The Knitist!

Summer Vacay

It seems too soon to see leaves falling on the ground and evenings getting chillier each week.  I was just getting used to the hot and humid days again, after being in CA for 12 years.  Now all of a sudden I feel like I should be knitting a sweater just to keep warm in the evenings.  How time passes so quickly!  I feel like reminiscing over the summer in the hopes that it will come back for just a little longer.  So here are some pictures from some of my summer activities.

This year we had an opportunity to plant our first real garden.  I decided to try Square Foot Gardening because it seemed the least complicated for a novice.

It was a huge success!  We ended up with lots of tomatoes,

beans, cucumbers, japanese eggplant, carrots, onions, beets, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, basil, lettuce, potatoes and freakishly large chard!!

We also installed a rain barrel that my brother made for us.  Since we got it in July I haven't had to use tap water once to water the garden!



Also in July, Becky and I went to Whistler, BC for a week with some friends from CA.



Us girls spent a couple of afternoons hiking around the peak of Whistler Mtn...

while the boys went mountain biking.

We also went canoeing and zip-lining which was the most incredible rush.  Sadly, I have no pics of me in a climbing harness with a fantastic wedgie.  Sorry about that.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Yes, it's been some time since my last post.  I''ve been quite occupied this past month.

Just after you last heard from me, Bex Bri and I spent some time "back home" in Omaha visiting my family.  I treasure these visits so much more than I used to.  My two remaining grandparents are 87 and it is always a bittersweet experience.  On the one hand, I'm so grateful to have this time to spend with them.  On the other hand, the thought that our time together dwindles as the years pass seeps in each time I must leave and come back west.  It gets more and more difficult each time.

My Maternal Grandfather & Willis

My Paternal Grandmother

I also got to go horseback riding a few times while there.  My mom & stepdad have a couple of horses that they board at a ranch just outside of town.  It was a bit nostalgic for me, as I used to have my own horse back in high school.  Yeah, I was That Girl who always wanted a pony.  Here, I am on my mom's beautiful Dusty Rose.

It was a road trip.  Consequently, I got a bit of knitting done.  I finished a Nutkin sock

and a Pomatomus sock.


I also finished my Kusha Kusha scarf back in June but just now got a chance to photograph it.

I decided to use the merino throughout the entire scarf instead of ending it 2/3 from the end and leaving just the stainless steel hanging off at one end as the pattern calls for.  I think it looks more finished this way.

Next up?  Ravelympics...

Word of Warning For Those Going To Stitches West

Don't leave your valuables visible, especially a GPS or even just the stand, inside your car in a hotel parking lot.

Our car was one of 3 cars broken into, one night this week, at the Hyatt Santa Clara Convention Center (where Stitches West is held).  My mom is visiting and was borrowing our car.  She parked it in the lot in front of the hotel, under a street light even - thinking it would be safer that way.

The thief smashed the window, took the GPS stand but left the actual GPS in the glove box that they left open.  WTF???  The part that pissed me off the most?  The broken glass scratched up the interior of the car and when they ripped the stand off the window they put an 8" scratch in the dashboard.  They also pried open the center console instead of using the very obviously place button to open it (this guy was hella smart!) and left a smear of blood behind.

I really hate having my car broken into.  It's such a hassle and because of the holiday, I'm still driving around with plastic on the window.  The hotel was kind enough to vacuum out mine and my fellow victims' cars and put plastic on the windows for us.  When I asked what kind of plastic and tape they would be using they replied that they usually use plexiglass but they were all out.  So I was getting a clear garbage bag and packing tape.  According to the staff there, this happens all the time.  What the hell???

So beware, my fellow knitters.  When going to Stitches West this year... don't leave your valuables visible and for chrissakes put the GPSs, including any sign that you own a GPS, out of sight.  The head of security told me that that's what was stolen out of the other 2 cars that same night ours was broken into.

I hope that fucker's hand falls off.

Random Things From Christmas Week

I've got a bunch of photos and things to share, but they don't all go with each other in any sort of cohesive story.  So you will get a random list.  *grin*

1.  We drove to the desert to visit family for Christmas.  Willis came too.

2.  On Christmas Eve we drove to Madeira Canyon which is south of Tucson in the mountains.

...and saw some wild turkeys.

3.  I also finished a pair of socks just in time for Bex to have on Christmas.

4.  Then I started a new pair... Monkeys in some merino cashmere from The Knittery.

Don'tcha just love the sock-on-a-harmless-no-prickers-cactus-pic??  I thought it was brilliant.  See...? Just little fuzzy spots on the cute little cactus - no giant spines.  It must be ok, right?  HA! no!  Those cute little patches of sweet fuzziness are actually harboring teeny leetle microscopic prickers that got all in side my sock and wove their way deep into the yarn.

I'm STILL picking them out of the sock (and my fingers!).  All of you that are familiar with cactus, go ahead and laugh.  I deserve it.

5.  My mom comes into town today... in an hour actually.  Gotta run!

Knitting In the Desert

What would you knit in 105º heat?

I know that I would pick blends with cotton, linen, hemp, and bamboo.  I also know that if I were a LYS owner in the desert I would be stocking those wonderful new (and older) blends.

However, on our latest trip to Tucson, AZ (last weekend) I found way more Manos, Malabrigo, and other thick wool yarns than you would think is reasonable.  Only 2 out of 4 yarns stores even stocked a decent selection of warm weather fibers.  I'm going to tell you about my favorite of these 4 stores.

Kiwi Knitting Company on E 6th St. is a breath of fresh air for knitters in Tucson.  This store is set up in a cute house with several different rooms for you to peruse.  The main room is mostly full of wools and new items.  There's a room that's half sock yarn!  Another room is stocked with cotton, linen, and bamboo blends as well as some novelty yarn.  And the last room is needles, notions and books.

They also have spinning fiber!  Good thing I didn't notice it until I was walking out of the door.  It was right in front of the door as I came in and I missed it.  I get all giddy and distracted from the yarn fumes  when I'm in a new yarn store and end up missing so much.  We spent about a good 45 minutes looking around, deciding on sock yarn, and talking to the exceptionally friendly owner.  Although she was helping another customer with a knitting problem, she took the time to welcome us and explain the layout of the store.  I wish I could remember her name, but again, I plead "giddy on yarn fumes".

Becky couldn't be peeled away from the awesome selection of Noro Kureyon as she's embarked on a Kureyon hat collection.  Her sister and I spent most of our time picking out sock yarn. 

I got some Panda Cotton in Fall Herbs.


And a 100g ball of Regia in a solid red!  I must live a sheltered life but I've never seen this yarn in solids.

I didn't buy a lot of yarn, since I don't really need anymore but when I go back to Tucson, Kiwi Knitting will definitely be my go to yarn store.

Road Trip = FOs

I still haven't taken pictures of the fiber I purchased during our yarn crawl cross-country vacation.  Why?  Cuz it's A LOT of fiber.  It's so much fiber, in fact, that I had to really squish and shove my new acquisitions into previously established Stashing Zones.  I should have taken a picture of it all while it eclipsed the dining room table but it had to be removed so that my family did not have to sit on the floor during meals.  I promise to have pictures at some point.  But I need to pace myself.

I visited many yarn stores last month but due to money, space, and knitting time limitations I had to impose a few fiber-buying rules.  The most important of which was that it had to be rare and hard to find at one of the 700 Bay Area yarn stores.  That honestly, really, limited what I could buy.  You wouldn't know that if you'd seen the dining room table covered in wool, though.  I swear to you that there were whole yarn stores where I didn't buy a single thing.  Actually, whole states.  Whole states, that I stayed in even.  Like Arizona, for instance.  I didn't buy any fiber in Arizona.  And Colorado.  I was in Colorado for 3 days!  No fiber.  And Utah.  No fiber there either.  Nevada?  Same thing.

Can't say the same thing for New Mexico and New York though.  But I have 2 words for you:  Fiber Festivals.

For now, I will appease you with pictures of FO's from the last month.  I got a ton of knitting done.  Out of the 113 hours of driving we did (So says Jill, the GPS) I drove about 6 of those hours.  This is one of those examples of when it's a good thing that your SO has control issues.  So, yeah, a lot of knitting got done.

Moderne Baby Log Cabin Blanket from MDK.  I made it for my new step-niece in MN.  My step-sister was very excited and immediate claimed it while exclaiming that it matched her bedroom perfectly.  Thus, her bedroom is were it ended up.  The rest of the family and friends that were gathered immediately started hollering out the colors of their bedrooms and requesting one.

This pattern has some errors and I couldn't find any errata on it.  Not even on the KAL errata page.  But it was easy to figure out.  I'll post the fixes in the FO gallery.

These are the Baby "Uggs" from the DIY show.  As you can see from the photo, I finished them in the car.  They are also for my step-neice, Madilyn.

Becky's new October Socks.  They are knit from Regia Canadian Colors yarn.  Not sure on the color, can't find the ball band.  I even got the stripes to match.  Woot!

These are just the things I finished on the road.  There was tons more knitting done.  I'll save that for another post.

On another note, did you West Coast Knitters register for Stitches yet?

I'm taking (hopefully) 3 design classes.  My knitting seems to go in phases.  First it was cables, last year it was Fair Isle, and this year it's design and pattern writing.  However, since I'm taking 12 hours of classes, I've imposed a fiber buying moratorium while at Stitches.  I honestly can't even fit anymore yarn in this apartment.  But we'll see...

We're HOME!

We had a wonderful time.  I can't tell you what a life experience a month-long road trip can be!  I'm still processing everything, downloading pictures off of my camera, and trying to organize my thoughts enough to blog amid the unpacking and grocery shopping.  Not to mention the new stashing methods I'm having to explore.  It seems that my fiber-buying guidelines were not as stringent as I thought.

Soon I will have pictures and details...

A Soooper Quick Update

Hi!

We're leaving Philly this morning and heading to Chicago.  Philly was a mixed bag, I think.  Our hotel was crap (The Sheraton Suites Airport), people are so rude here.  But Independence Park was pretty cool.  We're pretty glad to be leaving.

Rhinebeck was a blast.  I'll have a complete post on that when I get back home, unpack my yarn, and get photos of it.  We'll be stopping at the The Fold tomorrow morning to get some more BMFA stuff, 'cuz they were sold out at Rhinebeck by the time I found their booth.

We are all well.  We haven't killed each other YET.  Nearly, but no.  We're a bit road weary though and are anxious to get home to our kitties and our own beds.

I finished the Moderne Log Cabin Baby blanket, the Baby Uggs, and another My So Called Scarf.  Pics soon, I promise, my dears.

You can see photos of our adventures as we update them at Becky's Flickr page.

*p.s. Due to lack of time, I've left out the links to things.  I'm sure you guys are all pretty handy with Google, no?

And We're Off!

We've been on our trek across the country for about 4 days now.  It's been a lot of driving with some adventures thrown in too!

We were in Tucson, visiting Becky's sister and her family, the past few days.  It was bloody hot!  I know, I know southern Arizona is always hot, but for some reason I'm shocked at the heat every time.

Yesterday we drove to Albuquerque from Tucson.  It was the most beautiful part of the trip so far.  I'm completely in love with New Mexico again.  I was in love about 5 years ago when we were in Santa Fe and Taos for a week.  But south western New Mexico is a different kind of beautiful.  Becky drove the entire way and our new GPS "Jill" took us through what was supposed to be the fastest route but actually turned out to be the scenic route.  We drove through Gila National Forest.  Becky's done a fabulous job of documenting our trip and is also in the process of uploading the pics I took yesterday to her flickr site.  So go check it out!

I'll check back in when there's yarn to blog about.  OH, I almost forgot to say that I'm almost done with the Baby Moderne Log Cabin Blanket.   I've got about 2/3 of the last block and then the border to do.  This blanket is due by the time we get to Minnesota.  I'm certain I'll make the deadline.  I've also finished one Arrrgyle and I've written up most of the pattern.  I'm stuck on one part.  I'll post the pattern once it's all figured out.  Later today we're going to Village Wools and tomorrow to the Taos Wool Festival.  So hopefully, I'll have bought some yarny goodness to blog about.  In the meantime go see how fantastic our drive was!

Another Vacation?

It's wasn't an actual vactation, per se.  We'll just call it an early weekend.

Wednesday we headed down to Carmel, CA.  I love the white sand, crystal blue water, and the fact that doggies don't have to be on a leash.

In fact, Carmel might be one of the most dog-friendly towns I've ever been to.  Many of the Inns, like the one we stayed at, allow dogs and some restaurants even have a doggy menu.

Downtown Carmel is great for walking and shopping.  Most store owners won't fuss if you bring your well-mannered dog to shop with you.  And many stores have little water bowls out front on the sidewalk for thirsty canines.  It's true Willis enjoyed the shopping, but the most doggy-fun was had at the off-leash beach.  Willis met a dozen or more new friends.  He even played in the ankle-deep surf.  (Previously, the waves scared him)  But once he saw the other dogs doing it, he figured he'd follow the pack.  I don't ever think I've seen him so happy.

We also did a bit of wine tasting while Willis slept and recovered from the previous day's unprecedented fun.

We visited Chateau Julien- by far our favorite winery in Carmel Valley.  We also tried a new winery, Hahn Estates,  that we'd never been to.  Turns out, it's quite the drive out to BFE.  But their wine was well worth it.

As far as knitting activities go, you'll be happy to know that I stopped by Carmel's LYS.  However, and this has been happening a lot lately, I didn't buy any yarn.  In fact, I hardly buy any yarn lately unless I'm out of town and see something that I can't get at home.  Which is why I bought the STR and the Fleece Artist in Portland and Vancouver, respectively during my last trip.  But what I didn't tell you, is that I also stopped by Eugene, OR's LYS and TWO other LYS's in Portland during the same trip.  I.  Bought.  Nothing.

And it's not because Becky was with me, telling me that I don't need anymore yarn.  She hardly has to say that to me anymore.  It's scary.  It's like I know I don't need anymore yarn, I'm telling myself not to buy anymore.  I may need some help.  Perhaps I should go talk to somebody.  I try and justify my non-yarn-buying behavior by telling myself that there's just not much must-have yarn out there anymore.  That nothing is really catching my attention.  I see lots and lots of yarn wherever I go, but it seems to be all the same - some Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss, Regia, Cascade, or novelty yarn.  I like the rarer, hand-dyed stuff.  I don't know, maybe I should see a professional.  Is anyone else having this problem?

Regardless, I started a new pair of socks with my Dye-O-Rama sock yarn.  I'm using the Almost Argyle pattern that Bex gave me for Christmas last year.  This is the perfect yarn for it since the color changes are subtle.  You can still see the variations (sadly, not in the picture because of the the bright beachy sun) but it doesn't hide the textured argyle pattern.  They're turning out better than I expected.  Thanks again to my Dye Pal, Jenn and Yay! for knitting on the beach!