Metro Yarn Crawl, Part 2A: Knit Locally!

Managed four more stores on the #metroyarncrawl2016 today. Since there's a lot to show, I'll do one store each of the next four days.

The first store we hit was Knit Locally up in Boyds, MD. It took much less time to get there than we'd allowed, so we sat in the parking lot behind the store and knit (me) and crocheted (mom), as we'd arrived a full hour before opening.

At 11.30, Peggy, the owner, tapped on our window and invited us in, so we finished whichever rows and scampered in after her.

It's a lovely little shop!

There's the front room (bottom left) and a middle room (top and bottom right), plus a long room off the middle room (which I'm calling the back room).

Top right is a view down the back room, left and bottom right are two more views of the middle room.

The store has plenty of yarn, indie dyers and commercial. I noticed Chiagoo needles, and some beautiful handcrafted jewelry. And yarn.

I got a sweater quantity of sparkly copper Venezia (yay!), a gradient kit from The Copper Corgi (one of the new-to-me dyers, and a Done Roving/Frolicking Feet Transitions, which will be a Sand Dollar shawl.  There was also a basket of back issues of magazines, which totally got raided. (There's stuff not pictured, which will remain secret until after Mothers' Day.)

I'm really glad we made it all the way north this crawl, this is a fabulous little shop!

Metro Yarn Crawl 2016!

Today was my #metroyarncrawl2016 day. I'm only able to hit 5 stores this year (including the one that employs me), but here's the virtual tour! Presented in order of shop, then loot.

Stop 1: The Yarn Barn in Burke

Three minutes after open:

Stop 2: Uniquities in Vienna

Stop 3: Aylin's Woolgatherer in Falls Church. V. sad she's closing 5/31.

 

Final stop: Fibre Space in Alexandria

And lunch at Eamon's, corner of King & Columbus. BEST chipper in the states, because it's the real deal.

Fun day! Time for a nap!

Okay, fine, I bought more.

Okay, fine, there were actually TWO trips to In Stitches. Since my two bffs couldn't go to the Woodlawn Needlework Show on the same day, I went twice. (Well, fine, thrice, I also went with my mom.) So, perforated paper, three canvases... and this stuff.




That was the first trip. The second trip, I was relatively well behaved (for me) and just got JBW Design's French Country Owl sampler (and some floss and fabric). That, I started right away one evening last week at around 2:30 a.m.:


There was a lot more done, but I had to rip it out because it was either incorrect placement... or... well, pretty much, I had the entire word "Whooooooo" at the bottom in a very, very wrong place. So it's in time out this week.

Future knitting (and lots of it!)

Okay, I started re-knitting swatches 1&2. Nothing really interesting to photograph there. I *really* need to get going on my swatch tags already. Maybe tomorrow, I'll bring in my copy of Stanley and get my page numbers. (I have, of course, lost track of my knitting notebook somewhere in my house.)

I did get my confirmation for the Knit & Crochet Show in July, so wheee!


I'll be at Master's Day, and I got into the following classes:

1. Measuring Gauge Accurately (Arenda Holladay)
2. Celtic Cables (Melissa Leapman)
3. Advancing Finishing (Margaret Fisher)
4. Tips, Tricks and Hints (Lily Chin)

That leaves all day Saturday to run around at the market! There's homework for each, which I figure I'll start about when I send in my Level 1 binder. Which will hopefully be sooner, rather than later. Sigh!

Also got a suddenly-came-open spot in Jared Flood's upcoming Girasole Crash Course at Fibre Space in Alexandria. While paying my invoice for the class, I accidentally bought enough Neighborhood Fiber Company yarn - in a lovely, vibrant orange - for the blanket version. Yarn, it follows me home. I decided on orange because I like it - even though, really, I should've gotten deep brown and bright yellow - "Girasole" means "Sunflower".

There are a lot of very, very lovely versions of this stole out there. A small sampling:


This one, in blue, is knitted (and shot) by KayRay


This one, photo & knitting by PatQ, uses a lovely variegated yarn.
I love that her blog title is "Not Now, I'm Counting!!!"


Here's the edging of the one knitted (& photographed ) by Woolgatherer
Click on the link above for more lovely photos of the shawl,
and - even better - a spreadsheet to track your progress!
You'll be hearing all about my progress after the class. Since next winter is supposed to be just as bad as this past one (darned Almanac!), I'll want a nice woolen blanket before then!

More on the Future Meltdown front

"Elusive, and highly prized are reproductions of samplers.
One of the most highly sought is the 1760 Chase Sampler by little 11 year old Mary Starker."
Amen to that - I've been looking for one of these for over TWENTY YEARS. See, my mother bought this kit back in the 70s and worked the whole thing, framed it, hung it on the wall for all to admire. And then, in one of the many, many Army relocations our family underwent, it was lost. She was heartbroken. So, ever since I started seriously stitching in college, I've been on the lookout. Antique stores were haunted, estate sales were attended, and there's been a troll crawling eBay for me since I first discovered eBay.

Finally, this year, one showed up on eBay. After the new PayPal rules (so I couldn't just use my own credit card for the Buy It Now), so I had to explain to my husband why he needed to RIGHT NOW pay an unseemly sum for an ancient kit. Thankfully, he'd heard about it at some point during the past decade from both me *and* my mother, so he got it.

My mother doesn't know.
The original sampler:

Size: 16"x 24" design hand printed on pure linen, size 20"x 28, cotton floss, diagrams, directions and stitch instructions.
Artist: Mary Starker, 1760, as reproduced & licensed by Elsa Williams
Manufacturer: Williamsburg by Elsa Williams, Exclusive Manufacturer of Williamsburg Needlework

"This is the Elsa Williams licensed reproduction of The Chase Sampler. Copied from the sampler worked by Mary Starker, this reproduction kit duplicates the gay colors and charming design of the original in the Williamsburg collection. A rare example of American needlework design, because it combines an embroidered picture with alphabet lists and includes the embroiderer's place of birth "Newbury, New England" ( thought to be Newburyport Massachusetts). Mary's name, place of birth, date, and a pious ejaculation, "Goodness and Mercy Ever follow those who shape their Conduct by Gods Holy Laws" have been deleted from the reproduction so that the 20th century worker may personalize the work."

While I understand that the kit has Great Value as an untouched item, screw that. It will have much, much more value to us hanging on the wall, thus I'm stitching this in secret for my mother, and hope to have it finished and framed by her next birthday as a surprise. She's going to love it!!

Future Meltdown Alert

Okay, so, having decided that (a) I am indeed a mite insane when it comes to knitting and (b) I can, in fact knit things for people without undue separation anxienty as long as I'm knitting something for someone else from the get-go, I decided to knit things for Christmas for a lot of folks.

First, to keep a long-running joke going as long as possible, I will be knitting Baby Owlbears for my entire gaming group (ten people). I have only a vague idea what a stuffed knitted Baby Owlbear will look like; I only know I need ten of them. Luckily, there's a lot of yarn left from 30 Rabbits in 30 Days. Here is a cute Baby Owlbear, drawn in 2007 by talented artist Babbletrish (seriously, go check the portfolio behind the link; the artist is open to taking comissions, (serious inquiries only)):


While my knitted ones won't be nearly this adorable, this is my favorite Baby Owlbear pic *ever*.

Then, there's my husband. Again with the long-running jokes, I would like to make him a Trilobite hat, Trilobite socks (from Wendy D. Johnson's recent book), and a small stuffed Trilobite. HE HAS SIZE 14EE FEET. The socks... may not happen this year.

Then there's the other-craft stuff: a huge sampler for my mother (the incredible story behind this will follow once I've got enough of it done to show you), a huge cross-stitch angel for my in-laws, which is actually beyond the point in this picture. I have only the wings left to do... but the wings are about as many stitches again as I've already done;


...a huge stained glass window for my father, and a bunch of ornaments for my friends that I believe the four I finished say "2006"... so some frogging needs to happen there, assuming I can even find those now. If I do, I may just change the year to "2010" and hope I finish by holiday-time next year.

Now, very little of this is actually going to get done, but all y'all can have fun watching the meltdown as it happens!

Deciding to Go For It.

Wovenflame (aka Marlene, up in BC) has what's probably the best "okay, what going for the Masters in Hand Knits is really like" wrapped up nicely up in eleven every-Monday blog posts. By following her journey, I got an idea of the sorts of things I'll be doing, the sorts of things the reviewers look for (that I hadn't even know existed!), and an idea that yes, it is scary, but it is possible. Her journey begins here, and then continues over the next few months.

Monday 2 | Monday 3 | Monday 4 | Monday 5 | Monday 6 | Monday 7 | Monday 8 | Monday 9 | Monday 10 | TBC....

If you're thinking of going for Level I, it's worth checking out Marlene's chronicle.

Since I'm half a swatch away (and the Extra Credit) away from submitting Lesson #3 for the Basics, Basics, Basics course, I've decided that, yep, I'm going to do the Masters Program. I got my yarn for Level I (well, everything but the color-work) on Sunday:


It's some lovely Trendsetter Merino. All the same dye lot (that appears to be important), soft, nonscratchy, and works well with my needles (since I've almost finished Lesson #3 in it). Even if I have to resubmit for Lesson #3, I'm gona go for it! Yay!!

Monday Miscellany

Oooo! Sarah Leigh, who owns The Scarlet Thread, has joined the blogiverse! RemedialStitcher is her new blog. Go say "hi"!!

In case you missed it on Lime & Violet, there's a nifty little site out there called Clearance Craft and Hobby Books. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Books, but for Le$$!!

In the land of allergies, I survived my first shots, and the new dosing level of loratadine (the generic of Claritin) meant that I sat on the rug of my friend-with-cats-and-dog's house for two hours with NO symptoms. This is a good thing. In the land of Verizon, I got to spend about an hour on the phone AGAIN (it's becoming a weeky thing) trying to get my bill straightened out AGAIN. A nice woman named "Ms. Nelson" who, in my opinion, doesn't get paid enough, tried really, really hard to fix everything. Hopefully it worked, because I'm pretty much out of patience with the phone company at this point.

In the land of knitting (which is, after all, why you're here), Progress was made.

Sort of.
See, I needed my 12" size 1 addi circulars to switch off the DPNs on the Serenity Blanket (this is BettyLovesYarn's version - pretty!). They were, as of Friday night, living in my Fisherman and His Wife Socks, Socks #2 from Sanguine Gryphon's Fairy Tale Sock Club #1. So, I had to finish up the leg of the sock that needed a leg finished. Thus, I did. So, the 12" needles went into the Serenity Blanket... and I knitted. A lot. Switched up to size 2, 16". Knitted more. Now switched up to size 4, 20" , which will be the final needle size, but not length - because now I'm using my Addi Clicks (this Earthsong Fibers link has the best photos - click on "larger image" to see)!! That means I just have to switch out cords as my blanket grows more, which is the entire point of mulitpoint cabled needles, right? I just haven't had something to use them on like this before, so I'm very excited. So far, I am LOVING these needles. I'm a fan of Addi Turbos, anyway, but this is just like Extra Bonus Goodness. And the blanket is coming along very nicely. See?


Colors here truer than in previous photo
I'm probably going to have to get more yarn, since a whole lot of knitting hasn't resulted in all that much blanket as yet. I'm thinking coordinating colors, with some green mixed in. Need to find a Purled Llama Dulce seller hereabouts to see if there's anything that would work nicely. Depending on how it goes, it's possible that there might be two color changes... which might look just as pretty, or even prettier... two colors for the blankie, another for the edging? Just as long as it stays being pretty fall colors.

Back to the Fisherman and His Wife Socks, mentioned before. So, now I've done both legs, and I'm up to the heel. Not ONLY did it take an hour of digging through my freshly-reorganized stash to find the other three colors of yarn I need for the dratted socks, but I left the pattern at work. AT WORK. So despite feeling very much like digging into this very cool checkerboard-looking heel, I had no clue what to do next, so I had to stop.

And in future startitis incidents, I should be getting a call today from Nature's Yarns to see if they can order me a copy of the Midnight Sun Tam from Simply Shetland. As soon as I have my paws on that pattern, I'm STARTING THAT SUCKER!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Bacon!

Okay, so, no entry yesterday. Work was a wee bit busy - something about five hours of OT. Got home by eleven pm, thankfully... and here I am, back before 9am. Oh well, it pays, even though it cuts into my knitting time.

My reward for being a Good Little Worker Bee yesterday was to finally buy my very own copy of Lady Linoleum's Bacon Wrap, aka Big Strip O' Bacon.

(This is hers, by the way, not mine...)

It's ninteen pages of charted goodness, and would work as knitting, crochet, cross-stitch - pretty much anything with a grid. (The temptation to make a Bacon Window is strong.) I've got to dig out my Bacon Yarn that I got when I first found this pattern last year... it may be time for Bacon!

End of Year...

Wow, 2008 just *flew* by. And it's not like there wasn't stuff that seemed to last forever (notably, the US Presidential election)... it just didn't slow anything else down.

So, the "why" of why I'm finishing my FTSC-I #2 socks is so I can start my FTSC-II #1 socks:



JollyPyrate's photo is way better than mine, so I borrowed it!
They're gonna be lovely, but my Sock Club Rule is (thus far) "knit up before the next one comes". Granted, I've missed twice, but, darnit, at least I'm getting socks knitted up!

And, in the random images section, here are some paperclips that showed up on some documents at work that work GREAT as stitch markers on really small (#0-#2) circular needles:



It's great when knitting tools just find their way to my desk.

Oh - and HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!!