pretty popular guy right now, so I’m going to keep making those hats until my yarn is gone again. If they don’t sell on Etsy, I’ve got two big craft shows coming up this fall and I’d love to feature Yoda.

Last night was a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at Chipotle, so we met my sister and her kids there for dinner. Eat a yummy dinner AND benefit young musicians? No brainer! My nephew ran across the restaurant calling my name when he saw me, and that always makes a girl feel good. So yeah, the food was great, company was great, and then we came home. What do you know, the pillow exploded! Sigh. Apparently Grace needs a new toy or two, along with a fence in the backyard. She’s getting bored. She got another pair of the girl’s shoes the other day, and now the pillow. Super. I love my dog. I love my dog. I love my dog.

Birthday Goodies!

Sep13

Do you want to see my new treasures?? I’m so excited, I can barely pull myself away from my yarn to show you. I am a very spoiled woman indeed…and I like it that way! Look at those! Go ahead, ooh and ahh; I did. I recently bought one set of Karbonz to try, and fell in love immediately. They’re quite possibly the perfect needle for acrylic and other “stickier” yarns. The points are sharp and slick, but the body has just enough grab to keep them from being to slippery. I can knit so fast with them, and I love the little clicky noise they make when I get going really fast.These books are perfect for my long-time love of hats and my new-found love of shawls. I’ve already picked out a pattern from each book to make ASAP. And since I’ve returned to crochet recently, I’m loving these big hooks with thin yarns to make beautiful crocheted lace. Because I was a teenager in the 90s, I was obsessed with NKOTB. Seriously obsessed. (Just FYI, Jordan was my favorite at the time. Now I’m leaning toward Jonathan, but obviously not in a crushing kind of way.) Anyway, that means my siblings still love to give me NKOTB stuff when they find it. This lunchbox will be the best project box ever! And the thermos can hold needles and whatnot!

See?? Didn’t I make out like a bandit? Sigh. I’m a happy girl. And it wasn’t a great birthday (just) because of the presents. We went out, just the four of us, to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival and had a marvelous time shopping and watching shows and petting dogs. We were all in a good mood and the kids didn’t bicker (much) and it was exactly what I wanted. I wasn’t planning to buy yarn, but when I went by the Th’Red Head booth, this skein of yarn just jumped into my hands and said “TAKE ME HOME!”. Well, all rightly then, I can do that.Hitchhiker number 4, anyone?

And THEN! As if the day wasn’t good enough, I got a box from Knit Picks and inside was my new Yoda green yarn! Now I can start making more hats for my Etsy shop.I finished off the day with a big family dinner with the mother, the sister and her two kids, and the brother and his wife and new baby. It was loud and chaotic and a lot of fun. I was exhausted, but you know it’s a good day when you go to bed grateful, peaceful and content, and I did.

Time for Some Crochet

Sep11

Crochet came first for me, but after I learned to knit, knitting because my primary passion. I love the fabric it creates, the rhythm of my hands, hearing that little click of the needles every so often. But I still enjoy crochet too, and lately I’ve been feeling the urge. Yesterday I gave in to the urge. It was time to take a break on the blanket and I don’t have any outstanding orders to finish, so I perused Ravelry until I found a pattern that spoke to me. Now, you’ll have to be patient with me. This will be a gift for someone who I think reads my blog, so I don’t want to share the full details just yet. But here’s a little peek: I think it looks a bit like chainmail. I’m using a DK weight (a little thinner than I usually use) yarn called Merletto from Louisa Harding. It’s called Sage but to me it’s more of a silver, and it even has a lovely shimmer. I’m quite excited about this project, and in fact I’ll be going back to it once I’m done writing to you lovely people.

The girl had her second football game yesterday (reminder: she’s marching band, not football team). I think the team lost, but the band was wonderful of course. And right after the halftime show, there was lightning and then some rain and the band was sent home and I didn’t have to sit through a whole football game! Yahoo! Anyway, we came home. To the puppies. Yes, THOSE puppies. The ones who are naughty sometimes. I’d gotten a package in the mail yesterday and included was a small gauzy pouch containing a birthday present. I had set it aside to open on the actual day. Well, you can guess what happened. Grace decided she wanted it open NOW. She’s very good at opening presents. Thankfully, the present was nothing she deemed edible, so it survived. And it’s beautiful too, see: This is from Kind Spirit Jewelry. She makes pretty things. I will wear it today when my mommy takes me out for a celebratory lunch. And the weather is supposed to be sunny and slightly cooler, so I think it will be a good day. Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Arizona Sunset Cowl

Sep10

I finished the Arizona Sunset cowl a few days ago, washed it, blocked it, and yesterday I went outside for a little photo shoot. I’m so happy with this cowl. It’s exactly what I pictured in my head when I bought the yarn. You can find the fantastic pattern here, my Ravelry notes here, and the listing on my Etsy shop here. I want to make some matching fingerless gloves with the leftover yarn, and then I want to make more of these cowls with the other colors of Mochi Plus.

I’ve been making good progress on my Playful Stripes blanket too. It’s going faster than any blanket has a right to. I think it’s because of the colors: I keep knitting because I can’t wait to see what it looks like with the next color. I’m on my third color now. Want to join me in the fun? Find the pattern here; what colors would you choose? The designer, Meridith Shepherd, did one in shades of turquoise, gray and white that’s gorgeous.

And something fun happened as a result of my starting this project: Meridith saw the project page on Ravelry, found the blog post, and contacted me. She’s a retail refugee/SAHM like I am, and I’m pleased to have connected with her. She’s a knitting designer doing business as Stacked Woolens. She’s doing a sweater try-on event at one of my LYS, The Studio Knitting and Needlepoint, where attendees can try on one of her sweaters, get the pattern, and buy the Anzula yarn. If you’re in the KC metro area, maybe I’ll see you there on the 24th! And if you haven’t been to The Studio yet, check out their page here.

Now I’m off to the post office. Thanks to the magic of Etsy, as of last night my shop is sold out of little Yoda hats, and I can’t replenish until I get my KnitPicks order of Yoda green yarn. Don’t you just love getting yarn in the mail?

Meeting Itzhak Perlman

Sep9

Last night was kind of a bucket-list sort of night for me. For years, I’ve loved listening to Itzhak Perlman play his violin. He’s truly amazing. I love music in general; so many different kinds speak to me in different ways, but his music…I don’t know how to explain it. I *feel* things when he plays. Living in the KC area, I’ve seen him come to town several times and thought, Oh, I wish I could go…and then I never did. Then I saw he was coming again, this time with the pianist Emanuel Ax, and it was a few days before my birthday and I didn’t want to skip it this time. We took both kids with us and it was Amazing with a capital A.

It was held in Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which is a gorgeous building. I can’t describe it so here’s the photo I took from our high-up, way-back seats. We were all dressed up, and I was wearing a new birthday dress, and I felt so grown-up and fancy. The crowd was silent during the performance, which was strange at first, since most of my outings are pop/rock concerts or ball games. But this was a high-class crowd, and they clearly all appreciated the special event we were part of. And the music, oh it was beautiful. I didn’t recognize it, but that didn’t matter. Toward the end, they interacted with the audience a bit and Mr. Perlman was the funny guy and Mr. Ax was the straight man. We got to sing Happy Birthday to Mr. Perlman, who had recently turned 70. Then after, after this marvelous concert, it got even better.

They held a short Q&A, and those who stayed were invited to move closer to the stage. We fought our way through the crowd, most of whom were leaving, and found seats nice and close. They were lovely and well-spoken and witty. And after THAT? Yes, truly, the highlight of the night: we got to go onstage and get autographs. There wasn’t time for chit-chat, just enough time to thank them and offer my meager praise, but I spoke to Itzhak Perlman and he signed our program. Amazing. It made my heart happy.

We made it home by 10:30 and the dogs had chewed up the girl’s shoes and they needed to go out and the girl had algebra homework and oh god the dog peed on our bed seriously OMG we have to strip the bed and clean the mattress before we can go to sleep. It kind of took the shine of the evening but today, looking back on it, I can still feel the magic of the night.

bonnyknits

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