The Perfect Light

This morning I woke up at 6:30, my cat doing his dance on my chest not knowing that it was Saturday and I didn't have to get up like usual. But I was already awake anyway, and so got up after the obligatory cat snuggles.

I decided to cast on. And not just anything, a pair of Cookie A socks called Sam from her book Sock Innovation. The yarn is this gorgeous deep purple hand dye that has shots of light lavendar. Since I hate pooling, Sam is a great pattern for this yarn. Sam has an all over cable pattern on the cuff that keeps the stitches shifting, preventing pooling in the crosses.

The sun rises at 7 this time of year. I had a cup of tea, everything ready to go and I started casting on. Remember when I said deep purple yarn? It's just one shade easier to knit with than black yarn. But only just. I finish casting on (Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast On, of course) and start working the ribbing when I realize I am sitting with my back to the sun and it has risen just enough for sunlight to come streaming over the back of my chair and onto my hands. Onto my knitting.

It was the perfect light to see this deeply dyed yarn and work the beginning.

Hiatus

I am not a consistent crafter. The commitments in my life call all of my attention, and I put the act of making to the side for a while. Of all the creative pursuits I have explored, knitting is the one I have returned to, year after year.

I know I'm not alone here, that their are others like me who suddenly find themselves back at their craft after a hiatus. But sometimes it feels that way; that I'm the only one who puts on hold something they so obviously enjoy while other events in life sweep them off their feet. How absurd.

This time I stopped knitting because of a new job. Only a week after I finished the final requirement for my music teaching credential I received a call to be a long term substitute. While exciting as my first full time teaching position, those first weeks were emotionally and physically exhausting. I don't really know why I stop knitting. It probably would have been a quiet respite in the middle of that upheaval. I still carried my knitting around in my purse and for weeks it sat in the drawer of my filing cabinet at work, untouched. Maybe I was too overwhelmed to put any of my energy in to any kind of creative pursuit. Maybe I was just tired of it. Maybe I needed a break.

I know why I come back though. The simplicity of the act, the push and pull of yarn and needles, and the feeling of familiarity. I come back and it feels like returning, after a long journey, home.

Perfectionism and My First Quilt

Perfectionism
noun
:refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.

We have battles, perfectionism and I. It nearly got me two weeks ago in quilting class when my blocks weren't lining up just so. I nearly threw the thing across the room. Then someone handed me a piece of chocolate and instead of ripping everything out, I just kept going.

I don't know where my uncompromising standard for visual acuity came from, but I know its debilitating nature. I am not perfect and most of my creative endeavors will not have perfect results. Accepting this fact is something I have struggled with and will likely continue to encounter for the rest of my life.

Several things help me back into the realm of normality. Chocolate, perspective, and friends. Chocolate just makes everything better. It helps to squelch the tidal wave of feeling that begins in my intestines and swells through me when something is not precisely where it should be. Perspective is the death of perfection. This one block off by 1/8" is unimportant. No one but myself will notice. I am not making this to be judged. It is my first time quilting. Finally, friends help enormously. Most of my friends are not perfectionists. They happily continue on about their craft without caring about whatever mistakes they may contain.

Because this is, after all, my first quilt, my progress isn't perfect. It is, however, gorgeous. I am in love with it.

Thank You Cards! - DIY Tutorial

These "Thank You" cards are easy to make and add that personal touch to expressing gratitude. I just finished my student teaching and made these cards to thank my professors, supervisors, and mentor teachers for their guidance along the credential journey.

They look great and are very easy!

Materials

• Cardstock, scrapbooking, or construction paper scraps
• Scrap paper for template
• Glue Stick
• Paper trimmer or a ruler and scissors
• Edging scissors and regular scissors
• Corner punch (optional)

Steps

1. On a piece of good quality plain white computer paper write "Thank You!" in the top left corner. Practice first until you find a lettering you like. (Or, you can print "Thank You!" using your favorite font.) Leave 1/2"-1" space around the lettering for trimming. Using the paper trimmer, cut underneath the lettering across the paper. You should now have a strip of paper about 1 1/2" tall x 8 1/2" wide. Make as many of these as you plan on making cards.

2. Using the edging scissors, cut the bottom and tops of the thank you strips. 

3. Make a template. I wanted my cards to fit into a 6 1/2" x 3 5/8" envelope. I folded a piece of scrap paper and cut it until it fit neatly into the envelope.

4. Using your template, find a piece of scrap paper big enough for the main part of the card. I cut cardstock so that I would have some cards that opened up and some cards that were flat. I often used scrap pieces that ended up a bit smaller than my template. Or, you can use a new sheet of cardstock, trace, and cut.

5. Choose a piece of contrasting scrap cardstock that is wider than your thank you strip and narrower than your card. Trim it to size, place it, and glue. You can place it in the middle for a symmetrical look or lower down for an asymmetrical look.

6. Place a thank you strip on top and trim to fit. This allows you to choose where the edges will lie. Glue in place.

7. The Insides! Cut a piece of good quality plain white computer paper using the card as a template or use white cardstock. Then, trim 1/8"-1/4" from the top and one side. This will make the paper slightly smaller than the card. Write your message, fold in half if necessary, and glue in place. I often mess up writing messages and this method allows you to redo the inside before you glue it down!


Let me know if you make any of these! I'd love to see them. 

Sea Arrows Scarf

When I knit a scarf it has to be for someone who deserves it. I don’t enjoy making scarves. The monotony of the long rectangle is not something I anticipate with pleasure. Once I am done knitting a scarf I inevitably try it on to find I’m only halfway there.

Despite this justifiable disapprobation for knitting scarves, I still have people I love in my life with cold necks. When I need to knit a scarf, I search around for stitch patterns that will be interesting enough for me to knit, will not take forever, won’t curl, and will look at least decent on the reverse.

When planning a scarf, I peruse my stitch dictionaries first. I have a Japanese one called Knitting Patterns Book 300 (ISBN 978-4-529-04172-0) and despite really liking many of the stitches I had never actually used one of them, until the Sea Arrows Scarf. 

Many things drew me to pattern #158 that I chose. The yarn over stitches gradually get farther from their corresponding decreases, which means the pattern gently curves the fabric. There are purl and knit stitches inherently in the pattern, something that guards against curling. There is one knit stitch that travels on the foreground of the fabric and never disappears. I can trace my finger along this stitch all the way through the scarf and I just think that’s nifty.

Knit in the decadent Prism Symphony yarn in the mottled Deep Sea colorway, the pattern looks like arrowheads on the sea floor seen through ocean water at dusk. And I didn't pull my hair out from boredom knitting it. Everybody wins.

Herringbone Socks

The name of this pattern sounds decadent. Herringbone. It is one of those words that makes me feel, with my poet’s heart, like it means more than it is letting on. As if it were a pattern for royalty.

Terri chose the pattern for these stranded colorwork socks from Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden and I suggested the colors, a classic gray and spicy pumpkin. The yarn is Knit Picks Stoll and, this being my first time using this yarn, I will judge it based on its performance with this project.

While I have knit a colorwork sweater in the round, I’ve never made socks with more than one color. One concern is a resulting sock with too tight floats. To combat this in advance I decided to try knitting using the needle farthest from myself. This will keep the floats on the outside of the knitting and will be, essentially, like knitting the sock inside out.

I used the slipknot cast-on to create a stretchy beginning row. Although I was doubtful that knots would be stretchy, the resulting edge follows the rib and actually is very stretchy. I had some trouble getting it going until I figured out that keeping tension on the back of the loop helps tremendously. 

A pretty good start for the royally named socks. Now I just have to get past 15 rows of ribbing.

Expanding the Stash

I have been avoiding something for years. Quilting. Not because I'm afraid I won't like it or that I won't be good at it, but because of the stash of fabric I am sure will come with it.

Over my years as a knitter I have enjoyed maintaining a stash of yarn that inspires me to create. I can go there and find wonderful materials which inspire me. This positive outlook on my stash has only come about recently when I realized that my stash is not out of control and that I enjoy having it.

However, this isn’t to say I’m fearless about it. I have been afraid of my stash suddenly growing to proportions beyond my control. As if I would go to a convention, come back with yarn, and have no where to put it. This fear, whether rational as a practice of managing my possessions or irrational as if my stash was suddenly going to gain Harry(from the-panopticon blog)-like sentience, has prevented me from exploring the realms of crafts outside of knitting.

My sister does not have this fear. She consistently is making astounding pieces of art in various crafts as well as taking art classes to further her skills. Her papercut art, for example, is exquisite. This is one of my favorites from her Create 400 (birds) blog.

I aspire to her kind of exploratory nature, of listening to the call that comes from within to create, to make with my hands.

As I have come to curate my yarn stash as an asset I have also become more willing to create another stash pile. One for fabric.

I have admired quilting from a distance for some time, but have avoided actively exploring it. I think a part of me knew if I got too close I would dive in immediately. I have never perused the quilt books that are ever so close to the knitting books on the library shelf, never stared at quilting fabrics, and never perused quilting blogs.

 

But I’ve finally done it. I’m taking a quilting class. By the end of the class, I’ll have made a baby blanket sized quilt. I have explored two quilting fabric stores and enjoyed the same planning process of choosing materials that I also enjoy when planning a knitting project.

 

I’ve only been to two classes so far; yet, I already created a Quilting Pinterest board where I am saving pictures of inspirational quilts and tutorials. I’ve been reading quilting blogs. Searching for fabric on Etsy. I can feel the call of creativity in this new to me craft. And I think I can find some space next to my yarn stash for some fabric.

2012

2012 demonstrated the eclectic nature of my knitting habits.

 Road to Amethyst in six colors of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes
(Patt "Road to Golden" by Lisa Shroyer)

Platinum and Pumpkin in naturally dyed Sincere Sheep Keen
(Patt "Chadwick" by Stephen West)

Kai Mei and Drooping Elm Socks in Cascade Yarns Heritage
(Patt "Kai Mei" by Cookie A) 

"Road to Golden" was a pattern that has been sitting around taunting me to make it. I would hear it calling to me, from my little collection of knitting magazines. It would say things about how I ordered the magazine specifically for that pattern, about how fun it would be to do a large stranded colorwork sweater, and about how pretty all the other Road to Golden sweaters on Ravelry were. So I finally made it.

Speckled Owl in a white/black boucle I brought back from New Zealand

(Patt is Big Snowy Owl by Purl Soho)

Octopus Phone Cozy in Oink Pigments Sock and my own hand dyed purple yarn 

(Patt for Octopus is Demi Octopus by Jennifer Wang) 

Rose in Knit Picks Swish

(Patt is Crocheted Rosettes by Lion Brand)

 

The octopus made an impression on me as a young child staring up at a tank in an aquarium. Although I don't know for sure, it was probably the Monterey Bay Aquarium and it was probably a Giant Octopus.  I marveled at its ability to so easily squeeze through tiny spaces as well as at all those arms! I've been a fan ever since. I use my phone cozy all the time and it brings back these happy memories.

Owl Baby Blanket in Knit Picks Comfy Worsted

(Inspired by Sleepy Owl Blanket by Lori Emmitt)

Elijah the Elephant in Classic Elite Inca Alpaca

(Patt is Elijah by Ysolda Teague)

Baby Socks in Oink Pigments Sock

(Patt is Cozy Little Toes by Judy Kaethler

 My very good friend had a baby and of course I knit a few things for the new arrival. The Knit Picks Comfy worked very well for the blanket. It is super soft and oh so machine washable! 

Little Things

The first friend in my circle of acquaintances is having a baby. It is the time in one's life where you realize that most of the people you know will eventually have progeny. It is a little scary. Well, with some of my friends anyway...

It's a good thing then that this first friend to get pregnant is my best friend. I've known her for over half of my life. I am excited about the baby, already nicknamed Zebulon by the way, but I may be slightly more excited about knitting stuff for the baby. Little things! Oh the cuteness!

For my first project I chose this darling little sock pattern called Cozy Little Toes by Judy Kaethler. Judy did all the math to resize a normal sock pattern for baby feet so you don't have to. Yay! I can cheat and not have to think.

That was the plan, anyway. Grab an odd ball of sock yarn, needles, and knit away. And then I screwed it up. A pretty moment, as the Knitmore Girls would say. And then I screwed up again. These socks were an exercise in how well I could screw up little socks.

Screw up count:

1. Rib pattern on instep not centered = asymmetrical gussets. In other words, the right and left sides of the sock look different.
2. After knitting the 12 rounds plain rounds for the foot of the sock and knitting the toe, I set them down and looked at them from far away. Too long. They would be good for elven children with freakishly long feet, but not normal baby feet. Was my gauge off? Ripped out the toe and took out 3 rows from the foot of the sock.
3. Toe decreases on one sock are one stitch off = kitchener toe is a little funny looking.

How much do all of these little things matter though? Not much. The baby will surely never know. No one will really know, and any knitter who stares at the socks and dares to comment will get a baby sock on their nose before they can sneeze another word out.

 
It is really hard for me to let these little things go, to accept imperfection. But I must. The socks are actually quite beautiful. I look forward to making more Little Things, for the little one, with little mistakes that show my humanity and are a demonstration of unbounded love.

5 Reasons Knitting Socks is Awesome

1) When salespeople at sports stores try to upsell socks to me, my response is one they haven't heard.

I do not like advertising. It is one of the main reasons I do not watch TV and I even get annoyed at the short commercials on Hulu. Once I learned in high school all the tricks advertisers use to get people to buy things I just had it. I stopped watching. And the things they target towards children? Ugh. Much of it is truly awful. But that's what a free market economy is right? Telling children that only TV truly knows their favorite characters and stories. Encourage them to think of their own stories? Not advertising that's for sure.

Salespeople are just doing their job, but I still love to turn down upselling when I feel it is for something totally pointless, like socks.

What I say goes something like this, "No thank you, I make my own socks." So far the response has always been silence because that is something for which their salesperson brain was not prepared.

What I am really thinking is this, "No, I do not need your mass produced hem at the toe uncomfortable tubes that you call socks. I can make socks however I want them and in whatever fiber I need them, thankyouverymuch. I can't, however, make my own shoes, so I'd like to shop for those now and unless you have some piece of riveting advice for that activity I will be fine on my own until I need a different size."


2) THE PRETTY, IT IS MINE!!!

Sock yarn is so pretty. People who dye sock yarn are geniuses. Or genies.

3) Sock WIPs are better purse protectors than other options

Other options being a crowbar, a brick, or a mace. These are all way heavy and double pointed needles are a much lighter option. I'm knitting on two circulars now, but they are still pretty pointy.

I actually read a story on a Ravelry thread about how someone's sock knitting protected her purse on public transit in real life. She felt her bag jostle on a crowded bus and then heard someone say, "Oww!" because her socks needles had struck their mark.

Just remember, put the knitting on the top. You won't poke yourself though, because you know better right?

4) Turning a heel makes you feel smart, even though you know you just did what the directions told you to do

I don't value my knitting skills as much as I should. This has gotten better as I have stolen Barney Stinson's phrase from How I Met Your Mother and continually repeat, in earshot of others, "It's because I'm awesome!" Still, I have a tendency to undervalue my knitting.

Turning a heel though? Hell yes I did that. AND I AM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!

Something about turning a heel makes you feel smart. Definite awesome material right there.

5) Get your history geek on

I am a really big geek. I love science, nerdy things, band music, Harry Potter, and video games. I have seen the first season of the first ever Star Trek, so I am geek certified.

Knitting socks is a continuation of all things geeky in my life because I love the history of socks. People have been knitting socks for HUNDREDS of years. I am knitting virtually the same heel flap and gusset people knit hundreds of years ago. HOW COOL IS THAT? That's why it's geeky people. Get some geek cred and knit a pair of socks. You know, 'cause it's awesome.

2011 Knitting

I love the new year. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on what I accomplished in the previous year and what I can look forward to in the year to come. 2011 was a big one for me. I graduated with two degrees, one in Geography and another in Music Education. I gave an hour long recital of clarinet music. I completed a life goal to go camping at Joshua Tree during Spring to see the desert flowers. I traveled to Hong Kong(!) and enjoyed experiencing such an interesting place. 

I also started my credential program in music and tried my hand at working full-time and going to school full time. Although I soldiered through it, many of the things in my life that I enjoy, such as knitting and writing in this blog, became neglected. So I won't be doing that again. I quit my full-time job last week and am looking forward to my first job as a woodwind coach at a middle school. In the past month, since my semester ended, I have been knitting copious amounts. There is a constant pile of yarn on the couch. I think I missed it. I'm even doing some designing. What a process! What a joy! 

Here is what I knit in 2011.

Knotty gloves with cable pattern sized down a bit.

Two pairs of socks by Cookie A:

 

Devon in two different yarns.

Pomatomus in yarn from my never-ending stash of Jojoland Melody.

Swiffer cover, also stash yarn.

 Laminaria, a shawl from Knitty in Zephyr Laceweight.

Two of Stephen West's asymmetrically designed shawl Chadwick:

In naturally dyed yarn by Sincere Sheep.

In Manos de Uruguay Serena and Baruffa Bollicina cashmere.

A pattern called Hege from the book Hat Heads. 

Knit in KnitPicks Swish I picked up at a swap meet.

An archery finger-guard of my own design.

Quite the year, wasn't it?

Materials

These are all yarns I am not using but I could have chosen to use for my current project.

That's an overstatement really because I am knitting a sock from one of the balls and the two sumptuous orange balls are completely the wrong weight. Oh and the lime green wouldn't work either. But the six balls of other sock yarn could have been chosen. They were all in my stash before they were selected to add to the decor of my living room in a vintage bottle crate.

And I am really very glad that they were all wrong for the project I was planning and that I had to go to the yarn store (woe is me) and buy new yarn (double woe).

I went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company with two problems. One was a pair of Addi Turbo Needles with the varnish coming off despite only having knit one shawl on them. I understand tarnishing, but they were turning my hand green which is unacceptable.

My second problem was the second yarn for a Chadwick, a pattern by the excellent up and coming designer Stephen West. The previous week I had bought the first color at the same store, a navy blue jeans kettle dyed alpaca/cotton confection from Manos named Serena. I thought I had a grey in my stash that would match, but it was the wrong weight. So there I was, in the store, trying to find the perfect grey.

I do not ask questions at yarn stores. This is partly because I don't like asking questions to strangers (who does?) and partly because I rarely feel welcome at them. I just browse, pick, pay, and leave.

This time, however, the store had a sample knitted in a yarn I liked but no balls of that color out, so I had to talk to someone and see if they had any. I am very glad that I talked to someone and I am very glad they didn't have any of that first yarn I was looking at. At 100% silk it was the wrong weight and much to shiny, really, for the person I am making the shawl for.

I don't actually remember if she asked if I was looking for something in particular or if I told her what I was looking for, but I managed to ask if they had a grey yarn in a weight to match my soft jeans colored Serena. The woman walked over to one of the deep corners of the store, pulled out a plastic container I would never have found, reached in, and plucked out a small ball of the perfect grey. At 65% cashmere and 35% silk the Trendsetter Bollicina was perfect. Mostly because I only needed one ball so I could afford it.

Lesson learned Universe, ask questions of your yarn shop staff. They know they're yarn.

I am nearly finished with the shawl. I absolutely love work on it. The contrast between the two yarns feels so delightful on my hands. I don't like working with cotton, but it does not bother my hands so much blended with the alpaca. The shawl is knit using intarsia technique (brilliant pattern) and in the same row I then switch to the Bollicina and I feel like I am knitting with a cloud or with butter, a butter cloud.

The other yarns in my stash are lovely, and one day I will use them. But this foray into quality materials has demonstrated to me how much the materials make the experience of knitting, and they have helped me to become obsessed with my knitting all over again. 

I would show you a picture of it's loveliness now, but it is a gift whose recipient may or may not stumble upon this before the gift giving happens. Pictures next time for sure.

Vexations

I write to you while listening to a performance of Vexations, a piece by the avante-garde French composer Eric Satie. Known for his music jokes and disdain for the "established" musical ways of doing things, scholars are unsure if Vexations was ever actually meant to be performed. The piece was not published during his lifetime, but was found by the American composer John Cage among Satie's papers.

Set outside tonal harmony, the theme is based largely on repeating various tritones. The music consists of a theme, variation 1, and variation 2 which are to be repeated 840 times; a feat which generally takes over 12 hours to perform. The piece never having been published and the fact that it takes so long to perform has led some to wonder if Satie wrote the piece as a joke.

No instrumentation is given and, given the length, it is common for performers to switch off. There is a slight pause at the end of the theme and the end of each variation, which makes the switch possible.  I have heard a flute choir, string quartet, and a vibe arrangement today.

I performed my half hour slot with another clarinetist and a guitar. Performing the piece was trance like, a kind of outer body experience, and the half hour slot flew by. Looking back now, it might have been nice to have a longer time period to perform.

Over time the melody starts to become oddly familiar. I can hear if a performer makes a wrong note even though the theme is so difficult to listen to on its own.  It is an entirely different musical experience from what I normally perform or listen to.

Of course, I brought my knitting. It seemed like the perfect activity to do while listening to the repetitive nature of the piece. After I finish this post I will pick up my sock knitting. I'm using the vintage dark blue yarn that I wrote about a few posts ago to make a river inspired pattern. Oh, I finished a pair of socks! It's my first finished pair in quite some time. Don't they look like mermaid scales? Lurvly.

They are Pomatomus by Cookie A. She is a genius, in case you didn't know that already.

These were the first pair that I knit on my new size 2 Lantern Moon sock needles. I'm really enjoying working with those needles. They feel like butter. Sometimes I worry they are going to melt while I'm using them.

Knitting to music is one of my favorite things. I particularly enjoy listening to the soundtrack to Lost in Translation for some reason. Luckily for me my homework often consists of listening to music, so I can knit while doing homework!

If you have the opportunity to hear a performance of Vexations you should go! It's so different, and performances don't happen too often. If you go, make sure to smile a little, knowing that Satie probably meant for at least part of it to be silly.

Cookies and Pansies

My cookies it has been a long time since I've updated! Can you tell I started another semester at school? I also got a new job as a tutor for a local community college in their Math and Read/Writing Tutoring Centers.

This is my last semester of my Bachelor's degree. It has been a long journey, but I am very excited to be so near done with the degree. I will be getting my credential after this semester, so I won't be quite done with school.

A few days ago one of my classmates told me they think I'll be a great music teacher. I think I will be too, but it is nice to hear that someone else thinks so too.

In knitting news, none of my yarn and needles were cooperating last month. I really want to make Road to Golden, a pullover sweater with a stranded colorwork pattern. I swatched for a couple of days, knit and reknit, but none of the combinations I came up with would work. Then I tried to make a Musica fingerless glove, but the two yarns which were the same brand were different sizes and looked icky. I told my needles and wool that they were being very bad, got out some cotton and a crochet hook and crocheted some coasters.

These are to replace the cardboard pieces Terri and I 

had been using as coasters. These are much better.

I also finished sewing on the snaps to my Cable for Jeans sweater. Someone else had used snaps instead of buttons, and I thought it was a nifty idea. It took a while to get the hang of it, but eventually I got it. I used the Knitmore Girls button tutorial videos to sew on the grosgrain ribbon. The videos are a bit wobbly and lengthy, but they are great learning tools. I am going to use their method for sewing on buttons from now on. The best part about having the snaps sewed on is that I can actually wear it. Even though I live in Southern California, I am a pansy and the mornings seem very cold for me and the sweater keeps me perfectly warm.

I have some socks in the works, two are patterns of Cookie A. I'm sure I'll be letting you know how that goes!

Buttons, Leaflets, Yarn, and Men Selling Crafting Supplies

My mom, stepdad, and I occasionally like to go to the Long Beach Outdoor Antique Market that happens every third Sunday of the month.  It is kind of like a swap meet, except there are a lot more things that are genuinely old. Yesterday it was just my mom and I out in the sunny day looking for our version of a great find.

One booth had a selection of old dilapidated tools in every size and shape imaginable. Another had a collection of various salt shakers ranging from the 40's to the 60's. One of my mom's favorite sellers is a booth where anything on the table to $5. Walking down the center aisle we come to a booth that sells nothing but prints from books, back when most things were illustrated. The farther back into the sale you go the newer things get until by the end some of the booths look straight out of the swap meet.

Many of the booths are a hodgepodge of things and of course there are those people trying to trick and deceive. One sign said "Fat quarters. Civil War. $8." We took a feel of the fabric and knew instantly they were modern fabrics. The sign doesn't say they actually are from the Civil War, but the implication is there. Tricky aren't they?

My mom loves dolls. She loves buying them, selling them, but most of all, repairing them. She is usually hunting for doll related things and I hunt for knitting related items. On this day we found a large sink sized basin full of buttons. "Fill a box for $3. Two boxes for $5." Score! A set of new buttons alone is usually at or more than $3, and many of these buttons were fun vintage styles. We spent quite some time having fun riffling through their bin picking out buttons. I picked out some sets I might be able to use for sweaters and my mom picked out the teeny tiny ones to use for dolls.

My collection. I love the navy blue/white ones. 

They would look so cute on a little sailor sweater!

Of course what I'm usually looking for is vintage yarn or needles. I've gotten lucky a couple of times at thrift stores, and on a previous visit to the Outdoor Antique Market I found a few balls of Knit Picks. Yesterday I spotted a small bin on the ground with knitting needles poking out. The bin contained a decent stack of vintage pattern books, mostly for crochet doilies, some vintage circular knitting needles, and a few balls of vintage 100% virgin wool sock yarn.

Using a technique I learned from watching too many episodes of American Pickers I picked out a set of the circular knitting needles, the navy blue sock yarn, and a couple of the leaflets. This is called bundling, and means that you get things for cheaper than they would otherwise have been. The seller gave me the lot for $3. I was all ready to practice bargaining and then he gave me such a low price!

I chose a leaflet from the early 60's called Bernat Raglans and a Doilies booklet from 1956. When I showed my mom the Raglans leaflet she said, "Don't tell me, um, 62?" She was one year off, 1961. One of the raglans is made of mohair and she told me about how she and her friends all had to have one of those sweaters when she was in middle school. These kinds of things are great for inspiration and I have a feeling my little collection of vintage leaflets will keep growing.

Raglan sweater 1961.

 

Doily from 1956. Gotta love the drawing!

I am very excited about the yarn. A lot of vintage yarn is acrylic, because it was the cool new thing when they started making it. Finding vintage yarn that is 100% wool is a real treasure. Not only that, the yarn is soft and the two balls means there will be enough for a pair of socks.

These kinds of days, where the sun is brilliant and the sky turns a richer blue, the days I get to spend with my mom, these are the days to remember.

The Traveler's Way - Part 1 - Destination: New Zealand

I am a traveler. A person who enjoys experiencing new places, seeing new views, eating different food.

I do not enjoy, however, being a tourist. I find that the majority of tourist destinations are boring and overpriced. When I was at the Louvre in Paris I decided to spend my hour looking at all the other wonderful items they have there rather than spend that hour waiting in line to look at the Mona Lisa for ten seconds.

The problem with tourist destinations and the reason I am libel to pass them by is that they often have nothing to do with a sense of place. What I am most interested in at a destination is the experience of that place.

The highlight of my traveling experience was the year I studied abroad in New Zealand. It is partially due to the fact that I spent so much time there that I really was able to experience the place. That, and the week I spent on the llama farm.

In this short series of blog posts on traveling I will give you some advice should you find tourism as overpriced and boring as I do.

First, go to New Zealand. Out of the major cities, many of the places are very down to earth and easy to access as long as you can manage to drive on the other side of the road.

For example, my geography class on Rivers and Slopes took a field trip and hiked to the place where they filmed part of the Lord of the Rings. There was no one else there but our class and we were able to see where they filmed the scene where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are heading into the cursed mountain where the dead reside. Remember that part? Geek alert!

Second, sign up for WWOOF and stay on a farm for a week. New Zealand is a largely agricultural economy. Much of their recent history is agricultural in nature and much of their culture is wrapped in sheep and cows. To give you an idea, last time I checked there were 4 million people in New Zealand and 40 million sheep. That's 10 sheep for every 1 person.

It fits then that to really experience New Zealand, staying on a working farm would give you the best taste of what the country is all about. WWOOF stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms and is an organization that connects travelers and organic farms together. In exchange for lodging and food from the farm host the traveler agrees to give the farm 4-6 hours of work each day.

"WWOOF New Zealand is part of a world wide community that promotes awareness of ecological farming practices by providing volunteers with the opportunity to live and learn on organic properties. WWOOF is an enjoyable, educational and safe way to explore and get to know the people in the country."

There is a fee to sign up as a traveler and after you have done that you can look at postings by farms looking for help. There are all kinds of farms and all kinds of people. This would be a great way to finally learn about composting or organic farming practices if you have always been curious.

I was fortunate enough to sign up and stay on a llama and alpaca farm. The second day I was there the host, Elise, and I went to a nearby elementary school's farm day. The children each had an animal, either a calf or a lamb that they were to have trained. It was very cute to see the different personalities of the children and how they interacted with their animals.

Elise was asked to bring some of her llamas to the fair day, mostly because it's cool to have llamas around. I was in charge of Cesar all day. It was one of the highlights of my trip because I love animals, Cesar was a sweetie, and I got to talk to New Zealanders all day about llamas.

It was a very kiwi experience, my week on that farm, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering traveling to New Zealand.

Knitting Needle Boogie Monster! Rarr!

You better watch out, or the knitting needle boogie monster is going to get you!

Rarr!

These are one of Terri's Christmas presents. They weren't finished when Christmas came galumphing up the corner so I wrapped them up with the needles still attached. In the picture above I had Terri try the glove on to make sure they fit and Terri thought it was funny so she had me take pictures. If you didn't know what's going on I concede that the picture may result in fright.

Terri's hands are always cold in the winter. Store bought gloves don't work well because her hands are small and they seem to only sell pairs made out of acrylic in Southern California. Because her hands are cold she sticks them on my neck to get warm. Brr! To save my neck I decided to make her some gloves.

The pattern is called Knotty Gloves and is by Julia Mueller. Terri is not one for the princess look, and many of the glove patterns I found were of the "I'm a pretty, pretty princess" variety. I was very happy to find this pattern, which could easily be dressed up in pink for the princess look or dressed down in a dark green for a less frilly look.

Of course the pattern only comes in women's size large. I did some minor calculations and fudging to make a smaller version. The cable pattern isn't exactly centered anymore, but I decided that it wouldn't really matter. No one flying by on a fast horse is going to notice.

Knitting the fingers reminds me of some of the amigurumi crafting I have done before with the small parts. I also figured out that when I use double pointed needles I waste a lot of time when I end one needle and move to the next one because I usually drop the working yarn and have to pick it back up again. Watching myself knit and trying to change habits is difficult but worthwhile when I'm knitting such small tubes and am constantly switching needles.

Does Terri really deserve a pair of hand knit gloves? Well, she made me a swift for Christmas.

So yes, yes she does.

Miss Mohair: The Story of a Discarded Yarn

I love thrift stores. I love that I can find awesome things for super cheap. I love the hunt, the search for the great find hiding behind racks of muumuus. I always look for yarn. I have heard of people finding sweater quantities of cashmere/wool yarn at thrift stores for unbelievably cheap. While I have not been that lucky, many years ago I did find this:

I was sure it was good quality lace weight mohair. What I was unsure about was how to use it. I had no idea how much yardage might be in the ball or what I might want to make out of it. And so it pulled up a chair in my stash with some other yarns and commisorated.

"What are you in for?"
"Bulky black and white boucle. I'm too 'busy' for her. Whatever that means."
"How long have you been in here?"
"Five years," the boucle bragged, thinking it had been here longer than the rest.
"Six," said the mohair, "she doesn't even have an Idea for me."
The others gasped. "Really? Not even an Idea? Tsk..."

That's quite enough of that Miss Mohair, because I did think of and execute an Idea this year. I made a small neck scarf for my mother for Christmas. While she is not necessarily the pink person, she does like red and I found the mohair to be a deep enough pink that I decided she would likely wear it. The danger here was that the gift was a surprise and I had no opportunity to play 20 questions in order to figure out something the receipient would certainly wear.

"Are you cold?"
"Where are you cold?"
"Do you like blue? Coral? Teal? Beige?"
"Fringe or no fringe?"
"Long or short?"
"Is there a button shape you like?"
"What are your thoughts on the sizes of button holes?"

Instead I played with fire and knit on the fly. As I'm sure you know by know I am making valiant attempts to get my stash under control, which is how I came to think of an Idea for Miss Mohair. I would make a small neck scarf for my mom. Swatching in mohair is difficult because ripping it out causes pain in my heart as the fibers rip apart; so I just cast on for feather and fan and prayed my knitting mojo would be with me.

For the most part it was. I knit about six inches of feather and fan, looked down and decided it was difficult to see the pattern. Despite being a lace weight yarn knit on size four needles the mohair in the yarn was disguising the pattern. It was too late to go back and jump up three needles sizes so I plunged on ahead.

In order to make the pattern more noticeable I decided to add in some stripes of stockinette. This was a good decision because it made the knitting easier and the ripple of the feather and fan pattern showed up better. I really like the pattern that developed from this problem. I would not have added the stockinette stripes otherwise. I will knit this pattern again in a yarn better suited for it.

Best of all, my mom likes it.

(Miss Mohair is in a new home in my box of leftover balls and is settling in nicely.)