the knitting buzz

san francisco treats

On a recent trip to San Francisco, it proved to be just chock full of San Francisco treats..... and I'm not talking about Rice-a-Roni.  I enjoyed doing some of the tourist-y things.  Here are some pictures of a few of them,

 

 

I did get to ride the famous Trolley cars.....it was quite fun but those hills....so steep....wow wee.

 
 

Sourdough bread or sourdough anything?

 

Oops ..... sorry about the missing bite..... I just couldn't resist...... yum yum.

 

The fog.  It was very foggy and I took tons of pictures that are masked with the haze.

 

The flora.  I am a sucker for beautiful flowers and here are a few I just have to share.

 

 

 

 

The painted ladies.  They are beautiful.  However, I was surprised by this famous (Full House) landmark....they seemed like they could use a fresh coat of paint. 

  

The road to Twin Peaks........ curvey

 

Tartine's Morning Bun. INCREDIBLE! And highly recommended.  I was lucky enough that a customer recommended it to me, when she heard I was going to San Francisco and planning on visiting ImagiKnit (its just down the street).  I had the squash and sun-dried tomato quiche and of course, the famous Morning Bun.

  

And of course ..... a yarn store..... ImagiKint

 

 

 

It  was a super great trip with lots of shopping, eating, sightseeing and exploring.

Lastly, one random picture to share.....

Happy Knitting! 

 

 

heading to TNNA

Its that time again to pack my bags and head to Columbus for TNNA. 

Today is packed full of doing laundry, some chores and packing.  The hardest part of packing is to decide what knitting projects to take. Yes, that's right, it requires multiple projects.  This may seem crazy to some but it really does require a little thought, at least for me. 

This trip is 5 days loaded with classes, speakers, a fashion show and the most important part, the market.  Where there are thousands of booths to navigate to find the best products and yarns for this Fall and Winter.

So back to selecting the knitting projects to pack.

• I need some simple projects that I can do during the speaker luncheon and some of the classes. 
• I always like to take some more interesting or slightly more complicated projects for any down time (as long as there is no alcohol involved, never works for me).
• Need a project for the plane, that won't be taken away because of needles that are too pointy or circulars that are too long.

I usually seem to over compensate and take more projects than I can possibly work on.....visions of grandeur perhaps.

Truth be told, usually I will take the opportunity to use this as an  excuse a platform to start new projects.  And after about a week of swatching and not quite getting the desired effects I was looking for,...... I have decided to dig out some unfinished projects and use this time to reclaim some project bags from the dark corners of the closet.  This almost feels heroic..... oh my, way too much drama.

 
So I have decided to take 3 different sock projects (1 2nd sock and 2 1st socks), a crochet pillow cover project, the "Its Native" wrap/scarf (feeling very optimistic) and some linen lace to start another Bubbles.

I failed to mention that some time between now and class time, I have to complete 4 swatches as homework for two different classes, one on Thursday and the other on Friday. I think I will start the first one on the plane. 

Looks like my homework will cut into some knitting time. Better rethink the number of projects to pack.....just may be over zealous.

I will be sure to take lots of pictures to share with you and report back. 

More later.....

 

inspired

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda" gave me the "kick in the pants" inspiration I needed to set a goal to get the beautiful lace knitted wrap/scarf design completed, so I could wear it to TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) Trade Show in Columbus.  I calculated that I needed to complete 20 rows every day, giving me enough time for blocking and pack it for my trip. Twenty rows sounded ambitious even to me, but I was determined to give it my all

The first two days of this challenge, were indeed challenging, but 40 rows were completed. I pushed myself and got it done. 

Day 3 was a different story...... I got up at 4:30 am to knit with the endless cup of Starbucks House Blend, then off to work.  Came home to look after Xander, then resumed knitting around 9pm and stayed up to till around 11:30pm kniitng groggily and at times falling asleep. Still not completing my 20 rows....OOFDAH!!!

Day 4 was worse..... this is the day I found the mistakes I made under heavy eyelids, late the night before.  Kind of like a Day of Reckoning.  I quickly faced the fact that this beautiful wrap/scarf knit in Dream In Color's Its Native, will be finished at a later date and will not be going to Columbus with me in any form other than a UFO (un-finished object).

So, this opened up season on knitting up something else to wear at TNNA. Not surprised, I'm positve.

simple, yet humbling

My Charlize Shawl knitting project is coming along nicely, but I have had my fair share of humbling moments.

It was the perfect travel project and the pattern is very well written. 

"So what's so humbling?", you may ask.....  the humbling moment comes from the actual simplicity of the pattern and my own confidence or rather over confidence of the rhythm of the stitches. The ace lpattern utilizes yo, k and sk2p. In the long repeats I found that psso sometimes got missed throwing the stitch count off. Disaster could have easily been diverted on the purl back row if by paying attention that inbetween every stitch is a yo.... lesson learned.

I chalk it up to all the talking, laughing and having such a good time on the train ...... translation: not paying attention.

life interrupted

Planning  a day trip by train for a change of pace.  I'm looking forward to getting a break from the city, especially when gelato is involved.... yum yum.

So a quick train jaunt is the perfect time to get in some knitting. Surprised? Travel knitting is my favorite, whether its train or plane.  But I like train knitting best because of the opportunity to spread out, not quite as crowded and has occasional stops.

What to take to knit does require some consideration. I don't dare take the knitted lace wrap I am knitting,  that has all the makings for a disaster, knitting disaster that is. 
Which leaves me the socks I have been knitting off & on.....lets be honest, its been more off than on.  So I'm all set & ready to go, right?

UNTIL, I spy Evelyn knitting Charlize Shawlette by Vanessa Smith. Yes, you guessed it, there was no turning back. It was perfect!  For all the right reasons..... I have some very special girls/women in my life that would look great in this piece..... and..... I have tons of gorgeous fingering weight yarn that is just yearning to be knit.......and ...... its lace, I love to knit anything lace ....and..... its simple enough that I could work on it on the train......and...... and ....... and.... and......

I told Evelyn that I was going to "blame" her for getting another project on the needles, BUT instead I must thank her. Its a great piece and thrilled to start it.  So Evelyn, here is a big THANK YOU for you.

distracted

How does this happen?  Once my trip to Portland was cancelled,  I have lost my focus on my Venetia Shawl/Wrap project .....and I was doing so well.  Now that the deadline or rather goal has been removed, I find myself taking on new projects. 

I have started crocheting a pillow cover, testing out some patterns in the form of cotton facecloths and to top it off, I spent a good part of the weekend, swatching some knit lace designs for my next lace shawl/wrap design.

I can explain...... The distraction could happen to anyone.  I have recently acquired some beautiful laceweight and fingering weight yarn. A couple of hanks of Wollmeisse Lace Garn, Madelintosh Tosh Lace and Tosh Merino Light.  Ok, ok, ok.... who wouldn't be distracted by that.

Happy Knitting!

some progress

I have made some progress on my Venetia Lace Wrap that I am racing to get finished for the Yarn Market News Conference in Portland OR, which begins March 13th.  I had previously figured that I needed to knit about 2" per day or about 20 rows to finish the knitting and leave enough time to block it and pack.

 

Based on the latest measurements, it looks like I am on track, but I have been finding it increasingly more difficult to get enough knitting time in each day.

My blogging has suffered some....and for this I apologize, but appreciate all your support and confidence. 

Some days I feel like the fish, Dorey in "Finding Nemo"...... instead of "just keep swimming"...... I say...just keep knitting, just keep knitting, just keep knitting.......

Have a super great week and Happy Knitting!

 

up in the air

I am a little behind in posting this.....perhaps its was the 61 pictures I took form the plane. I will spare you and share only some highlights.

Heading out and of course, I am equipped with my traveling sock for the 4 hour journey to Long Beach. I settled on the sock, yes another sock, because I resisted the idea of losing my precious Signatures, just so I could work on my lace scarf. This sock is being knit with Socks that Rock  by Blue Moon Fiber in my Dash sock pattern,

 

First of all, I am from the Midwest but know nothing about farming, I enjoyed looking out over the farmland, BUT then found myself mystified by large sections of land that appeared like crop circles but seemingly larger, throughout many different areas.

The picture is a little hard to see. But I found them very interesting. Can anyone tell me what these are.....I'm intrigued!

 

Here are some frosted version of circles, half circles and even some pacman shaped ones. What are these????

 

 
I could see my mystifying circles inspiring some design work down the road. They are beautiful.

I get the opportunity to see many mountains, so I couldn't help myself. There was alot of snow on some and none on others.

 

Canyons and steep ravines

 

This next shot  looks to me like it could have been taken on Mars....

Some were so majestic

 

 

And then after the mountain show, we land and alas, the Queen Mary. We are staying on this renovated ship while in Long Beach. So fun!

 

 


I will be posting on some new products, some features front the Fashion Show and  the fashion color forecast for Spring 2011.

 

heading for tnna

TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) hosts a show twice a year for retailers, offering classes, a fashion show, interesting speakers and the show to purchase yarn, needles , notions and accessories for the upcoming season. The best part is that it is hosted in Long Beach CA; a nice break from the down coat and Uggs routine.

We leave tomorrow, so today is filled with all the usual pre-travel errands, (hair cut, manicure/pedicure, dry cleaner and Walgreens) and what to pack, clothes and more importantly, which knitting projects to take. 

Don't laugh.....the projects are the most important part. Need to have a project that is somewhat mindless to have on hand during speakers presentations and classes. Something interesting to work on in the evening. And most important, something that will get through airport security.....we are talking about a 4 hour flight here. 

My history is that I have visions of grandeur and pack more projects than I can possibly work on. I think, secretly I have a fear of "what if I finish and nothing to work with on the way home"....YIKES!   

But this time, I am going to try to be more reasonable about the amount of project I take.

•  I have my lace scarf project which is a must have, but since they are on Signatures, I worry about them being taken by the TSA. So this will be packed in my checked luggage.
• A sock project that was abandoned during my holiday knitting because its recipient had a color change request, this could be my airport/plane knitting.
• A Linen lace scarf I started last year in my Bubbles pattern, this could also be airport/plane knitting
• A new sock design I started before the rash of holiday knits and its cowl compliment that has been cast on but really needs a gauge change. This may be too taxing a project and should probably stay home.
• There are others to consider, but so far, the lace scarf and the abandoned socks are definites.
  

Then there is the "other thing".....this is something that is only whispered. For some peculiar reason, I am compelled to take a plethora of needles, just in case. Just in case, there is a new yarn to try, just in case I score some yarn that has to be cast on immediately. Just in case, just in case, just in case......

More later on our TNNA findings.....

BTW.....we are staying on the renovated Queen Mary and it could be haunted....sounds exciting, right?

 

another tribute to the knit kit

 

"The Knit Kit" company has come out with their fourth color, in red,  of their ingenious knit kit. I am now the proud owner of the red knit kit, as well as the black & turquoise knit kits.

 

 
 I had sung the praises of the knit kit in an earlier post and admittedly did not buy into the concept on the first pass. They are perfect for travel and are TSA approved. However I have one for each knitting project that I am working on. Yes, I love them that much.

I love them so much that I now have this secret desire to own them all (not so secret now, I suppose), but I am missing the first one that was ivory & pink.

If anyone knows where I can get my hands on one of the originals.......lets just say, I am most interested. = )

the knit kit

The Knit Kit has been available for over a year, but I really wanted to take a moment to sing its praises.  If its new to you, it is essentially the Swiss Army Knife for knitters.

I must admit, I resisted for quite some time. In fact, I really didn't think I needed it at all.  I had everything that comes it it that I kept  in my small notions bag, ok, not so small, really a cosmetic gwp (gift with purchase), ok so its on the bulky side.

Then it happened, I was traveling and short on space in my carry-on, so I broke down and purchased, my first, that's right my first, knit kit.  It's perfect, for the most part it is everything you need and all in its own compartment, no digging or dumping. 

Since I had such a wonderful experience with my newly purchased Knit Kit, it certainly made sense to me that I truly needed one for each project bag.....I now have several and I always have one on me......I love it!

If I were King and could make one improvement, I would like a space large enough for a small cable needle.  Just saying.....

I still do have my trusty zippered notions bag, it stays at home and holds those notions that I need less often and duplicates. 

Happy Knitting!

garden inspired

 
Alas! I am finally able to publish my latest design, Villandry Lace Shawl.

I owe a big thank you from the students in my Intro to Lace Knitting class last knit. They showed so much enthusiasm for this design that I got it in gear and got it written and available for a pdf download. Thank you Lenora, Judy, Antoinette, Elizabeth, Sally and Michelle... =)

Villandry Lace Shawl was inspired by the breathtaking gardens of the Loire Valley and named specifically for the famous labyrinth and maze style gardens at Château de Villandry in France's Loire Valley.

 

 

This shawl was done in a lace weight yarn, specifically Jaggerspun Zephyr which is 50% extra fine merino wool and 50% Chinese Tussah Silk. The pattern is available on Ravelry as well as the rest of my design collection, Knitting Buzz Designs.

 

 

This was a really fun project and will work well in all weight yarns and could be adapted to a smaller scarf size or to a larger afghan size.

 

Happy Knitting

au revoir
!

alas! it's finished

What started out as an inspiration of a pile of fishing nets

 

Has been swatched

 

 
 I selected the beautiful lace weight merino yarn for the shawl from Fearless Fiber in the colorway golden olive.  i really loved working with this yarn and it blocked beautifully. The scarf was knit out of fingering weight yarn like St. Denis Boreale.  Its a fun and extremely easy knitted lace design.  

The blocking was effortless, but quickly realized I needed to adjust the way I placed the pins;

so I could pronounce the gentle side scallops of the design without getting points. I moved the pins inside the scallop and the result was perfect.

 
 
 
This design will be available on Ravelry shortly, as soon as finish up the pdf. My goal is to have it up tonight.

I am calling it Portofino after the quaint but small Italian fishing village on the Italian Riviera.

 

Now for the unveiling.... pun intended.... of the shawl and scarf. 

A close up of the shawl, check out those pretty scalloped edges....

Ciao for now!

midwest fiber and folk fair

Journeys of the traveling sock.....

 

This weekend was theMidwest Fiber and Folk Fairin Greyslake IL.  Meg, Audrey and I rented a car and whisked ourselves out of the city and into the county. This was my first Fiber Fair and it was truly a treat.

There were 134 exhibitors showing beautiful  fiber (Megs favorite), spinning wheels (Audrey wants one), weaving supplies (Meg is totally into it) and YARN (my personal obsession), especially some of the amazing hand dyed ones, as well as, the sheer beauty  of the spun fiber in its natural color.

 
   

While Audrey was taking a test drive on some spinning wheels.

I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Kimber from Fiber Optics and instantly fell in love with her fiber, sock and lace yarn. Her dye work is breathtaking.

I wasn't expecting to see any animals, but had the pleasure of seeing a couple of darling alpacas and one giant angora rabbit.

It was a perfect day with a perfect ending, check out this sunset..... with the promise of a beautiful tomorrow...... "red sky by night, sailors delight....."

  

 

 

 .

the traveling sock

Whether you are going on vacation or taking advantage of all your town offers during a stay-cation, what to pack, I mean what knitting to pack is a big decision. It can't be too big, it must be able to fit in a handbag or tote. It can't be too small, that you finish it too quickly. The yarn choice is usually lightweight, not too woolly, most don't care to work on something  providing additional warmth, since it is summer. Unless of course its nice and small. Knitting socks is always my answer.

So, as I begin a new sock project and thinking about what I will be taking to the Taste of Chicago.  Of course water, perhaps an extra plastic fork and some napkins or paper towels, maybe even some of those moist towelettes and my traveling sock.  Because of the traveling sock, long lines or waits never get the better of me.

Knitting on the traveling sock can make wait-time magically speed by especially in the airport, on the plane, the train, the bus and the car (provided you are not driving). In the doctors office,  the 30 minute wait for a table, at Disney World, anywhere. Knitting socks areperfectly small and fits comfortably into a smallish handbag. And at the end of your journey or any wait, you are that much closer to a comfy pair of hand-knit socks.

Enjoy your travels..... whether they take you to far off places or down the block.

 

 

off to Columbus

 

The day started off with a beautiful sky. It was destined to be a great day. Our flight to Columbus was perfect and better yet, uneventful. Got to work on the sock and ready to start it mate,

Some perks of the day were finding jeni's splendid ice cream and oohhh what a find.

 
 Vicki and I did a lot of sampling but couldn't resist getting a scoop or two or three or.....

I had to get the Queen City Cayenne, its so unusual, starts out sweet & very yummy and closes with a very spicy bite. Only a Cincinnati girl (or boy) could truly appreciate this love fest.

Its the dark chocolate one in the back.

After some planning and getting a global overview of the market, it was time to head to dinner. We decided to hit a Mexican joint, La Fogata Grill.  I had the most delicious fish tacos.....boy, do I love fish tacos..... but these were exceptional. Deeeelicious!

Now.....   I would be totally  remiss, if I didn't mention  Michelada .....ooolala. This is where Mr. Dos Equis meets the handmade spicy Bloody Mary . That's what I'm talking about. It was my first and looking forward to a second. I only had one since I have a super long day tomorrow, but I enjoyed every drop.

So that is my epicurean journey in Columbus.

 

 

so sad

Amidst myfinal packing to leave for TNNA in Columbus, I was re-evaluating my knitting projects that I was planning to take with me.  And that's when it happened.... I decided the shawl, inspired by the fishing nets on the seashore, was too wide and came to the realization that I just may not have enough yarn (currently have 1650 yards of gorgeous merino lace-weight from fearless fibers). Proceeded to riped out 20 inches or more of beautiful lace work ( if I don't mind saying so myself...heehee)

The good news is that I have casted on and started knitting again. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. And keep your fingers crossed.....

So off to TNNA I will go with plenty of knitting =)......