Life's a Stitch

Do you remember that song from Sesame Street? It’s the truth when it comes to purchasing power. I belong to the Yahoo Yarn Co-op Group, and until now, have resisted that buying power. But when they offered Fleece Artist yarn from Canada, so no border/customs mail order problems, I gave in. As I wind it I’ll post my rainbow of Fleece Artist bargains.

This was the burgundy colourway, appearing a little lighter than in reality.The lace weight loopy mohair was $15.00 CDN for what was supposed to be 2200 metres. I’m sure it’s more as there are three more balls that came off my winder. The other, a dk weight, smooth mohair was $22.00 for at least 1000 metres. If you think of it in terms of the typical 100 metre skein, that’s $2.20 per skein, and it’s hand painted luxury! The next co-op for March will be Peace Fleece. I won’t be in that one, having blown the budget on this one, but maybe you’ll be there. Have fun.

Thanks to all for your kind wishes and comments earlier this week. We are more realistic about the situation or least our ability, or lack thereof, to influence it. We had a nice dinner with future son-in-law, where he very sweetly expressed his intentions. He is young, but a decent guy.

Life in my family:

1. DD, 22-yrs-old, having finished her degree last June, has decided to get married in July.

2. Future son-i-l is not through with school, with at least two more years to go, eight months at a Bible college.

3. We would like them to wait.

4. Not possible as the Bible college requires a marriage certificate if cohabiting.

5. We would like them to wait. If it can wait eight months then its meant to be, if it can’t…

6. Said Bible college is outside of Moose Jaw, SK, affectionately known as Moose Breath in our house. There is no shortage of nurses there and requires DD to sell her apartment in order to move.

7. We would like them to wait, but nothing this set of parents says makes any difference.

8. We’re all talking, so that’s good. Some more enthusiastically than others.

9. I know, it could be a lot worse. There’s a chance it will all work out, they may end up the happiest couple on earth. But what’s the rush?

10. Just when life gets a little exciting, something happens to make it more so. Consider my SIL. She’s a knitter, has been a guest blogger here and I’ve written about her yarn acquisitions. Well, on Sunday, she gained an acquisition of another variety. Her 23-yr-old daughter called her from the local hospital, in an excited state. Surprise! Upon arriving, SIL was presented with unanticipated granddaughter #2. Long story, beautiful baby.

11. And 15-yr-old son brought home his report card with a considerable drop in grades from last term.

I’m Olympic knitting, no time for pictures, so how about one of Gracee watching a scene from the Parrots of Telegraph Hill

or the birds at our feeder.

A meme, what an easy way to get out of an original post:

4 Jobs you’ve had in your life:

1. Gift wrapper at Lord and Taylor in NY

2. Counselor in a methadone and STD clinic

3. Counselor for Big Brothers/Big Sisters 

4. Executive Director of a non-profit agency

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1. Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You

2. Father of the Bride (Steve Martin version)

3. Chicago

4. A League of Their Own

4 Places You Have Lived:

1. Long Island, NY

2. Kalamazoo, MI

3. Omaha, NE

4. Vancouver, BC

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch

Don’t have TV but have watched nearly every episode of:

1. Six Feet Under

2. St. Elsewhere

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation

1. The US – 39 states

2. Europe – 11 countries

3. Mexico

4. Puerto Rico, mostly visiting my grandparents as a kid

4 Websites You Visit Daily

1. Unity Church’s Daily Word

2. Too many knitting blogs (that counts for at least two)

3. My work’s website

4 of Your Favorite Foods:

1. Pizza

2. Grilled veggies

3. Grilled meat

4. Indian food

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now

1. On a cruise ship

2. On a beach

3. Out to dinner with my family

4. Anywhere where the songbirds are louder than traffic

I am a bad Olympian. I agreed to do socks as they are a painful challenge for me, but changed to knitting items for the Preemie Project. If I use the same amount of yarn and the same four needle technique, does it count? You can tell I’ve never been an athlete. This is the first set. It’s a bit blurry, but the one with the apple next to the hat for size comparison was worse. I hope I can do more and take a better photo.

A finished object! And what an object it is. Introducing "C’Est La Vie" in Classic Elite Miracle, a mixture of tencel (wood fibre) and alpaca. Post knit review:

1. I love Fiddlesticks patterns.

2. I liked this one so much, I’ve started another one in red, with a black ruffle. Sure, another 1400+ ruffle stitches in black, I can handle it.

3. It’s good to do a project first in black. The oops don’t show up as much.

4. Apologies to Charlotte, I’m not likely to ever knit a triangular shawl again. This "v" shape drapes so beautifully and stays on so well.

5. I calculated the yardage requirement for this project at 16 skeins of Classic Elite Miracle. I used exactly ten skeins. Go figure.

I think I know how to use it.

My husband tells a story about when he was little and he told his mom "I caught a rabbit."

"You did," she said, a bit incredulously.

"I think I caught a rabbit," said little Chuck.

"Um humm," said Mom.

"I hope I caught a rabbit," said he.

Back to the Kromski, we went to a wonderful weaving/knitting shop in downtown Bellingham (Northwest Handspun Yarns) and had a chance to compare two rigid heddle looms. I went with the intention of buying an Ashford and walked out with a Kromski 24" rigid heddle loom and dreaming of an Ashford eight harness table loom for the future.

I'm not giving up on knitting, weaving is pretty limited in its portability. Even the knitter's loom requires an upright seated position braced against a table for stability. I'm OK for now because Lorette gave me permission to go both ways in her comment that said "fidelity is only for marriage." I trust her. She's a doctor. A knitting doctor.

Ashford is known for their high quality products and I have heard some concerns with the Kromski loom. But when I had them both in front of me and tried them, I went for the Kromski. Turns out they had enough "feedback" from unhappy weavers they redesigned the troublesome part. Also, the Ashford rigid heddle looms are sold unfinished and the one in the store needed a fair bit of sanding in order to work smoothly. The Kromski was already finished and I fell for its good looks. It also came with an extremely helpful instructional video. So, it's home and warped (that's a good thing in weaver language) and I'm beating away (also a good thing).

I hope I know how to use it.

UPDATE: Three years later, an update to my rigid heddle loom review. I'm still happy with my purchase and what made me even happier, was that I found out Ashford rigid heddle reeds are useable on my Kromski. I've just purchased the blue Ashford reed for more weaving options.

FUTHER UPDATE: Finding myself far from home for three weeks, due to a family emergency, I broke down and bought an Ashford Knitter's loom for some distraction. My updated rigid heddle loom review is here.

Last week we broke the record – 40 out of 42 days of rain. It was rain of biblical proportions. You know it’s bad when the newspaper is delivered double bagged and the joke going around has to do with the devil throwing aside Vancouverites because they’re are too wet to burn in hell. When the rain ended I saw a star in the sky – star light star bright, first star I saw this year! I guess there’s no need to build an ark after all.

I talked myself into picking up the first 440 of 872 ruffle stitches on C’est LaVie. It sounded so overwhelming, but it’s not been bad. On the third row you increase another 220 stitches and three rows later another 220. I was having so much fun I decided to go for a longer ruffle and another 220 stitches for a grand total of 1532 stitches.

It was going very smoothly, but we all know that life is not about smooth, right? So many stitches require the longest needle on earth, so I used my Denise interchangeable to make a circular the size of a jumprope. Good old Denise did it again; about 651 stitches into it, the needle came apart. That wasn’t enough of a blip in my knitting night.  A little while later I heard Gracee chewing on what I thought was her nylabone to find her gnawing on the needle. They’re both nylon, how was she to know? After a little sanding of tooth marks, and melting to straighten out the needle, the ruffle is looking great:

So, lets look in my knitting basket and see what’s not finished and why. I have my Master’s in counselling from way back when, I’m supposedly skilled at figuring out behaviour and motivation. And I can talk to myself in ways you could never talk in a counselling situation. There’s:

1. Marina – I love Marina, the colours I selected, the art of fair isle. What’s keeping me from progressing is the fact that I’m not happy with where the underarm steeks have fallen, making it more of a cropped look than I like. It’s not something that can be frogged back, the yarn acting like velcro, marrying and not wanting to be torn apart. Reality check: there’s nothing wrong with continuing, making it a little longer bodywise, and sewing up the armhole steeks to an acceptable place. For heaven’s sake, we’re talking armpits here.

2. C’est la Vie – both pieces are complete. The problem, mattress stitching them together and the prospect of picking up 884 black stitches for the ruffle. Reality check: you spent how much on Ott lites so that you can see your stitches? Pick up those stitches and ruffle on.

3. Sirdar Ultra Denim bulky sweater – Probably within three inches of finishing the last sleeve, then the dreaded sewing together part. Reality check: I’ve told you I’ve birthed three babies, two with no drugs, and now I’ve stayed awake for knee reconstruction, and I’m too chicken to finish a sweater that took all of a weekend to knit? Buck up, lady; feel the fear and do it anyway!

4. Devan – baby sweater made from sock yarn. The problem – I just don’t want to sew it together. And did I mention buttonholes? Reality check: this is a recurring theme. Want some cheese with that whine? Time to get out the I Hate to Finish Sweaters book.

What’s stopping you from attacking those UFO’s? 

A Shift

Lately,

Everywhere I walk,

I’m wrapped by webs.

I don’t see them

till they’ve wound

their silky way

about my face, neck and shoulders.

Before,

I would have recoiled,

flailing, terrified

of the weaver.

Now,

I luxuriate

in the delicate caress

and march forward,

strands trailing behind,

a sheer, weightless scarf.

I’m unsure

how to explain the change.

Have I come to appreciate

them

for what they are,

separate from my dread?

Do I find

their airiness

less alien

because I am lighter now

and float through days?

have I finally released

the unnecessary?

I can now

thank the weaver.

That was written by Carly Reid, our former summer intern at work.  Carly was diagnosed with scleroderma after her placement with us, the summer before last, and she died shortly before this Christmas at the age of 27. You can tell by the poem and the photo what a beautiful and talented person she was. We really miss her.

I’ve done some research into the shawl knitting ministry and I’ve found some Peruvian brushed alpaca to knit a shawl for her mom and a scarf for her sister. Carly spent some important time in South America and I thought it was an appropriate yarn. It’s a sad enough story as it is, but one of Carly’s sisters died a few years back in a car accident.

And today is the 35th anniversary of my Dad’s death. That’s a long time.

I saw a meme where people are listing five of their strange habits. This has provided a fair amount of discussion in my house. The ones I’m ready to admit to:

1. I love boxes and have a hard time throwing them out, especially shoe boxes. I was in box heaven when I worked at Lord and Taylor in New York in high school in the gift wrapping department.

2.I prefer food for breakfast that would normally be served at other meals. Forget cereal. Give me pizza or a cheeseburger.

3. I pat cute dogs on the head with my cursor.

4. I talk to animals in a way I’d expect them to sound if they spoke English.

5. I park in the same space every time I go to a mall or store. It’s usually an out of the way space, one nobody wants, but I always remember where my car is.

My son says to expect hits to my blog to go down to nothing after this post 😉 

Here’s a dog for you to pat and talk to. Try it, my lips are sealed:

I’ve started a Herringbone Ribster roster (say that three times fast) and gallery on my right sidebar. I’ve sent out a dozen patterns, so if you have one, please send me a photo when you’re done and I’ll post it. If you know of anyone who wants the pattern, please send them my way.

I’m hooked, or more appropriately in weaving speak, I’m warped. The weaving class was a success, from the shop owner’s point of view. I ordered a tabletop rigid heddle loom, two books and an extra reed. One hit was all it took to create a serious addiction, thanks to author/designer/teacher Rowena Hart. In a three hour time frame, we did everything worth doing – we shopped, we learned and we completed a good sized scarf. It’s colour and texture combined with speed and economy. Seriously, you can weave beautiful scarves with less than half the yarn and a third of the time of knitting. Don’t worry, I’m not selling out. It is a more limited medium than our beloved two sticks, but a woman can have two loves, can’t she? Here is the class in progress:

Rowena teaches on a "Knitter’s Loom," so called because of its portability which appeals to knitters. The maximum weavable width is 12". I went with a table loom with a maximum weaving width of 24". Here I am with Rowena and the rest of the graduates: