Is anyone going to Stitches South in April?

I’m half considering it, if I can take time off work (and about a bazillion other “if’s”…)

First, a big ol’ disclaimer: if you were expecting a knitted gift from me this Christmas, you should expect it in approximately June.  Despite having started my Christmas knitting with good intentions and an excellent system of organization months ago, I still am behind and can’t forsee catching up within the next two weeks.  So don’t think I’ve forgotten you — my fingers just don’t knit fast enough.  (That, and I rather like my job and would like to keep it, so I can’t spend my days knitting from morning till night either…)

Last weekend was incredibly busy.  The Neighborhood Knit Shop hosted a weekend with Maggie Jackson of MaggiKnits.  She was nothing short of phenominal.  She’s incredibly inspiring and really has a way of helping you to get your creative juices flowing if you’re in a rut.  She was really exactly what the doctor ordered for me.

The MaggiKnits weekend started out with a fashion show on Friday night, which was the perfect introduction to Maggie’s style.  Her books had come into the shop a few weeks in advance and I couldn’t quite grasp her vision, however I trusted Pat and Sharon who had raved about her, and she didn’t disappoint.  Truly, you have to see her garments in person to appreciate them.  Their drape and movement are really like nothing else you see in knitwear.  Maggie says it comes from her background in making ready-to-wear for Neiman Marcus and other high-end retailers.

After the fashion show, we got to try on many of the garments and I found several I really liked.  So of course I had to get a few of her pattern books.  I even got them signed.

I spent the next two days in classes with Maggie.

Saturday was a class called “Oh No… Not Another Scarf”.  We got to work with Maggie’s beautiful linen yarn (I chose the cream color) along with a mix of her fancy yarns — rag, ribbon, bouclé, etc.  We learned many of the techniques that Maggie uses in her sweaters and shawls.  We learned the tube, the split, ladder stitch, and knitting in bits of rag.

One of the most interesting parts of the class was breaking out of all the “rules” of knitting.  It was exciting, freeing, and fun.  Yet all the knitters in the class (including myself), were resistant to do it.  She told us to tie knots in our knitting!!  ::gasp::  She even had us cut up bits of rag-yarn, tie it in knots, then knit with it!  It felt shocking because it was so opposite of everything I’ve ever learned about knitting.  But by the end of the day, I realized, that’s just another reason I love this hobby so much: there really is no wrong way to knit, and just when you think you know how to do it “right”, you learn something new that makes you look at it in a totally different way.

My swatch from class is pictured to the right.  I’ve added on to it since and though the class was encouraging us to find other uses (wall-hanging, decorative pillowcase, purse, etc.) for our swatch, I really just want mine for a fun, sassy scarf.  It’s the linen that gets me; I’ve never knitted with it before.  I adore the drape of it so much that I can’t imagine doing anything but wearing it!

That brings us to Sunday’s class.  It was a bit more structured than Saturday’s very free-form class.  But it still gave us lots of room for creativity and personalizing our project.  The class was titled “Let’s get Purse-On-L” and once again we got to work with fantastic linen yarn.  This time I chose black and contrasting colors in pink, blue, and purple.  Our project was a cute drawstring purse and the class built on the skills we’d learned on Saturday, adding ruffles, picots, and twists.  My purse (pictured to the left) is obviously unfinished, but I can’t wait to finish and use it!

Monday Maggie had a third class, called “Knot It and Knit It” but unfortunately I had to work so I was unable to attend.  I heard it was every bit as great as the first two classes, though I’m not surprised because I thoroughly enjoyed the first two!

I did splurge on a project for myself.  I’m planning to knit the “La Alhambra” wrap from Book 11, Squares and Frills.  I’m knitting it using the MaggiKnits yarns pictured here, in tones of gold, brown, and black.  The solid gold is cotton, the black is angora, the brown is linen, and the multi-colored is a silky slub yarn.  This is only a tiny slection of Maggie’s yarns — you should see it all in person — her colors and textures are so rich and luxurious.  I can’t wait to knit the wrap for myself.  It’s going to be my post-Christmas project.

And speaking of Christmas…

As I said before, I’m behind on my Christmas knitting.  I don’t know why I even try, really.  It’s inevitable that I’ll fall behind on it.  Oh well, I suppose it’s good to have goals.

I did finish quite a few “Turn a Square” hats.  It is by far my new favorite hat pattern.  It’s such a quick knit and I love that it comes down all the way over your ears.  Great for cold, windy days.

I also knit one scarf, and am in the process of finishing another.  I also got some super new scarf patterns in the mail today.  They’re all designs from Jojoland and I ordered them from The Loopy Ewe.  I’ve had my eye on the Swirl Shawl for a very, very long time.  (Isn’t it gorgeous?!)  I also got the patterns for Wine Tasting, Lavendar Passion, and Amethyst Emerald.

I just happened to have three skeins of Jojoland Melody in my stash (technically, they were hiding in my desk drawer at work, of all places…) so I may try and knit the Amethyst Emerald scarf as a gift if I have any time at all left before Christmas.

I keep starting Christmas gifts left and right, all willy-nilly.  So I really need to restrain myself and decide exactly what I want to finish.  Then finish just those things before starting anthing new.  Duh.

I cast this (project pictured, right) on last night.  (I swear it’s the last one I’m starting till all the others are finished!)  It’s the beginnings of a pair of Mama Janes slippers.  A friend, Beth, brought the pattern to my attention when we were at the MaggiKnits weekend so I had to buy it.  ‘Cause ya know, I have enough sock yarn and I can’t knit just socks all the time.  Plus, I happen to have a friend who just moved into a new house with very cold floors, so I think she definitely needs a pair of these to keep her tootsies warm.

Lastly, on a completely different note, I’m psyched because my copy of The Tales of the Beadle Bard came in the mail today!  I don’t care if it is a children’s book, I can’t wait to read it.

As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to put off my Christmas-knitting a bit longer and go take a bubble bath and start reading it.  ‘Cause yes, I am a dork like that.

December 1st.  Wow.  Where did time go?

Oh ya…

1. Work has been NUTS.  Just nuts.  That’s all.  But ya know… I love it when the pressure is on, honestly.
2. Helped my much-loved local yarn shop with their new website.  Check it out at NeighborhoodKnitShop.com.  The site launched last night and is still growing and evolving, but I think it’s off to a great start.
3. Nick and I put an offer in on our first house on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  We’re currently working through the whole counter-offer process.  We should know by 5 p.m. today if we got the house or not (then the only hitch will be if it passes a home inspection).  I’m both excited and nervous (’cause they’ve just today decided we’re officially in a recession, ya know).  We requested a closing date of December 24th.  Merry Christmas to us.  Heh.

So, I’ve kept busy over the last month or so.

What am I knitting?  I’m still working on assorted Christmas gifts.  I’ve made lots of hats and I am still working on one seemingly never-ending scarf.  I’m also working on the February Lady Sweater for myself.  I can’t wait till that’s done.

I want to make these ornaments.  NOW.  Aren’t they fantastic?  I’m envisioning a white tree covered in nothing but these ornaments, filled with yarn in every color of the rainbow.  YES!

I hate knitting sleeves.  I haven’t knit all that many (yet) but I already have decided that I really don’t like them.

You’d think, being that I love knitting socks, that sleeves wouldn’t be a big deal.  What is a sleeve but a long sock minus the heel?  Yet, I can’t stand them.

Exhibit A. My “Charlie Brown” sweater.

I started on this project on August 16th.  I made great progress on the body of the sweater, which was knitted in the round from the bottom up.  The fair isle zig-zag was fun. Even the decreasing for the neck kept my attention.

But the sleeves?  No.  This thing has been languishing, stuffed in the bottom of my living room ottoman (thank goodness for storage ottmans - every knitter needs one).

If I could just get past the sleeves, this sweater would be done in no time flat!  All I’d have to do is knit the ribbing around the neckline.  That’s it.  But no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to force myself into digging it out of the ottoman.

Exhibit B. Wallaby Sweater #2.

And here we have another armless sweater!  (Er… or should I say sleeveless?  Sweaters don’t really have arms, do they?)

I thought I’d get particularly clever with this sweater and knit the sleeves two at a time.  And I thought I’d do it on magic loop so that I wouldn’t have to deal with pesky DPNs.

… Both good ideas, but I’m quickly finding that neither is helping my sleeve-knitting motivation any.

You know what’s even worse?  These are only children’s size sweaters.  Imagine what’s going to happen when I cast on the adult-size sweaters that have in my “to-knit” queue?!  HELP.  I need some sleeve-knitting mojo over here!!

Hm, either that or perhaps we’ll go with a Charlie Brown vest and a hooded tank top sweater.  What do you think?  Ha ha.

Tomorrow I’m teaching part-1 of my Wonderful Wallaby Sweater class.  I’ve really become pretty hooked on this pattern.  I have one finished and two more at different states of completion…

The pastel one on the left is a children’s size 6 and the dusty blue one on the right is the very beginnings of an adult size XL.  The latter will hopefully be a Christmas gift, though I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much.

My plan for tomorrow’s class is to get everyone to cast the body on, knit the ribbing at the bottom, and show them how to pick up stitches to start the base of the pocket.  (I’m using a slightly different — and I think easier — method than suggested in the pattern.  Then I’m going to use the rest of the class to show how to cast on to knit the sleeves both at the same time on magic loop.  I didn’t use that technique for my first Wallaby, and if you look closely, my sleeves are slightly different lengths.  Whoops!  Not to mention that by the time I was casting on for the second sleeve, I was tired of sleeve-knitting and wanted to move on.  So I think the 2-at-a-time magic loop technique will be great in this instance.

Of course you all know that I can never have just ONE project going at a time, so I also am working on a pair of socks (Christmas gift).

The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock and it’s been in my stash for a while.  It’s the July ‘08 limited edition colorway, Fireworks (though I think it looks more like fruit salad than fireworks).  It’s such a happy, summery color so it is a lot of fun to be knitting this time of year.

The pattern is the official pattern for Summer of Socks ‘08, designed by Wendy — again, I’m just finally getting around to knitting it.  Better late than never, eh?

Anyway, I’m really, really liking these socks a lot … they’re going to be difficult to give away come Christmastime!

I found this originally posted by Cat Bordhi on Ravelry within the Sock Summit 2009 discussion group.  I’m reposting it here because I felt it summed up a lot of what I’ve been feeling lately.

November 3, 2008

Heal the Election Wounds and Embrace Humanity with a Moebius
By Cat Bordhi

I awoke this morning realizing that publicly knitting a beautiful Moebius scarf as I begin to float (I live on an island), drive, and fly toward Stitches East on Tuesday would be a beautiful and profound public expression of my hopes and dreams for the world, as well as a symbol of the healing that our country will need after the election.

If you want to follow along, I recently made a Youtube video which will clearly teach you how to knit a Moebius whether you have my books or not.

So - here is why the Moebius is a perfect expression of the best of humanity, and the healing of the fractured country and world that I trust is coming:

1. The Moebius appears to have two surfaces and two edges - ie, polarities such as black and white, right and wrong, good and bad, Republican and Democrat - but when you follow the surface around you will run right into your starting point without ever having changed to the other “side.” For there isn’t one. Everything flows into itself. Polarities are an illusion. What lies beneath the apparent polarities is oneness, beauty, and grace. In a Moebius you can see it, hold it, be awed by it. Once the frenzy dies down, hopefully those with opposing views will slowly rediscover their common humanity.
2. Like the surface that flows into itself, so too does the Moebius’s single continuous edge - thus everything is recycled. In fact, I would not be the least bit surprised if the ultimate alternative energy involves a Moebius form or dynamic. By the way, the recycling symbols (2 are in common usage, one with a single twist, the other with 3) you see everywhere are actually Moebii (too hard to say Moebiuses - try it!). I think we are all hoping for significant and effective new discoveries in alternative energy - and the Moebius would be a great symbol for this global effort.
3. Once you complete the first ring (it takes 2 rings to make a round - watch the video) of your Moebius, you are in for smooth and happy sailing. All you have to do is to knit the stitch in front of you, then the next stitch in front of you, with not a care in the world for what came before or what has shifted into the “future”. You’ll look at the mysterious shape on your needles and wonder how “those stitches” can ever come to you … well, they will, without your needing to understand how. And they will all come in perfect sequence, resulting in a beautiful and graceful Moebius. The Moebius rewards your faith in its mystery with the easiest knitting you will ever do. And the result is always graceful - for this is the very nature of the Moebius. You can knit along while you watch the election results, while walking, while standing in line at the store, wherever you may find yourself during these days to come. You will be knitting the graceful healing and ease that I believe is flowing toward us, requiring only of us that we stay true to the powerful sense of loving kindness that resides in the center of every person. No one could ever possibly understand enough to make the healing happen, but if we all just knit the stitch before us, as they come, marveling at the innocence and sweetness of it all, with our oh so familiar continuous strand of yarn, the healing will happen. We need not understand either one fully - the Moebius or the world. They both operate with inherent grace.
4. I looked through my stash and chose a luminous yarn in deep watery colors from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - LSS (Luscious Single Silk), and did not realize until I looked at the label that the colorway is absolutely apropos: Lunasea. Tina no doubt named the colorway after the moon and the sea - and after lunacy. So let the lunacy of the election months give way to Lunasea - the grace of the moon, the sea, the Moebius, and the beautiful heart of humanity, of all people, the “us” and “them” who merge into one. I shall be winding the skein on the ferry tomorrow, then knitting all the way to Baltimore. I hope to see many, many of you there.

With love from Cat Bordhi

Note: If you alternate sets of knit and purl rounds, you will have purl ridges all around. Then your Moebius will not curl along the edges when you are done.

I’ve seen too many people hurt over this election.  Please let the healing begin, and no matter what the outcome after today, let’s get behind our new president and band together as Americans and support eachother to make this world a little brighter, better place.

Really!?  What is it about fair isle that makes it so addicting?  When I start a fair isle project, I simply can’t put it down.  My fingers could be cramping, my back hurting from sitting in one place to long, and I’d still sit there and knit some more.

I think it has a lot to do about watching the design emerge, almost like magic, as the two colored strands loop around eachother row-by-row.  Suddenly a few rows of nonsensical color-switching begin to form a design - checkers, flowers, snowflakes.

Pattern: Selbu Mittens from Folk Mittens
Yarn: Cascade 220 (in Black and Christmas Red)

That’s the beginning of my new mittens.  To be specific, that’s my new left mitten, and love it already.  That was one evening’s worth of knitting.  Even though I’d promised myself I’d take a nap or go to bed early, I just kept knitting away at it.  I couldn’t help myself.

I’m really in love with the Folk Mittens book also.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in fair isle mittens.  I’m a huge fan of traditional Norwegian and Latvian patterns, and this book has some great examples.  I have a feeling this is just the beginning of my foray into fair isle this winter…

I finished this several days ago (last Friday) and I forgot to update…

Super cute, eh?  The Wonderful Wallaby is my new addiction, bumping the EZ Baby Surprise Jacket to the side (for now).

So, what’s on my needles?  Another Wallaby Sweater (in pink!), a pair of 2-at-a-time socks, and a pair of fair isle mittens (no picture yet).  Plus some Christmas gifts.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day!