Angry Hour

We're on day two of the government shutdown. The sole affect on my life has been less rush hour traffic and the shops and restaurants have been full of patrons in the afternoon. This is a much more interesting experience so far than the last government shutdown 17 years ago. Hard to believe that the Internet was in its infancy then and most of us who were online were on BBS systems. This time around things are very different. There's lots of FB and Twitter traffic arranging meet ups and advertising specials (free/discounted drinks and food for those with Fed IDs). Here's one

There are goodies for knitters: Looped Yarn Works is offering 10% of all purchases until Friday. Fibre Space is offering free knitting classes in the afternoon. Wendy Johnson is offering 50% off on all her patterns for the duration.

Me, I'm envying the Fed fiber fiends who are having hours to knit, crochet, spin, weave, and sew. But despite my envy, I am making good progress on my Helen Pencil Skirt. I've also signed up for a workshop with Shirley Paden on Friday at Looped Yarn Works.

Russian Join, Crochet Provisional Cast on and Other Fun

Russian Join

Another arrow in my quiver of knitting skills. I used this join for the first time while knitting the Lengthwise Cable scarf.  Where has this been all my life? It’s a wonderful join that eliminates the need to weave in ends. It makes anticipating joining a new ball easier and faster for me.

Crochet Provision Cast On

The latest arrow in my quiver of knitting skills. I’m knitting the Helen Pencil Skirt using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. I used the Lucy Neatby video to learn the provisional crochet cast on. Used another circular to pick up the 210 provisional cast on stitches and was able to unzip the crochet cast at the end. Used a third needle to knit the stiches on the needle and the cast on stitches together. Totally Cool!!

I celebrated International Coffee Day with two cups of Trung Lam Café. I order all my coffee from Vietnamese Coffee Online.

Cooperative Press is keeping me excited these days. Knit Edge continues to go from strength to strength with interesting articles to read and patterns to knit. Pen Hemingway (PenelopeSpider on Ravelry) is coming out with two new books: River Ganseys and Old Hand Knitters of the Dales.

Swatch Week

I have only two rows left till bind off on the Lengthwise Cable Scarf, but this week I left off finishing to swatch.

I bought three skeins of Cascade Eco+ in Lavender to knit a skirt. In January I'd bought some Black Welsh Mountain yarn from Countrybyrd on Ravelry. The yarns made for interesting knitting even if I only knit swatches. The Eco+ is commercially produced and knits up nicely as a Aran-Heavy Worsted weight. The Black Welsh Mountain is rustic, sheepy, and minimally processed, but it worked up wonderfully firm on size 4's in stocking stitch and the 2x2 ribbing was perky. At 12 wpi, I guess it to be a sport weight. What I don't know is the yardage. I suspect I have about 1500 yards.

The next couple of weeks are going to be quite busy. Deva Premal on September 24. In October,  Buddhist relics on display and Robert Thurman -- not together--and a lace class with Shirley Paden and then a weekend class on Rigden.

Slow Adapter

I’ve known for sometime that I was a slow adapter. What is a slow adapter? A slow adapter is someone who doesn’t jump on the latest technology bandwagon. What sparked this realization? It was a BBC radio show on technology about the new cell phone wrist watch and one of the interviewees described herself as a slow adapter. That gave me the language to explain what I am.

I don’t need a 40 inch television or cable because I rarely watch television. But I love listening to the radio and once I discovered that satellite radio was available for homes, I was on it like a shot. Never really got into DVDs or CDs; digital music has given me the music library I always wanted without having the need for the shelf space. The PC was a no brainer. It provided way to create your own content without paper, whiteout and with the advent of external portable storage devices, it is easy to physically store the content. Walkmans were great but the Nano is even better. A mobile is a must have and is convenient when charged, but I don’t have a smart phone. I figure any emergency can be conveyed by a phone call or a text message. I’ve always hated fax machines. They are like the microwaves of office technology. They either have basic features or a cornucopia of features that are never used. But I love e-faxing. It does what the first facsimile machines did: sends and receives documents with the added bonus of the capability of blasting faxes to hundreds or thousands without having to dial in each number.

This brings me to my latest gadget: the tablet. I wasn’t sure but went ahead with the purchase. I knew that I could and do download .pdf’s of knitting patterns and magazines use those instead of paper when knitting. Okay, so I am re-addicted to Tetris. But this week I found an amazing app that allows me to record by BG readings with notes. The data is charted and both data and notes are combined and can be emailed in an Excel spreadsheet. And since the clinic has an online patient portal, I can send this information electronically to my doctor for her review before my appointment.

Knitting this week

Still working on the lengthwise scarf. Just about at the end of the cabling. Fifteen rows of ribbing and then cast off.  It’s not going to make the dent in this particular stash of yarn that I anticipated, so I suppose a hat and gloves will be knit to use up the rest of the yarn.

I’ve found a pattern for the 8 skeins of blue yarn. It’s a skirt and I will have just enough. I’m going to do elastic for the waist as I don’t like the idea of a leather string tie for the waist.

All this has been a valuable lesson. I bought this yarn not because I was at all interested in knitting the pattern that came with it, but because it was on sale. There is nothing wrong with the yarn; it’s actually a yarn I like working with. It’s the colours and the quantity. I don’t have enough of any one colour to knit anything sizeable and I can’t really combine the colors with anything in my stash and to make a garment with both colours would mean making or buying something to match.

Back to The Blog

Where has the summer gone? For me it’s lost in a fog of work. I didn’t realize it was over until a week ago when it was brought to my attention that this weekend was Labor Day weekend. Could have sworn there was another week in there…somewhere.

I did stay on for three days in San Antonio to visit with Val, Tony and Courtney. I did visit the Alamo and highly recommend the PBS documentary although the John Wayne film is fun. I did visit the Yarnbarn of San Antonio and bought some Lone Star Arts Yarn, which I had been coveting. San Antonio was hot, but it’s a dry heat and nowhere near as oppressive as heat with humidity.

My birthday came and went as the BOD meeting started the day after. But I did scurry away in the evening to Looped Yarn Works. Their stock is expanding (YAY) with delicious selections of Habu and Harrisville yarns among others. Below is my birthday present to myself.

 

About the current issue of Pompom Magazine: It was really nice to see a UK knitting magazine feature a woman of color model.

Despite the press of work, I did manage to get some knitting done. I completed a Pi Shawl using Dragonfly Fibers Squishy Lace. The yarn is squishy but has lots of body and doesn’t split. The colours are rich and saturated. The shawl is more of a mini-pi. I should have used larger needles.

I knit Nougat by Susanna IC using Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Fine. This yarn is loosely plied requiring a dull pointed needle to avoid splitting. With such loose plies, I was a little worried—needlessly as it turned out--about stitch definition. It is soft and bouncy with a generous 473yds at around US$11.00 per skein. I liked it so much I bought two more skeins—in the photo above—to knit another Liz Lovick’s Cowls pattern in fingering weight. By the way, Liz has a book coming out: The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting. I can’t wait.

With the remaining Ultra Alpaca Fine, I’m knitting the Bonbons fingerless gloves. Both will compliment the Odessa beret knit last winter.

On the needles is a pair of socks to be finished and the Lengthwise Cable Scarf from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the Caution Colorway. I have 700 yards of the yarn and should have enough left over for a hat and maybe some fingerless mitts. These should compliment a rather drab olive wool jacket.

After deliberating most of the spring, I finally bought a tablet, the Google Nexus 7. It has renewed my addiction to Tetris. But it is great for downloading .pdf’s of patterns and using those instead of paper to knit from. Besides Tetris I have downloaded a few knitting apps and a Georgette Heyer novel to read. Odd thing is, Toupie doesn’t like the Nexus and settling down to read in bed a night becomes a tussle as he continually tries to paw the device.

Toupie was well behaved while I was on my travels. No pictures of freaked-out kitty on FB. No attacking the pictures on the wall or his auntie who kindly consented to mind him for two weeks. He did push his food bowl to different parts of the apartment each day (he’s never done that when I am at home) and there was one renegade incident of ripping open treat bags. I did have the vacuum treats in every part of the apartment including the bathroom.

 

A summer highlight was the opening of Each Peach Market. Really good artisan breads, out of the ordinary sandwich meats (as well as really good sandwiches) and a selection of fresh fruits and veggies and their own spice mixtures. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable making this a must shop stop.

Great Week

This has been a great week.

Theressa Silver's Hat Couture release was announced by Cooperative Press. There is a Mystery KAL on Ravelry and Theressa and other Cooperative Press authors will be at booth #200 at Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle April 5 -7. Theressa (Argentgal on Ravelry) is one of many designers unpaid but published by KAL/ACM.

Another KAL/ACM writer/designer, Penelope Hemingway, whose articles in Yarn Forward and Knit I always loved, has an article in the latest issue of Knitting Traditions Spring 2013, which is available for download and will be on newsstands the first week of April. Check out her blog here.

Knitting

Socks have taken over my life. I have two people to thank. Countrybyrd on Ravelry for starting the 2013 Sock KAL/CAL in the Friends Group on Ravelry and Donna Druchunas' Knit Original Top Down Sock class on Craftsy. Her instructions on heel flaps and turning heels pushed me over (in a very nice and instructive way) the sock knitting hump. Last night I finished a heel flap and turned a Dutch heel without looking at the instructions or the video. GO ME! Confession: I actually made a mistake. Finished my heel flap, picked up stitches for the gussets and then realized I hadn't knit the heel. Tinked back, keeping the gusset stitches on the needles, knit and turned the heel, and then went on the knit the gusset stitches. I felt like such a little pro.

I know I have mentioned Craftsy before. I love the platform. The classes are reasonably priced and on sale often. The platform allows you to make notes while watching the videos. The notes appear as bookmarks that you can return to. There is the 30 second rewind that keeps repeating those instructions until you end the loop. Detailed and helpful class materials that you print to read and carry with you when you're not online. The instructors are really responsive to queries. I have loved all the patterns created by the instructors for teaching. My knitting has improved 100% from taking these classes. And they aren't just for knitters. There are sewing, bead stringing, spinning, quilting, baking and a variety of other classes and workshops on Craftsy. If you haven't tried a Craftsy class, I strongly urge you to do so. You won't regret it.

Leaf Litter Socks

This has been a project of total love, mainly because of the yarn. It is easy to knit with, not splitty, and the stitch definition is amazing. I've finished one sock and need to finish another pair before I go on to the second sock. The yarn is BFL/Nylon Hi Twist Sock from Natural Born Knitters. Highly recommend the yarn and their handmade shawl pins. You won't be disappointed.

Amazing Stitch Definition

Sock One Knit on Size 1 (2.25mm) Bamboo Needles

 

Creditors of Craft Magazines Limited

Your help is needed!
If you are a creditor of Craft Magazines Limited you should have been advised that the company had applied to be struck off. You’re a creditor if you’re owed money or goods - so if you have an unfulfilled magazine subscription or you’re an unpaid designer, then you’re a creditor.
Any of us can object to this company being struck off. They have made no attempt to settle their debts, and their accounts have not been (and will not be) audited by an independent third party if they’re struck off. Creditors therefore have no way of knowing if there is any money to pay them.
To object, you can phone 0303 1234 500 or email enquiries@companies-house.gov.uk. Quote Craft Magazines Limited, Company Number 08051158.
You can object for any or all of the following reasons:

1. The company has an unsatisfied CCJ, and therefore legal action still pending against it.
2. You understand that not all creditors have been advised of the striking off nor were advised that the company has ceased trading.
3. They have disposed of rights that, immediately before ceasing to be in business or trade, they held for disposal or gain in the normal course of that business or trade. (They have to have ceased trading for at least three months prior to the application to be struck off. Simply Beautiful was held as an asset or gain during the normal course of their business. They’ve disposed of it less than three months ago - about 6-8 weeks ago I think - by giving it to a creditor in lieu of payment).

I’m hoping HMRC may object as I’m presuming that once again PAYE, NIC and VAT wasn’t paid.