Knit Quest

Fling Report: Day 1 & 2

I’m back, I’m behind, and I’m barely awake. You don’t care about that though. You want a report.    

After an early flight and a long wait for the shuttle we arrived to this..

so many knitters that they ran out of chairs! Just imagine the looks of the regular folks walking in to the hotel and catching sight of us.

For the rest of the day there was lots of meeting new people, knitting, chatting, and lastly a dessert buffet.

Friday morning I was with the first group headed off to Loopy Central. Look at all those happy faces.

It was all a bit much to take in but everyone recovered quickly.

 

Soon yarn, bags, and patterns were making their way into our new loopy shopping bags and the line was getting longer.

The wonderfully organized Sherri let us put our bags in line and sit and knit until our turn to check out.

You’ll have wait until my bags are unpacked to see what I came home with though. I

After lunch the lovely Adrienne was offering spinning lessons in the lounge and I finally succumbed and gave it a try.

 

It’s not pretty, but I made it. Unfortunately I’m beginning to see the appeal to the whole spinning thing. Although I’m kind of hoping I’ll forget all about it and go back to my knitting. I don’t need a new hobby or more yarn!

My day ended with some great BBQ ribs and fun ladies.

The rest of the story will have to wait until I get the laundry done and some food in the house. For some reason being naked and hungry does not appeal to my family. 

Frolicking at the Fling

Packing, packing, packing.. Clothes, cosmetics, various electronics and their chargers.. started but not finished.  Important stuff first.

Supplies and yarn for classes. Check.

Airplane project. Check.

At 6am tomorrow I’m off for a weekend of frolicking at the Spring Fling.  I promise to take lots of pictures and tell you all about it as soon as I get back.

Have a great weekend!

Jazzy Scum Bubbles

Meet Jazzy Scum Bubbles, my silky stockinette version of Shawl That Jazz.

I needed at simple camp project and wanted to knit along with my buds, but I wanted to end up with a different look then my original shawl.

It’s exactly what I was hoping for and just in time for Spring Fling!

Details:

Yarn : Blue Moon Fiber Arts LSS in Scum Bubbles. 2 skeins with only 3 oz left.

Needles: size 7 for the body, size 8 for the ruffle, size 10 to bind off

Mods: after knitting the first two rows I switched to stockinette for the remainder of the body section. The ruffle is the fuller version. Blocked size is roughly the same as the original.

Your Favorite Thing Friday

One week from today I’ll be in St. Louis at the Loopy Ewe’s Spring Fling. I’m excited, nervous, frantic, and a little overwhelmed. Why?

The excited part kinda explains it’s self, who isn’t excited about 4 days with knitters and such great teachers as Anne Hanson, Cookie A., and Wendy Johnson.

I’m nervous because it’s my first time and I won’t know many people. What if they don’t like me? I don’t think I’m going to end up sitting by myself for the whole weekend, but new situations always make my self-conscious, doubtful side come out.

It’s taken me almost two weeks to catch up from camp and now I have a week to get ready to leave again. Definitely a bit frantic. I’m sensing take out for dinner.

Part of the weekend is a trip to Loopy central. I actually get to go and stand surrounded by everything the Loopy Ewe has to offer. Touch it. Feel it. Smell it. All of it. A whole huge whack of possibilities waiting for me to snatch them up.

It’s a wet dream and nightmare put together. What should I pick? Will I even be able to see it all? What’s a reasonable budget to set for myself? Can I stick to my budget? Should I pack a paper bag in case I hyperventilate? Overwhelming!

Now here’s where you come in. If you were me what would you be most excited to get your hands on? What have you been dying to see in person? Which yarn have you been stalking?

There are so many options that I don’t have and haven’t seen in person I’m going a bit crazy trying to make a list. And I need a list! Otherwise I’ll go in, freak out,  grab one of everything, and come out with no money. Not good.

Numma numma, Black Bunny Fibers, Chewy Spaghetti, Earthly Hues, Yarn Pirate, Tempted Yarns, Sheepaints, and DragonFly Fibers are just a few of the yarns up for consideration. And what about all the not yarn stuff? Bags, tools, accessories, patterns… I think my brain is going to turn to jelly.

So…Help a girl out. Save me from myself. This Friday I need to know what’s your favorite thing?

(Pictures are the remainder of my stash expansion from camp week. Shown to keep you interested and remind me how much yarn I already have)

Twitter

I’ve been sucked in, or is that suckered in, to yet another online time suck. If you twitter too, come find me.

If you don’t twitter (and don’t care) here’s some basic toe up socks I finished at camp.

Jubilee doesn’t seem interested in either.

Thank You!

Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the course of events over the past week. I’m so thrilled at the response to Shawl That Jazz and so grateful for Stephanie’s support and mention of it.

Thank you Stephanie for knitting it, thank you friends and family for encouraging me, and thanks everyone who bought the pattern!

I’ve been working on a stockinette version in Blue Moon LSS, color scum bubbles. I wanted so much to have it finished today and be able to show it off, but I couldn’t make it happen with all the excitement around here.

It’s impossible to get a great photo of the whole thing on the needles (for me at least), but the close up is a good representation of the color and shows the start of the border. I’ll give all the details as soon as it’s done.

Any spare time I have is being spent trying to put the finishing touches on 3 patterns and starting a fourth. Again I had hoped to have them done, and beautifully photographed, to show off while I’m experiencing the “Harlot bump” but it was not to be. I’d rather sell fewer and have a quality pattern. Everything seems to happen at once.

So if you’re here for the first time you’ll just have to come back. Please.

Thanks for a very exciting, surprising, and downright delightful week!

Urban Aran Finished!

I managed to finish my Urban Aran before leaving for camp, and I’m so glad I did.

It was the perfect companion for all the cold, grey, wet weather we had in Victoria and at camp.

Every time I finish something it’s my new favorite. For a while at least. I think this sweater is destined to be a favorite for a good long time though.

The use of pattern for clever shaping is genius. What a flattering fit! In fact the best fitting sweater I’ve made.

I convinced some of my fellow campers to help me give you a  mini gallery. The ribbing makes this sweater fit a lot of different shapes and sizes and I think it looks darn good on everyone! Thanks guys.

Irishgirlie was too busy cuddling it, to try it on.

The knitting is interesting without being overwhelming, and once you get started the pattern is easy to follow along with a chart.

I choose to make the sweater with Woobu doubled (color is Thraven) and I’m so pleased I did. The mix of fibers (merino & bamboo) created a sweater that is enough to keep you toasty, but not so much you roast. It’s light, soft, and has a wonderful variation of color. However cabling without a needle, and with doubled yarn, was not my favorite thing.     

What was my favorite thing? Look at that zippper! Perfectly lined up!

Did I baste and pin and sweat over it? No way. I used Terrifically Tacky Tape (found with scrapbook supplies), taped it where I wanted it, and sewed right over the top. Super fast and a great result. I think up my best tricks when trying to get out work! Maybe laziness is the mother of invention.

It does gum up your needle but I had no trouble wiping  off. Even if it didn’t I’d be willing to replace a needle for quick, easy zipper installation. 

I like it so much I’m almost hoping summer doesn’t come soon.

Back to Victoria

I feel like I could be posting about camp and pre-camp activities for the next month. I’ll try not too, but I couldn’t let my wonderful trip to Victoria go by without sharing it with you.

 

Saturday stated super early, with a trip on the Victoria Clipper. We arrived in classic NW weather and slogged our way to the Empress (that’s it in the background). The luggage was quickly dropped off and we went in search of coffee.

 

For some reason this is the only picture I took of my favorite coffee shop, I think I wanted to remember the name this time. They make a great latte and some mighty fine pastries. Once warmed up a bit and full of caffeine and sugar we were ready to brave the elements in search of yarn.

On the way to Beehive, we happened upon a button and yarn shop. I was so excited about the unexpected find I forgot to take any pictures or even write down the name. I did however pick up a few things.

(Lang Cashmere Tweed and Indigo Moon Sport Weight in Mountains in the Moonlight and Wasabi)

Armed with yarn and hoods we ventured back out to find Beehive.

Yay! After scurrying inside we spent the next hour or more oooing and ahhhing over all the yarn.

Look at those smiles! Great selection, beautiful shop, and nice helpful people! Be sure to stop in if you ever get the chance.

I found a few souvenirs to bring home.

Hmm.. we’ve had coffee, sweets, and yarn..what else could we need?

A good brew and some fish and chips for lunch! We enjoyed a relaxing meal and a bit of knitting time before hoofing it back to the hotel for more relaxing and knitting in our room. It was raining so hard on the walk back I had to blow dry my jeans!

We managed to drag ourselves back out to have dinner at The Mark. Continuing our pattern of all eating the same thing we got gin cosmos and steaks, and had a good chuckle over the Vermouth and Pea Popcicle listed on the menu. When the tea menu came full of long flowery descriptions including such gems as “plucked the morning after the full moon” and “mountainsides glistening with dew” we laughed some more. Between the laughing and the knitting it was clear the young couple at the next table thought we were pretty strange. They did some laughing of their own and of course this just made us whoop some more.

Sunday we decided to spend the day knitting. We found another coffee shop and all cast on a pair of toasty mitts with some of our new yarn. It’s possible we may have taken another trip to Beehive as well.

We capped off the weekend with high tea at the Empress. Then back on the Clipper to be ready to leave for sock camp the next morning.

One lump or two?

Favorite Thing Friday: IPhone

I’ve seen the ads on TV, I’ve seen other people using them, and I’ve been repeatedly encouraged by my husband to try them, but for some reason I just wasn’t interested in IPhone apps. Doesn’t it do enough all ready? Do I really need another time suck? Who has the time to browse for them and figure out what’s good? “I don’t need any of that!”, I thought.

Enter the scavenger hunt at camp where we were required to have Fish Tycoon and at least 10 fish. Very evil.

Now I’m not only addicted to checking on my fish, I finally sat down and looked at all the other apps available. Wowzer! There is some seriously cool and fun stuff out there. And yes, you were right honey, I should have looked at them sooner.

Here’s some I’ve discovered this week:

KnitGauge – just like it sounds, it helps you calculated your gauge (0.99)

iKnitNeedle Sizer – size you needles in US & mm (0.99)

StitchMinder – Keep track of row count, pattern row, pattern repeats, and increase rows (free)

Dictionary.com – dictionary, thesaurus, and word of the day features. (free)

Around Me  - I love this one! Find coffee, banks, gas, movie theaters, etc that are close to you. (free)

UrbanSpoon – Find a restaurant in your area randomly (by shaking your phone) or browse by category. (free)

iHandyLevel – it turns you phone into a level. (free)

Flashlight – I’ll never be hunting for dropped toys in a dark movie theater again! (free)

Lightsaber Star Wars the Force Unleashed – turn your phone into a lightsaber complete with sounds. My sons love this one. (free)

Dots – the traditional game with out the paper (free)

Hangman – perfect for waiting around with the kids (free)

Do you have any you really like? Tips for using any of the applications listed? Any good fish combinations to recommend?

Conversation

 

Hubby: Hey honey, Are you sorting through your stash again?

Me: No. Why?

Hubby: What’s with the yarn explosion in the dinning room then?

Me: Oh.. that’s all the stuff I need to photograph.

Hubby: That’s a lot of yarn. Why? Don’t you have photos of all your yarn?

Me: Um..Well, it’s new.

Hubby: New? All of it?

Me: Uh huh.. but It’s not all yarn I bought. Some came with camp, and then there’s the club packages, and my spring fling swap, and there’s a couple FOs in there. So it’s really not that much. Plus I went to four yarn stores so I was pretty good.  I stayed in budget.

Hubby: Uh Huh. So..What was the budget? Wait. Forget I asked.

Details, more photos, and 3 FO posts coming as soon as I finish re-adjusting to cooking for myself and doing things other than knitting.