Month: March 2008

I administered a writing placement test and a portfolio evaluation for several hundred students this past weekend, tomorrow is my last teaching day for winter quarter, and Friday morning I leave on a family trip to Washington, D.C., after which I will return to determine grades and write narrative evaluations. So, why am I still at the office at 7 p.m. when I should be home packing? Because I suddenly felt compelled to arrange all the items in my Ravelry queue by project type.

After much clicking and shifting back and forth among pages, the cardigans are all together, the shawls are all together, the socks are all together, the baby clothes are all together. I did manage to stop with an initial sorting rather than going on to fine-tuning (swing jackets with swing jackets, curve-hemmed cardigans with curve-hemmed cardigans, etc.), but you know that’s coming.

I’m hoping to manage one small post tomorrow morning with my latest FO, then I’m leaving Melissa in charge of things until my return. She’s got a few tricks up her sleeve—so stay tuned.

*****

P.S. Please join me in fervently hoping that the whole Beatrice/Penny situation won’t go all Lord of the Flies in my absence. I would like to find three cats with four legs and two ears each upon my return.

In response to a bidding war between Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard for the rights to their life stories, Melissa and I have been considering appropriate casting of actors to portray the cats. Here’s what we have so far.

Archy:

We’ve had no problem thinking of actors suited to playing Archy. The only problem is that they’re all dead, so they may not be current on their SAG dues. Archy feels that Rudolph Valentino would do him justice and could capture the seductive charms he so devastatingly employs on throw pillows. Melissa and I (with a different perspective on his—ahem!—pillow-wooing) feel Maurice Chevalier might be more appropriate.

Beatrice:

Yes, she’s beautiful (and affectionate in her own let-me-keep-you-at-a-healthy-distance sort of way). But she’s also skittish, vengeful, and difficult. We know the perfect actor: Christina Ricci.

Maggie:

No doubt about it: given her woozle-y ways Maggie simply must be played by Queen Latifah. Who else could do her justice?

Damian:

Once you’ve seen him in action, you know there’s only one actor who can capture the energy, the intensity, the ridiculosity that is Damian. We’re holding out for Will Ferrell, and will settle for no-one else.

Penny:

Finding the right actress to portray Penny may be challenging as she’s such a complex personality. With people, she’s tender-hearted and cautious, but goes all lovey-mushy once she decides there’s no threat. With other cats—well, as far as she’s concerned, the threat never goes away. She’s ever-vigilant, alternating between cowering beneath furniture and near pyrotechnic displays of the ancient (and deadly and noisy) art of opera-fu. Having given the matter careful consideration, we’re pretty sure recent Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton is up to the task.

Sparky:

This calls for an actor with range. Yes, he needs a pretty face, but he also needs to be able to portray everything from leonine repose to why-would-the-neighbors-get-a-kitten-when-they-have-me-to-entertain? uncertainty. We know just the actor. He’s played a caveman, an archaeologist/adventurer, a hunky gardener, a 1950s naif, a district attorney, and more. Our candidate? Brendan Fraser.

Who know what our lives will be like once filming is underway? We’ll be overwhelmed by stylists and entourages and relaxation specialists and specialty chefs who know a thousand ways to grill a goldfish. But if Sam Lutfi comes knocking? We’re not opening the door.

My niece, Miss Sparkles, had the perfect solution to my dilemma over which yarn to use for the Ruffles and Ridges wrap. She suggested I combine the Miracle with the Alpine Baby, which is just what I’ve done—and the results are gorgeous! The Alpine Baby provides color variation and texture; the Miracle gives extra softness and a substantiality the Alpine Baby alone wouldn’t provide. I’m using size 10 needles (instead of the recommended 9s) and cast on for the small, since I wasn’t sure how the needle change would affect yardage, and I didn’t want to run short. If it doesn’t fit me, I’ll have no trouble finding a happy recipient for this knit!

Now for the sweaters…

First off, check out Titania from A Mingled Yarn.

V-neck. Lots of texture and detailing without getting too busy. Plenty of variety to keep a knitter’s interest up. And did I mention the pattern is free? A thousand, thousand thanks to A Mingled Yarn for her generosity in sharing it with us!

This weekend, in between the madness of writing placement tests and portfolio evaluations, I stumbled across SweaterBabe, who has both a blog and an on-line pattern shop. The piece that first got my attention was the Vine Lace Top-Down Cardigan.

Look at it—warm and generous without being shapeless, and with pockets for the necessary winter-time hankies. The fact that it’s knit in Lamb’s Pride Bulky (good on-line discounts here and here) adds to its appeal for me. You’ll want to check out her other designs, including the Intricately Cabled Long Vest and the Lush and Lacy Cardigan. Her blog is also very much worth reading, with lots of well-explained knitterly problem solving.

And now, I will be frank with you. When Wenlan Chia’s Twinkle’s Big City Knits came out, I was less than enthusiastic. Partly, it was the small finished measurements: in one case, the size large has a 27″ bust, and yes, yes, negative ease and all that, but I didn’t want to knit anything that promised to be smaller than me from the get-go. Partly, it was the ubiquitous, unfortunately-placed bobbles. Even so, I did find some of the designs attractive—I just didn’t plan on knitting them myself. But Chia now has a new pattern booklet, Twinkle’s Mohair Designs, out from Classic Elite, and I’m finding myself charmed. The looks are feminine and comfortable.

Yes, negative ease is still an issue, but the fit of these pieces on the models makes me less afraid of taking a chance on them. I’m getting a review copy of the booklet. Once I’ve been able to go over it (and perhaps to try a pattern from it), I’ll post a bit more.

A New Stitch
Check out the scarf I cast on Saturday evening.

It’s worked in Woven Stitch. Super simple—and all that color and pattern! (I’m using Paton’s Classic Wool in Leaf Green and Forest.)

Choose two yarns—one variegated, one not—and cast on an odd number of stitches using the solid-colored yarn. Now just alternate, working two rows in the solid, then two rows in the variegated.

With the solid, work the first row as follows: K1, bring yarn to front of work, slip one, return yarn to back of work. Keep alternating these two stitches. These rows will end with K1. Then P the second row.

With the variegated, work the first row as above, but K2 at the beginning and end of the row (it’s still K1 everywhere else). Then P back.

I am fighting the urge to cast on a gazillion of these just so I can see how the different color combinations work out.

Lust
This year and last year both, one of my big unfulfilled lusts of Stitches West was this sweater…

It’s the Marmalade Cardigan from Shelridge Farm. Isn’t that a great mix of stitch patterns? I am thinking about making a deal with myself along the lines of I get to put away $10 for this sweater every week I eat out three or fewer times. (There have been far too many I-give-up-I’m-just-stopping-and-ordering-something moments in my life lately.) Sound good?

Now for the Poll
I’m about to cast on for a Ruffles and Ridges wrap and am trying to decide on a yarn.

I’ve got three possibilities:

• Classic Elite Miracle (a great 50/50 alpaca/tencel blend) in the Cuban Sunset colorway.

• Cheery Tree Hill Alpine Baby (a super-soft silk/mohair blend) in the Cabin Fever colorway.

• The alpaca marl I just picked up at Stitches West (it’s the one on the right).

On the one hand, I’m certain the piece would work well in any of these yarns, but each of them has its drawbacks. The Miracle is gorgeous and soft, but a solid color, which might get a bit boring on a project that’s purely stockinette/reverse stockinette (the larger pattern begins with casting on 1,095 stitches!). The Alpine Baby is a rather fine loop yarn, so I’m not sure how substantial a wrap it would make and whether the stitch pattern (such as there is) would show. The Alpaca marl is a heavier weight than called for in the pattern, which means I’d be knitting without a net—probably following the pattern for the smaller sized wrap and using needles several sizes larger than called for.

Miracle, Alpine Baby, alpaca marl—which would you choose?

Recently, Melissa sent me a postcard with this admirable sentiment…

And on the reverse…

Top to bottom: Penny, Sparky, Beatrice, Damian, Archy, Maggie. I can assure you that she has achieved a remarkable likeness in every case.

Actually, that’s not at all true, as most of you know, but it’s fun to write. And it serves as a prelude to my discussion of the market at this year’s Stitches West, where I did indeed get more yarn that I very much felt I needed.

Because that ginormous hall of yarny goodness can be a bit overwhelming, I take a sort of short-attention-span approach to the whole event. I do try to walk up and down every aisle (though I didn’t quite manage that in the three hours I’d booked for myself this year), but I am not particularly thorough in my exploration of individual booths.

I look for three things: color, price, yardage.

The colors pull me into a booth. Sometimes the colors that draw me in are bright, sometimes subtle. Often—as my friend Jo, who attended Stitches West with me points out—they are shades of orange or green. But the right blue or brown can also do the trick—it just needs to be a bit more coquettish.

After I’ve spotted a yarn, I look at the price tag and wait to see whether or not this induces a heart attack. If it does, I back slowly away from the yarn and keep browsing. If it doesn’t, I stick around. Of course, a price that might induce a coronary at another time may seem reasonable at Stitches West, where I have the “it’s just once a year” excuse to tempt me into excess.

Finally, I check out yardage. A price just below the heart attack threshold can start to seem positively reasonable if the yardage on the skein is right. Generally speaking, for any yarn approaching $15-20 a skein, I want to be sure I’m getting enough to knit a proper scarf, a pair of substantial wrist-warmers or a hat. Anything more expensive than that, and I at least want to feel like I’m getting a vest out of that skein.

If a yarn meets these three criteria, then I ponder it a bit more: How different is it from what I already have in my stash? What’s the fiber content? (Big bonus points for alpaca here.) Is it significantly new or different from what I know I can find in my LYSs? Depending on my answers to these questions, it’s either back on the shelves or out with my billfold. (I had the good sense this year to shop on a cash-only basis. Before entering the hall, I handed both my credit cards to Melissa, with instructions that she should be judicious about allowing me access to them until we’d left the premises.)

Before I show you the “winning” yarns, I want to mention items from two sources that I didn’t purchase, but no doubt will at some point. First off, Curious Creek has some great new colorways out that haven’t yet made it onto the web site. These include Oz-inspired colors like Toto (or was it Tin Man?), a beautiful semi-solid black, and Cowardly Lion, a riot of vibrant oranges. At the Article Pract booth, I saw some beautiful hand-dyes and rovings (I will paste in the name of the company and a link as soon as I can check my notes).

And now, the yarns.

The yarn on the left was my fist purchase: 250 yards of Riverstone Twist in 75% alpaca/25% wool from Sun Fiber Yarn. This yarn mixes a range of natural colors—cream, toast, brown, black—that look just like, yes, river stones. I’m thinking something textured, but simple for this yarn, like a double moss stitch or a mistake rib.

On the right, you can see an enormous (600 yards!), delicious skein of 100% alpaca that refused to be passed by. I’ve actually purchased this yarn in some other colors from The Golden Fleece and could do so again, but I had money in my pocket and I knew no new yarn could be any more enticing than this already-familiar one. (My apologies to Carol and Margaret; I promise to be a better customer in the future.) I am thinking vest or rib-warmer for this beauty.

This is Trekking Hand Art (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 459 yards to the skein) in the irresistible Jamaica colorway. I’m thinking that I’ll pull out my copy of Lavish Lace when I’m ready to knit it up and go from there.

These two skeins are Tibet Wool/Silk (60% wool, 40% recycled silk), 175 yards each. This isn’t actually a new yarn for me; it’s one I’ve been eyeing for several years, since recycled silk first hit the market. Unlike the 100% silk yarns from this company, the wool silk blend is very sturdy (Jo and I both had a go at trying to break it bare-handed and couldn’t). I love the way the mustard-colored wool blends with the wild mix of silks. This yarn is a bit scratchy, so I’m thinking of using it for a bag, rather than a garment—perhaps the Brea Bag by Nora Gaughan.

These skeins were a can’t-pass-it-by deal from one of the booths—I don’t even remember which one. Ten balls of 70/30 wool/acrylic in vibrant green for only $20. (I swapped two balls of it with Jo for some of her bright green leftovers back at her place.) I’m thinking maybe a baby sweater and hat for these.

The booth Jo and I lingered in the longest was Brooks Farm Yarn. This 500-yard skein of Duet (55% kid mohair/ 45% wool) sort of latched onto me and wouldn’t let go. My one regret was that they didn’t have any real reds in their variegations—redish pinks, yes, but no deep reds. (I know there’s a reason for this—red dyes set at a different temperature than most other colors, so are difficult to use in variegated colorways—but I had a dream red in my mind that I just couldn’t despite all sorts of looking and my very best wishful thinking.)

Oh those Canadians! They know what a knitter wants. The Hand Maiden Casbah on the left is a one-of-a-kind colorway in 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon (325 meters). In the center is Fleece Artist Marina (65% merino, 20% kid, 10% nylon, 5% silk, 160 meters). On the right you see Fleece Artist Cashlana (90% wool, 10% cashmere, 400 meters). The two lighter-weight skeins will call for more exploration in Lavish Lace and my stitch dictionaries. The heavier skein came with a great cowl pattern that I’m planning to use.

I thought I was pretty much sated after buying the Fleece Artists skeins, that I’d just wander towards the exit with a bit of cash left in my pocket. Wouldn’t you know it—I only got as far as the next booth before being swept off my feet all over again, this time by Argosy Yarns. These delicious luxury yarns come in distinctive colorways that stand out from many other hand-dyes. The two skeins on the left are both Jo Jo, an 80% merino/20% cashmere blend that comes 200 yards to a skein. Next over is Bonsai Bamboo, 20% bamboo, 65% merino, 15% silk, 195 yards to a skein. On the right is Lotus Blossom, also an 80/20 merino/cashmere blend with 200 yards to the skein. I had no specific plans whatsoever when I bought these. I just knew that if I left without them that decision would haunt me for the rest of my knitterly life.

These two skeins (560 yards each!) of 100% merino from A Star Alpacas (I know, I know—wool from an alpaca dealer, why didn’t I go for the real stuff?) were a real impulse buy (as opposed to all my other purchases which were purely rational, I assure you). The colors called out, the voice on the PA system said “5 minutes till closing,” I turned to Melissa, demanded my credit cards, and purchased.

Ah, capitalism!

I will try on Wednesday (with the help of reflections from my friend Chris) to say something a bit more intelligible about overall trends (fiber types, patterns, etc.) at Stitches West. For now I’m off to stroke my yarn.