The New Interweave Knits

I received my copy of the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits this past week. While I think the articles are good, I was pretty disappointed with the patterns offered this issue. The editorial staff were going for a "classic" look, and I think they achieved it; however, I found very little that I thought I would ever want to knit. Perhaps the Citrus Yoke pullover (see below) will be in my future, but I'm not chomping at the bit just yet!

The interview with Kristin Nicholas was interesting, and the Pam Allen article on set-in sleeves was very well done.

I've been working on stuff like mad. I've finished 3 punch-needle items and a needlepoint bracelet, plus a single sock for the store in Regia Silk is already on display. I'm trying desperately to finish my Pumpkin Man canvas. It's taken much too long, and I want to move on...

It's Been a Long, Long Time

I am so bad... Bad blogger, BAD BLOGGER!

O.K., so I finally have some down time, because I'm in San Francisco for the Nike Women's Marathon with Team in Training, and since I can't run the race, I'm just here for support, cheering and photo taking. Which means, I can actually post to my blog!

My hotel room really leaves alot to be desired, but after a long day of travelling, I was pretty happy to get into it:

O.K., I'm only joking! This was at Alcatraz which I visited last night with some of my teammates. Some of the cell blocks were set up as if prisoners were still living in them, and on the audio one of the ex-prisoners was talking about teaching some of the other prisoners to crochet.

Pretty interesting, eh? I guess the prisoners had to have something to do to while away their "time."

I'm visiting a needlepoint store later this morning, so hopefully I'll be able to post some photos later of that.

World War II Knitting

I had the opportunity to attend a talk today at the Minnesota History Center on World War II Knitting. The program was presented by Linda McShannock, the Textile Curator at the History Center, and Steven Berg, aka 'The Glitter Knitter' and owner of the Yarn Garage in Rosemount, Minnesota. Linda talked about the museum's collections (and mentioned me and Carol Ogren because of our volunteer work cataloguing the knitting collection - years ago) and showed us some wonderful pieces that were on display for today's event. Steven talked about the history of male knitters as well as the charity knitting done during the World Wars for soldiers. It was really interesting!

Here's Steven (in a sweater made out of multiple fibers, including 8-track tape!):

You can just barely see in the background a mannequin with a fantastic dress made out of a silk underdress, covered with an overdress made of copper wire! It is so cool. I wish I had gotten a better photo... It was made by a local fiber artist (can't remember her name) and is called something like "Yeah, I'm a Goddess."

At my table there was a wonderful woman named Trudy (sorry, I've forgotten her last name) who is 82 years young. She had a couple of great anecdotes about wartime knitting. In addition, she has given a couple of her hand-knitted items to the collection. Here she is (on the left) with Linda McShannock and Trudy's beautiful, Chanel-inspired sweater. The sweater was a blue ribbon winner at the Minnesota State Fair in the 1990s.

Progess - Slowly

I'm back at work on a regular basis, plus the kids have gone back to school, so I can no longer spend my days lounging on the sofa knitting and crocheting and neelepointing while I listen to books on my iPod! SIGH!

Hence the slow as molasses progress on my needlepoint piece. Here's a photo anyway:

Mostly, I have a bunch of green left; however, I do still have to do seven stars plus some beads on the bottom of the pants and some sparkly thread (Kreinik) in some places. But then it will be ready to go the finisher. This piece is 7" x 17" - a perfect size for a wall-hanging.

I also have to finish my 'Maude' jacket/duster this weekend, since it needs to go up in 3 Kittens for a class sample. I made the XL size, but now I'm thinking I should have made the L. It worked up so quickly that I might just have to make another one in a different color! Photos to come when the first one is done.

Maggie Jackson at 3 Kittens

We were really lucky to have Maggie Jackson of Maggi Knits visit our shop this week. She is an amazing designer. Her one-off creations used to sell at Neiman Marcus and other big name stores for $600+. Now, of course, she has her own yarn line and an amazing collection of pattern books. She taught two classes for us this week, plus she did a fashion show. Because I still have kids home from school (summer's almost over though; they go back to school next week - WHEW!) and my leg still needs to spend some time elevated, I couldn't attend either of the classes. However, I did get to see the fashion show, and from what I hear the classes were fantastic. Here are a couple of pics from the fashion show for your enjoyment:

Finally Photos!

I finally remembered to take my camera to 3 Kittens today to get some photos of the garments I've finished recently. Here they are in the order in which they were finished:

This is the Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy top (modelled by Tiffany, one of the employees at the store).

A fun little cardigan with an interesting shape, made out of Berroco Touche from one of Berroco's summer pattern books.

Ascot-style scarf made out of Simply Shetland's Lambswool Cashmere. This is a free pattern with the purchase of the yarn at the store. It only takes one skein - 10 bucks!

I love this scarf. It is crocheted out of Berroco Keltic (modelled by Ana, another employee). This is a free pattern from the Berroco website. It's part of the Dram set which also includes a hat and mittens. I did make the mittens but am not enamored of them. Apparently, Berroco also has a knitted version of this pattern, but I haven't looked at it.

I've also done about a zillion swatches for the store. No one likes to do swatches, but it does give you a way to learn which fibers you like and why. We just got Nashua Velvet Wool and Vignette in the store, plus the Mirasol project yarns. I can't wait to do swatches of those! Kind of...

Finished Projects - No Photos

Sigh! I keep finishing things and sending them off to 3 Kittens without taking photos. Now that I'm driving maybe I'll be able to take photos of everything next week at the store. I've finished a K1C2 Ty-Dy top, a Berroco Touche cardigan, a Simply Shetland Lambswool Cashmere scarf, a Berroco Keltic crocheted scarf and mitten (just one, because if we have a pair in the store it's more likely to be taken than just a single mitten), and ... Can't remember if there was anything else.

My poor leg is on the mend. I'm in a removable cast now, which means I can take showers without having to get a garbage bag taped onto my leg. I'm not the best on crutches, but I figure by the time I'm off of them I will have the buffest arms around. Of course, they may still be covered with the some excess flab, but I'll know they're buff... Now, if I could just figure out how to do all of the shopping that needs to be done to get the kids ready for school.

Languishing

This is the first day since my accident that I have been really down. You would think lazing around, knitting and stitching all day would be heavenly. And, don't get me wrong - it's not like I'm in hell or anything. I'm just tired of it all... But, I have finished a couple projects - samples for the store. One of them I've sent with my partner Cis to block and sew buttons onto, so no photo yet. But here's the other one:

This is the Whirlwind Scarf by Christine Furber, part of the iKnitiative line of patterns. It's made out of Berocco Suede. I fell in love with this scarf at The National Needlearts Association convention in June. I took a class with the owner of iKnitiative on using ribbon yarns, and she had this scarf made out of browns and blacks - way cool colorway, too.

I'm also plugging away at my Kaleidoscope Tote by Sheryl Lange. The Kaleidoscope Tote is one of our 3 Kittens Designs, but this version is for my own use - not a store sample. And, I'm working on my needlepoint. Plus, we've gotten so many new yarns in the store in the last week or so, I have a ton of gauge swatches to do. So, as you can tell, I really have nothing to complain about.

I guesss what's bothering me the most is the lack of mobility. I'm a pretty active person, and right now I'm stuck lying on the sofa with my foot propped up.

I'm trying to keep the swelling down - not really doing a very good job of it though - look at the 2nd toe on each foot! EEK! But, the pain is getting better... Anyway, I wish I could do my regular stuff - even the laundry! SIGH! I do have it bad...

Ouch!

I thought I would get a lot of knitting done this weekend, because we were on an antique car tour.

This is our 1907 Franklin (with my daughter in the front seat and my oldest son and nephew in the back). We joined about 20 other very early cars for a Horseless Carriage Club tour in Superior, WI and Duluth, MN. Most of the time I rode with my other son in another car, because we didn't have enough room in our car to carry everyone.

I got quite a bit of knitting done on a new sweater out of orange Berroco Touche (you may recall that originally I had tried to crochet a pattern from the newest Berroco crochet booklet out of this yarn, but the pattern was incorrect - Berroco sent me a hand-drawn chart with the correct pattern, but they have yet to put written errata on their website and I'm just not proficient at reading crochet charts). However, much of it was done while I was in the emergency room after ... I broke my leg!!

I took a little spill down a water runoff on a slope near the shore of Lake Superior and broke my tibia about 3" above my ankle and sheared off the back of my ankle bone. I'm hoping to get lots of knitting and needlepointing and crocheting done while I recuperate!! (There's always a silver lining...) I don't have a cast yet - just a splint, because I have to see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to find out if I need surgery. I hope I don't and that they can just cast it up and send me home!... I'm going to be fine, but there goes my trip to Disneyland with the kids in August as well as the Nike Women's Marathon that I was going to do with Team in Training in October. Sigh!

A Star is Born

O.K., maybe a bit player is born! I woke up super early yesterday morning (3:50!) so I could go and participate in a promo on the KARE 11 morning show for Stitch N Pitch. If you don't know what Stitch N Pitch is, check out The National Needlearts Association for more info across the nation or the Minnesota Twins website for the Stitch N Pitch event on Sunday, July 22, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

I'm the one in the red shirt behind the guy with the blond hair (Steven Berg from The Yarn Garage who was immortalized today in the Star Trib). The only person interviewed from the group of stitchers was the little girl on the left who surprised the interviewer by answering the question of what she was knitting with "A hedgehog." You should have seen the look on the interviewer's face - it was classic: skeptical, amazed, etc. I was happy I had brought a few props along, because not only did we get the hat my partner Cis made for TC (the Twin's mascot) on air, but they also talked about our Twins tote during both segments!

Crocheted Bowl #3

The 3rd rendition of the crocheted bowl didn’t turn out too well, either – at least not how I had hoped it would! It’s not terrible, just not right. Not only did the bead wire not work exactly as hoped, but I still can’t seem to get the shaping right so it will look like my MIL’s bowl. I need to have a much steeper decrease after the widest part… I went to the local craft store and picked up some hollow tubing that is used to make those plastic tube bracelets that teenagers wear, and I’m trying the 4th version with that. I will work on the shaping again, too.


Here’s a needlepoint canvas that I’ve been doing. It’s 13 mesh. I’m using primarily Silk & Ivory threads with some Kreinik braid and Rainbow Gallery Frosty Rays for the bird and other things. I think it’s rather cute!

I have a few (!) other projects I'm working on which I'll show over the next few posts.

Hey, has anyone seen the new Harry Potter movie? I'm going tomorrow - I hope!

Happy Independence Day!

For all of the Americans out there, Happy Independence Day! We have not decided on our plans for the day, but I'm happy just sitting and stitching.

I am currently working hard on my crocheted bowl that I started a while ago. In case you don't remember, this is a bowl I am trying to design based on a bowl my MIL wove when she was in college (see photo at right). Originally, I thought I would crochet it (out of Noro Kureyon) with a largish hook (L?) then felt it, but that attempt wasn't too successful:

Next I tried to go down to a J hook,

which was better, but still floppy:

So now, I'm using a D hook and I'm carrying along some jewelry/beading wire (Soft Flex Medium - 49 strands). I was given the idea to carry along the wire by our Karabella rep, Kathy, whom I was telling about the original woven bowl. She asked if it was woven around some basketry fiber, and I said I didn't know, but it put the idea in my mind! I'm about half finished with the bowl; we'll see how it goes!

Finished Objects (Sort of...)

Here are two more finished objects of mine:

This is my version of the Bangle Bracelet, a free pattern on Knitting Daily. My yarn was thicker than what the pattern called for, so I only ended up with four squares. I used Needful Yarns Dubai Stretch, so it's easy to fit over my hand. I'm not sure if I love the colors, so I'm doing a 2nd one with smaller granny squares and without the pale blue.

This is my crocheted sock that I finally finished, but alas the foot really is too long, so I've ripped it out past the heel, and I will be redoing it. It worked up pretty fast - that is when I actually worked on it, so I don't feel too bad about ripping it out!

Finished Needlepoint

I posted not too long ago that I've been having problems finishing things, so I'm excited to say that I finished a little needlepoint canvas yesterday. It's a Kathy Schenkel mini-stocking:

There will be a cute longhorn steer to go inside the stocking, and the whole thing will be made into a fabulous Christmas tree ornament - and some lucky relative is going to get it for Christmas! 'Nuff said.

Of course, because I finished something, I had to start something... Sigh! I started the fabulous Bangle Bracelet pattern from Knitting Daily in Needful Yarns Dubai Stretch - which is a bit too large for this pattern, but at least I won't need to make as many granny squares!

More Garter Stitch Please

No, I haven't finished the Maude jacket... Or the Colinette shawl jacket...r the Kaleidoscope Tote... Or the crocheted hat made out of hemp... Or my 2nd needlepoint gift stocking... Or the Sunrise Circle jacket (which just needs to be sewn up for goodness sake!)...

BUT I have started something new!

It's the Ty-Dy bolero from K1C2. I've already finished the other front, and after my daughter's soccer game last night I'm almost finished with this front, then on to the back. The skeeves are incorporated into the front of the sweater, so I won't have to do anything extra there. I think I can get this finished & up in 3 Kittens pretty quickly.

But, I do need to finish the Maude jacket, because we have a class starting next week, and because we don't have a sample up in the store, I don't think we've got any takers yet. Unfortunately, my sleeves ended up way long, and I have to rip out the seams and the sleeves themselves and redo them, and I just haven't had the time to do that. SIGH! Maybe tonight. Here's what it's supposed to look like when it's done:

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Did you know that today is World Wide Knit in Public Day (or wwkipd)? So get out there and do your stuff! And, if you're a crocheter or stitcher and not a knitter, get out and do that instead. If you're in the Twin Cities, come by 3 Kittens and sit on our porch while you knit and enjoy some lemonade (or iced coffee from TK's which is just three doors away).

While I was at market last weekend, I took a class on how to reach out to teens and tweens for our store, and one of the key points that I took away was that young people (as well as not-so-young ones, I bet) need to see people doing their craft or wearing their products many times before they get the "bug." So spread the gospel of knitting, crocheting or stitching today!

Maude Jacket

I'm back from market. I got to meet more celebrities - Sasha Kagan who has a wonderful crochet book coming out and Adina Klein the new editor of Vogue Knitting, plus the brains behind the iKnitiative collection, Natalie Wilson.

While I was there, I worked steadily on the Maude jacket by Pam Gillette. Pam is the owner of the blog, Knotty Generation, and a fantastic designer. I am happy to say that we are in the process of coming to terms on bringing her design talents under the umbrella of 3 Kittens Designs. The first design that we will be publishing is her Maude jacket (which is currently available on her website to consumers, but will be available wholesale through us). I almost completed the jacket - it was a fun, quick project to crochet. Very simple, yet elegant. I stayed up late one night trying to get it done so I could wear it the next day, only to realize I still had one section to crochet. So, it's still not done. But it should be in a day or two. Here's a photo in process:

Of course, I should have been working on my Colinette 'Rossetti' shawl jacket

which is supposed to be done this weekend for a wedding (my sister Jenny's in San Antonio). Looks like I'll be looking for a new dress this week, since there is no way I'm going to get the shawl jacket done... SIGH! Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it?

Wish You Were Here

God, I love being a yarn store owner! My partners and I are at The National Needlearts Association (TNNA) trade show this weekend in Columbus, Ohio. I can't believe the incredible number of inspiring products I'm seeing. I want to crochet and knit and needlepoint and punch needle and... You get the idea! I'm exhausted but energized at the same time. I got to meet some wonderful designers ("rock stars") in the knitting and crochet world. Probably the neatest for me was the editor of CrochetMe.com, Kim Piper Werker, who is having her first book (aptly named Crochet Me) this fall. She was super friendly, and I was able to tell her how I've blogged about her e-zine right here. I hope she'll be able to come to the store as part of her promotional tour. Second would have to be Nicky Epstein, although I've met her before (but, sigh, she didn't remember me - go figure...). She's a delightful person. I also was lucky enough to meet Lucy Neatby, Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding, Iris Shrier (sp?) and Jane Ellingson. And, I'm sure I'll get to meet others tomorrow.

What fun!

One of My Many Projects

Here's a photo of one of my hundreds (o.k., it's probably only in the tens) of projects:


This is a Kaleidoscope Tote pre-felting. As you can see, I have a long way to go - one more side, the rest of the front, the back and the handles. And, it all has to be done by Wednesday! EEK! But, I can do it!

Projects

The only excuse I have for not posting in so long is that I've been busy working on various projects - none of which are complete yet! SIGH! This past weekend, I went on a private train ride from St. Paul, MN to Rock Island, IL. It was a dream! I knit and crocheted the whole way there and back. Here's a photo of me crocheting away:

I was working on a sweater from The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller in to-die-for Louisa Harding Grace (silk & wool). It's so yummy to work with!

I would also show you a picture of the 'shawl jacket' I'm doing out of Colinette Tao Silk and Parisienne (a mohair blend), but my DH apparently took the memory card from my camera to work. I worked on it for most of the trip - more than the crocheted sweater. I have a deadline for it - June 9 for my sister's wedding in San Antonio, TX.

Besides those two projects, here's what I'm working on:

• A Kaleidoscope Tote in Manos (deadline of June 1 so I can carry it around at The National Needlearts Association market in Columbus)
• An Einstein Coat from Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch for the 3 Kittens Knit-Along
• A Kathy Schenkel needlepoint mini-stocking for my sister-in-law for Christmas
• The Curtis sweater from a Berocco crochet booklet (which I am waiting for the errata on; Berocco has sent me the designer's hand drawn charts, but I'm not adept enough at crochet to be able to figure that out)
• The Sunrise Circle Jacket - just needs to be assembled
• Crocheted socks from www.crochetme.com
• ? I'm sure there's more, but I just can't remember right now

So, I have been busy - just not posting!