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It’s a small world!

March 13, 2010 by Carolyn

I received this message from Maurie…….you’ll see in a moment what a small world this can be!

“I had to send you this. 
I took the day off and went to the orchid show at Ft. Mason with a couple of friends from my old job.  I was walking around knitting.  Some ladies couldn’t believe that I could look at orchids and knit and another lady wanted to know how I could look at anything but the orchids.  I also got an invitation to join the knitting guild in San Leandro.  She gave me the phone number of the vice president.  She had a “potato chip” scarf on that she had made.
There was a young woman pushing a buggy-thing with a baby in it.  The baby’s name was Ian.  His grandmom was there taking pictures with a fancy looking camera, pictures of him flirting with me.  There was a blanket in that buggy that I recognized, turquoise squares and multicolored blocks with hearts kintted in.  Ian’s mom said that Terry Bloomberg knitted it.  She said it’s his favorite blanket.  She was pretty pleased with it.  Isn’t that fun?  Maurie”

Another creation from Terry

Terry and Maurie both attend the Skein Lane Saturday morning knitting workshop.
=

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“The Hapsaalu Shawl” book by Nancy Bush

March 4, 2010 by Carolyn

News in from Kimberly – “K2Tog has just received “The Hapsaalu Shawl” book that Nancy Bush was talking about. It is in English and is GORGEOUS. Full of history, pictures and charts. We had three copies and are now down to two.” While I haven’t seen the book…I will over the weekend. I am a huge fan of Nancy Bush .. her attention to historical detail is always right on!

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Part 2 – Stitches Journery – CocoKnits

March 3, 2010 by Carolyn

Karen had been to Stitches on Friday…and she purchased a dynamite pattern Liesel  from CocoKnits. This vendor/designer had models to try on of the patterns that she has designed….lovely…lovely…lovely! Karen was so excited with the design and she found the yarn specificed in the pattern,  Euro Flax Linen.  Not only is Karen H excited but so was Karen K from our Skein Lane knittng circle as well as  myself. I tried Liesel on and I felt quite trendy! I have some Euro Flax Linen in my Skein Lane inventory…it’s red and I think it will be stunning. I will embark upon it as soon as I finish the Tomten sweater jacket, a design by Elizabeth Zimmerman, for my newly born nephew, Carson Louis…..Louis is our dad’s name! Brings a tear or two!

I am pointing you to Meg Swansen’s site to learn more about the Tomten Sweater Jacket and Elizabeth Zimmerman – Meg’s mother.

Liesl

During our 4-hr sprint Karen took Connie and me to the CocoKnits booth…and we both fell in the designs…just as Karen had. Connie tried on Carlie, seen below, and she then went shopping for the yarn – Elsbeth Lavold’s Silky Flame. Her color choice was a red-orange. It’s beautiful and Connie will look terrific in it.

Carli

More to come in the next post!

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Part 1 of the 4-hr Stitches journey

March 2, 2010 by Carolyn

We – Karen, Connie, and I –  had been at Stitches all of about 5 minutes when we stopped in our tracks at the first booth we came to –  The Mannings. This vendor had many beautiful garments and our eyes fell upon their multi-colored shawl. The best part of this shawl is a clever adaption from an Oat Couture’s circular baby pattern. 
The shawl…….

The Oat Couture Baby Coverlet turned Shawl

The pattern……

Oat Couture BB210 - Curlicue Coverlet

Connie is knitting her version with a lovely blue-green choice and Karen is knitting hers in Autumn colors. Both yarns are the fingering weight Mini-Mochie from Crystal Palace. This fun design from The Mannings can be assembled right here in our area.  The yarn is available at K2TOG and the pattern is available from Skein Lane Studio.
Another Skein Laner was also shopping in that booth…more from our Fire person Terry when I see her next and get the details of her purchase. It’s just so fun to be inspired by all that we knitters create.

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A quick fun trip to Stitches!

March 1, 2010 by Carolyn

Connie, Karen, and Carolyn at Stitches West 2010

Connie, Karen, and Carolyn at Stitches West 2010

We went to Stitches! I had given myself a time out this year…but on Saturday morning the phone rang and the next thing you know I was off to Stitches with Knitting Workshop friends, Karen and Connie. We spent a little over 4 hours at the show… and in that time we covered a lot of ground.

Karen and Connie walked away with 7 projects between the two of them..and some do-dads.  I walked away inspired by a number of lovely garments….a couple of long tanks, a long vest, and several Jane Slicer Smith’s designs. 

As for me I saw a lot of my old customers and retail friends. So…I’ll name drop for a moment because I am grateful to have these folks as friends through this wonderful knitting world. In many cases some of us had not seen each other for a year. The first person inside the door that I saw was the knit designer Chris Bylsma. She was between knitting classes and our paths might not have crossed otherwise. Had a chance to chat with Jane Slicer Smith….the featured designer at this year’s Stitches Event. Lorna Miser and I bumped into each other in on the aisles full of customers looking for “something”. Checked in with Maggi of MaggiKnits and pleased that she had a moment to touch base in the midst of her busy booth.  Helen Hamman was challenged in her booth…most of her goods to sell were “stuck” in customs! Now that would create a challenge. It’s always good to see Cheryl Oberle…we often were business neighbors at past Stitches Events. And lastly I was able to exchange a quick greeting with the great folks from Australia. In years past I have indulged myself at the end of Stitches by purchasing one their lovely woven garments.

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Heard at the knitting table

February 23, 2010 by Carolyn

Some of the things heard at Saturday morning workshop.

The Sea of Garter Stitches

The Sea of Garter Stitches

Susanne as she talks about her Moderne Baby Blanket – a garter stitch pattern from Mason-Dixon. “I am stuck in a sea of garter stitches!” 

Margo is working on a sweater for her sister…and we hear her say as she is frogging this sweater, “I come with a garment and leave with skeins.

From Margot again. She is casting on again for the second sweater for her sister and she says, “OMG – I have to take it out!”  She had cast on and forgot that her design called for ribbing at the beginning and she “knit” right by that.

Soon we will have to audio to these posts. The delivery from the folks in extraordinarily funny.

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The sweater that grew!

February 21, 2010 by Carolyn

Cathy was inspired by a Rowan pattern designed by Kim Hargreaves. It’s a lovely design …and she chose a different yarn, Silky Wool (65% wool and 35% silk) by Elsbeth Lavold. Cathy did all her prep work…knit her swatch…liked the knitted fabric that she produced…adapted the pattern and her size to this information. What she didn’t do was wash the swatch (or clean it in the way in which it would be cleaned throughout the life of the garment). Many of us don’t do that (including myself) even though we should.

For several reasons Cathy was not having a love affair with her finished sweater jacket… she didn’t like the way it fit; she didn’t think it was flattering and the color turned out to be not as flattering for her as she thought it would be. I tried it on….I liked the style, the fit, and the color. We worked out a trade…I now own this sweater jacket. I chose my buttons…and thought I would block/wash the garment first. I block my knitted garments/items with the wash method – wash on the gentle cycle in cold/tepid water. I let the water spin out and then take the garment from the washer to a towel. The garment is rolled in the towel to remove any excess moisture. The next and final step on the way to drying is to lay the garment on a towel that is laid out on the table (could be a bed if you don’t have a large enough table). Then I pat the garment into shape. For this one I made sure that the bust measurement of the sweater was right….I had a momentary thought that the neck looked a little large…oh well, it was late…my brain was tired…and what did I know at that point.

What I learned a few days later when I tried the sweater jacket on for our Saturday morning workshop was a major surprise….the sweater grew! And I don’t mean slightly. The above-the-wrist arm length had changed to the middle of my hand. It grew at least 4-5 inches. In all my years of knitting I had not encountered this. I shared this dilemna with each of the Skein Lane Knitting Workshop Groups…a few days later I got a call from Dee…she pointed me to the book “Big Book of Knitting” by Katharina Buss. And the magic answer on page 14 is: “Silk keeps you cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold. It is also very comfortable. But it is not easy to knit. Silk has to be knit very tightly because finished pieces stretch the first time they are washed. Don’t check the gauge until after you have washed your sample piece.”

Who knew that silk grows? Clearly I didn’t. What probably compounded this growing situation was the Silk Wool was knit only moderately tight.

Oh, what to do!? I washed the sweater again in the washing machine on the gentle cycle in warm water and let the water spin out. The next step…the sweater jacket went to the dryer on the ultra care cycle for 10 minutes or so. I checked it and let it dry another 10 minutes. Then it was back to the “drying” table for 24 hours. It was still slightly damp after the 24 hours, so back to the dryer for a few minutes more. The result – SUCCESS! The sweater sleeves came back to original length. I am going to “tighten” up the neckline and shoulders by crocheting a stablizing chain in each of those areas. Now back to the buttons and then a new garment to wear. Stay tuned for the photo of the finished garment.

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Thoughts from PJ

February 12, 2010 by Carolyn

PJ

A shot of PJ holding Elliot before leaving for NZ

PJ is part of our Saturday kntting workshop group…she knits and she shares wonderful thoughts.

Before she and her husband left for New Zealand she sent the following email which was much enjoyed.

“Hi Carolyn and the Saturday morning knitters,

I am so sorry to have missed the get together for the new year. Marty needed to make another trip to New Jersey so I was on airport shuttle duty.

In knitting solidarity, I finished the world’s largest socks and reknit a cowl that has been sitting in my frog basket for several years. I am pleased with both and it is nice to have a few small things accomplished in light of the fact that I have recently frogged two full sweaters. Here are the Ravelry links if anyone wants to see.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PJKnitsUFOs/gentlemans-sock-with-lozenge-pattern

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PJKnitsUFOs/cashmere-fool

When will we meet again? Hard to say. We return from  New Zealand to house guests. I am hoping it will be the 13th. Before any of you start to feel envious, keep in mind that Air New Zealand doesn’t allow knitting needles of any kind so I will have 26 hours of potential knitting time down the drain. I will, however, take along a small project of some sort. Perhaps Wisp.

Until then, stay well, be happy and keep on knitting.

Regards,

PJ

And now that she is in New Zealand she sends this message.

“Hi Carolyn,

As you know there are many little towns in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand and yesterday we took a rest stop at one of them called Reefton (which is rightly proud of the fact that it was the first town in the southern hemisphere to be electrified). Anyway, displayed in the window of one little gift store was an article that had just been awarded “Best of Show” in the local fair. It was a neon blue “fun fur” shawl. So… the yarn we love to hate is now making waves on this island. Couldn’t help but think of you.

All goes well – beautiful weather, great hiking, sore knees.
Regards,
PJ”

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Susanne’s Shrug

February 11, 2010 by Carolyn

Marlie de Swart of Black Mountain Weavers always shows interesting and creative designs at our Skein Lane Retreat One of those this past retreat was the simple but elegant ribbed shrug…the design simple…the results elegant. Susanne was inspired by the garment and here is her verson.

Marlie shared her pattern….Susanne used two yarns – Black Mountain double strand mohair and acrylic for the 2×2 rib, and Art Fibers Pachino 85% extrafine mernino and 15% nylon for the 1×1 rib. These yarns are light worsted weight yarns.

Gauge….be sure to swatch (30 stitches) with your yarn choice in 1 x 1 rib pattern. Then the goal is to take the desired bust measurement, divide by 2 to get back measurement. You will be knitting a rectangle and folding it over to join seams and create armholes, thus the rectangle is the width of the back of the shrug. Determine your gauge – divide 30 sts by inches measured in your swatch. Multipy that number by desired width of back. Then cast on those stitches and follow the directions below. In Susanne’s case she cast on 126 stitches. You can use one color throughout or follow Susanne’s creation of two colors – one color for the  2×2 rib and the other color for the 1×1 rib.The shrug back

The pattern….

  • With size 7 needle, CO 126 sts.
  • Work 2 x 2 rib for 7″.
  • With 2nd color, work 1 x 1 rib for 12″.
  • With 1st color, work 2 x 2 rib for 7″.
  • Cast off.
  • Fold over and sew the 2 x 2 rib sections together.
The finished shrug

The finished shrug

You now have a shrug. I can’t wait to start mine…which yarn should I use? My choices are endless here at the Studio!

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Maurie – Complimentary Crochet Beret Pattern

February 9, 2010 by Carolyn

The Beret

The Beret

Maurie was quite creative recently. She loves to crochet berets…she made another one this year…and she added a great embellishment. She has shared her design by writing a complimentary pattern for those of us who love berets…or know someone in our circles who would love to receive one as a gift.

Make a Crochet Beret  Be sure to click through to the pattern where you will see more photos of this charming hat!

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