03.27.09
Posted in General Info at 8:41 pm by Sue
It’s wonderful having a husband who can cook. We trade off on who’s got kitchen duty, and as I write this post, I can hear him working in the kitchen, frying fish and eggplant. Fried eggplant is one of my favorite things in the world! (Bet you can tell that I’m from New Orleans – we’re having two deep-fried foods in the same meal, and I’m not hyperventilating about it!)
Last night, my weekly knitting group consisted of just two of us, so I was actively involved in conversation all evening – I usually mostly just listen in, while I concentrate on my knitting, but with only two of us, I couldn’t sit on the sidelines. I brought my Modern Quilt Wrap to work on – it’s fairly simple, but does involve some row counting, which apparently was beyond me last night.
When I started knitting, I was about to change colors, so I cut the yarn from the previous color, joined the new color, and knitted five rows before I realized I had forgotten to do the decrease row twice. I ripped back five rows and re-knit them with decreases where they belonged.
Then I noticed that I had changed colors too soon – I had not knitted enough rows in the previous color. Theoretically, this shouldn’t matter, because who’d know, right? But I can be a little obsessive about my knitting, so I ripped it back again.
Since I had already cut the yarn from the previous color too short to get another row out of it, I joined a new strand and knitted the missing row, cut the yarn, joined the new color and knitted the five rows again. But something didn’t look right. That’s when I realized that I should have added three rows in the old color, not one.
So I ripped back the five rows a second time, ripped back the newly-added single row of the previous color, joined a new strand of the old color and knitted the three missing rows before the color change. I double-checked the pattern, and my stitch count was correct, row count was correct, all is good.
Joined the new color, knitted the five rows with decreases where they belong. This is the third time I’ve knit the same five rows in the new color, but who’s counting? Then I looked more closely at the pattern, and discovered that while I am knitting with color “I”, the pattern says I’m supposed to be using color “H”. Yep, I joined the wrong color. Three times.
Now, again, in theory, this shouldn’t matter – in a wrap of many colors, it wouldn’t be apparent if one color were out of place, but my slight obsessiveness kicked in again. So I ripped back to the old color one last time, joined the correct new color, and knitted the five rows again. Like I said, not enough progress to document it with a photo. Pitiful!
Knit, frog, knit, rip, arrgh…
Sue
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03.22.09
Posted in General Info at 10:16 pm by Sue
As I’ve mentioned previously, my little kitty Coco is a bob-tail. She was born bob-tailed, and has a very short little tail, only about 2 inches long. It’s so cute when she’s annoyed and whips that little tail from side to side, only it’s this tiny little ball of fluff instead of a long tail! Although these photos are a bit grainy, I’m posting them because I finally managed to capture the motion of that little tail in a picture, and it’s too funny not to share!
Front view of mildly annoyed kitty: 
And rear view of increasingly irritated kitty, complete with tail movement: 
I started a new project today with Rowan Kidsilk Haze – I may well be the last knitter on earth to start the Modern Quilt Wrap). The Kidsilk Haze has such a lovely halo – I can tell already that this sheer and light-weight wrap is going to be much warmer than I expected.
The gold color I’m using is the now-discontinued Swish #578, the unavailability of which has frustrated many a knitter longing to knit the Modern Quilt Wrap in the colors shown in the pattern. (I stashed the yarns for this project some time back, and was lucky enough to get a ball of Swish before it became scarse.)
But I’ve got great news for anyone still searching for it! Rowan has introduced a new color, Ember #644, that’s VERY similar, and as I understand it, Ember is actually intended to be a replacement for Swish. I have photographed the two colors together, so you can see for yourself. They’re not identical – Ember is just a tad less intense, but I think it would work beautifully as a substitute for Swish.
If the Modern Quilt Wrap is still on your wish list, or if you’ve been postponing this project because you couldn’t find certain colors, you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve got all the Kidsilk Haze colors for this pattern in stock, including the new Ember color that replaces Swish!
Fanning the embers… (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!)
Sue
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03.01.09
Posted in Sock Club, What's New at 6:04 pm by Sue
You may have noticed that Mardi Gras was this week – and I’ve definitely been missing New Orleans. I’ve gotta tell ya, looking at folks in costume on the internet just isn’t anywhere near as much fun as being there yourself. (Looking for knitting content? Keep reading, we’ll get to it in a minute!)
People who aren’t from New Orleans often have a very inaccurate impression of Mardi Gras, as they see only the most outrageous things in the media. Yes, there are some very interesting things going on down on Bourbon Street, and yes, you would not want to bring your six-year-old to the French Quarter on Mardi Gras weekend, but it’s mostly tourists doing all that risque stuff on camera – you may think we ALL do those things on Mardi Gras, but we don’t…
What the locals ARE doing is planning months in advance to have a great day with their family, setting up ladders and lawn chairs and even sofas on the neutral grounds (median strips to you non-New Orleanians) days before the big parades, then bringing their entire families to watch the parades – babies, toddlers, kids of all ages, grandmas and grandpas, everybody. For the natives, Mardi Gras is, first and foremost, a family event.
Yelling for beads, and hoping Uncle Nick (he’s on float #4, sidewalk side) can hear you from up there – because, really, all they can hear is the roar of the crowd. Costumes? Absolutely, and don’t even think about buying one -get busy with a needle and thread (or maybe a saw and some nails!) and make your own – the more creative, the better!
And food? Of course there’s food – this is New Orleans! Po-boys, home-cooked jambalaya, muffulettas, BBQ, chili dogs, king cake, and maybe some brownies your Mom brought from home, all wrapped up in foil… what a great time of year!
Yep, I’m sure missing it all. I picked up a King Cake the other day here in my corner of Texas – I have to give them credit for trying, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing. I think next year I’ll have to try baking one at home. Obviously, my dear hubby thought it was pretty good… you can see there’s not much left! (Have you noticed that I’m always taking photos of food that’s almost gone? I need to learn to take the pictures BEFORE my dear hubby gets to the table…)
So, to distract myself from missing Mardi Gras, I’ve been playing with new yarns! I’ve recently added Kureyon Sock, Silk Garden Lite, Silk Garden Chunky, and lots of new colors in classic Silk Garden and Kureyon to our website – and all are totally gorgeous, of course. If you love Noro, check back often because we’ll be getting a lot more new Noro in the next few weeks.
Also new – Talinay and Socos from Ester Bitran. These are 100% wool yarns from Ester Bitran Hand Dyes in bulky and super-bulky weight. I just love these southwestern-looking colors – great for sweaters and jackets, and both yarns felt very well, making them perfect for totes and purses.
I also added Rowan Felted Tweed – such pretty heathered colors in a DK weight wool & alpaca blend -and we have a lot more great yarns on the way for spring.
I’ve got several projects on my needles right now – I seem to be unable to stick with just one thing lately. I’m working on a great sock in Claudia Handpainted Fingering. The color is Chocolate Cherry, and the pattern is Brick Rib Socks from Gardiner Yarn Works. This yarn and pattern were included in our GYC Sock Club kit for Winter 2008, and I think they look fabulous together!
My other work in progress is a Swirl Shawl – just barely started, but I’m very pleased with it so far. I’m using Jojoland Melody Superwash, and of course, Jojoland’s Swirl Shawl pattern. Each motif is knitted from the outside in, and the pattern calls for DPNs, but as you can see, I’m knitting it on two circulars, and it’s working out just fine.
So pass me some jambalaya and a Coke. Hey, throw me something, mister – some beads or a cup – say, how ’bout some yarn??
Sue
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