First Love

Books.

I can never remember a time when I did not love books. Their heft, their scent, the potential behind their titles.

The days of my childhood and those of our kiddos were bracketed morning and evening with them.

I was blessed with a father who read aloud. I thought all adults were so inclined - I can remember not being able to decipher the words but never hesitating to ask..."will you read this to me?"

Hence vivid impressions of the sounds of pages turning - different in the hands of each reader and the noises those sturdy plastic covers on the dust jackets of hard cover library books make.

The Library! Bliss! See something that interests you? Why then add it to your bag...there is no fee, no charge. Indulge! Dive in! Please don't re shelve...where else on earth do they request that you not pick up after yourself?

Librarians! Thankfully enforcing that magical Library hush. Always ready to help, perhaps read aloud to an assembled, cross legged bunch of kids while holding the picture book aloft and so drawing all the little faces upwards in rapt attention.

My Library Card was the first (and only!) piece of identification I had until I got a student transit pass at 13 and relinquishing that "Child" card for an "Adult" card like my Dad's was such a thrilling right of passage - it meant I was grown up enough to be trusted to withdraw any book in the Library!

Beds and chairs need books beside them to best welcome settling in of the occupants don't you think?

In summer the usual two week return dates are stretched to three - to cover holiday absences!

I'm headed to the Library this morning, my most recent withdrawals having transported me through Folk Sock Knitting, Norwegian Mitten Design, Ornamental Knot work, Dog Psychology, Poodles and Backyard Chicken Keeping while My Beloved "visited" the Cuban Revolution with Elmore Leonard.

Before I go I'll be copying a few knitting patterns - I understand libraries pay more for books so that we might do so without infringing on copyright?

I must rush - 'can't wait to get there - what will I fill my book bag with today?

Keeping it Local

I have my camera back so wanted share details of my Frolic purchases now I can provide photo evidence...

Stoddart Family Farm Merino Mohair Worsted. Natural "Dark".  Three of these four hanks will handily yield Jared Flood's "Guernsey Wrap" but I bought a fourth because it was just too amazing not to. This yarn is organically raised less than an hour north east from our house. Its spun at a mill an hour or so north west of us using solar power to warm the wash water and citrus based soaps to clean the fleeces rather than sulphuric acid.

The fleeces come from the Stoddard's flock of Romney sheep (listed as "endangered" by Rare Breeds Canada). They live and graze exclusively on certified organic pasture. The mohair comes from Stoddard's neighbour's flock of angora mohair goats (listed as "vulnerable" by Rare Breeds Canada).

See what I mean about being amazing! Brown and Grey and Silver. Soft with a bit of a halo but still woolly!

I also picked up this little book by local Toronto knit designer Robin Melanson. When I waved it around at "Show and Tell" last night at Craft Group the woman I would say is easily the most accomplished knitter in the room spoke up said the book was, in her experience, not only full of great patterns but also a great resource for instructions on technique. I consider this very high praise coming from such an advanced knitter and it made feel extra great about buying the book.

Local sheep, local mill, local designer. Love it!

Generous Knitters

At the hands of other generous knitters I have had a fortuitous couple of days!

(At the hands of Number One Son 'home from school working on a creative (messy!) project I have had no access to our desktop either! But I digress.)

Last Friday I was able to attended a Knitty Yarn Tasting at The Purple Purl because while I was at the cottage without Internet connection last summer my generous knitting friend Cheri was kind enough to sign me up before the spots were all filled.

Then when I arrived at The Purl Cheri popped something into my bag of needles where I utterly forgot it until, during my Monday morning tidy I went to put the needles away and in it I found...A Present! Wrapped in an adorable cotton scarf!

And just look what it was!

I love little note books. I love documenting stuff but especially my knitting and knitting ideas! This one has the added bonus of also containing great reference information.

I love the inclusion of an emergency rolled brim hat pattern for

 "...when you're faced with a long car ride, you're itching to knit but don't have time to focus on starting a complicated project..." 

(Measurements included to make it in any size from baby to man!)

Aaaand the essential elasticized thingy to keep the book closed in your bag!

She signed me up, saved me a seat and gave me a present!

Then this morning, with the computer once again to myself, I logged on to find I'd won a birthday draw over at Curlerchick's. Its her birthday and I'm going to get a fab pair of custom made PJ pants in the fabric of my choosing!

I've made a slew of PJ's over the years but never for myself and no one else has ever made any for me. Yet on Sandra's Birthday she's going to do just that.

Her birthday...I get the present!

Generous knitter indeed!

Now I have to run - 'have to select the fabric for my PJ's and take my measurements to send to Sandra. I have the numbers for my upper body documented and memorized for knitting but I've ever even taken them for the bottom half of me!

'Have a great day! I'm obviously having one already! Thanks for dropping by!

Last Night at the DKC

Last night's presentation at the DKC was one of the best I've seen by a newly published knit designer.
Elise Duvekot herself was clear, well spoken and entertaining and the patterns in her book, Knit One Below are lovely. Elise is a resident of Holland but wrote the majority of the book while living in Toronto. She acknowledged the wonderful concentration of local test knitters as being a big part of that process. The focus of her talk though wasn't on her patterns but rather on the technique of knitting into the stitch below on which the book is based. Her encouragement to us was to use the book as a jumping off point with this wonderful technique rather than an end in itself.

When using this stitch every alternate stitch on the right side of the fabric is simply knit into the stitch below the next one rather than the one actually hanging on the needle. Purling one below is done on the reverse. Each alternate row both sides is a resting row worked straight and in the stockinette manner. When two colours or even two radically different yarns are used on alternate rows there is an interplay of texture and colour that is quite unique. The treatment of the purl row is what sets this stitch apart from the likes of Fisherman's Rib or Brioche Stitch.

The knitted fabric with this stitch looks a bit like a flattened rib or even a very well blocked stockinette with absolutely no rolling at the edges or ends so no added edging is required to control it.This was evident on the scarves like the stunning Tattersall Scarf (rav link) and wraps like the Gossamer Square (rav link) she brought along to show, all of which sat very well on the body and had gorgeous drape.

Elise assured us it does not take any more yarn than regular stockinette and the gauge is so much bigger she reported her socks like the Pinwheel Socks from the book (rav link) are done on 40 stitches rather than the usual 63 or so.

The fabric is similar in heft to garter stitch but feels much lighter. I modeled a pullover knit in bulky wool but it felt surprisingly soft and light to wear.

The stitch also yields fabric that felts very well into a generous and sturdy material well suited to hats and bags.

Before the meeting I spoke with one woman who I know to be an extremely skilled knitter and she said she uses the book in just the way Elise suggested, as a reference for variations on technique. (Just to give you an idea of this particular knitter's ability, her current project is working Norah Gaughan patterns in Noro.  The thing is, she explained, the Noro is not at all like the yarn called for in the patterns and with the structure of Norah Gaughan patterns being generally pretty novel she finds it difficult to make accurate adjustments before thoroughly understanding the process for any given knit. So this woman knits each piece first in something close to what's called for and then once she has the gist of what that piece requires calculates her adjustments and re knits it in Noro.)

The knitting skill and knowledge that is in the room at a DKC meeting is amazing.

Another example of knitting excellence last night was that Wanietta Prescod, Canada's fastest knitter was in the front row. While I was up on the stage helping with the fashion show of Knit One Below Knits I have to admit to staring. Her hands just fly!

The other speaker was the founder of SOAK also gave a brief presentation. She is from Toronto and came to the knit world via machine knitting but was wearing her first hand knit wrap. She told us how SOAK is expanding its product line beyond knitting. I was interested to hear her explain that many "unscented" products aren't truly without scent they just have a masking agents added to prevent the consumer from being able to smell the actual odors (off gassing)  of a product.  Yuck! (BTW SOAK's unscented version is a truly scent free product.)

I had my Australian wool that Lyn sent me in my bag because I was swatching with it while on the subway ride downtown. When I mentioned to the knitters around me how I had come to own this yarn and told them of my tentative plans for it several knitters commented on it and wondered aloud between them at its weight and twist and noted its lovely halo - imagining how it might bloom after blocking.

Its so fun to mingle with knitters! Thanks for dropping by eh!

Book Review - Knitting 24/7 by Veronique Avery

This week has been quite crazy with a confluence of birthday celebrations, end of school year events, annual medical appointments/tests and with even the demands of my usually independent Beloved and the teen/twenty something social calendar impacting my agenda.

Throughout it all I have optimistically toted a bag of knitting "stuff", dragging it everywhere with little to show for the effort because I haven't stopped moving long enough to even peek into it.

In the few lucid moments I have had in the evenings or early mornings I've found myself going to the bag to retrieve this...

I can't stop looking through it! I want to make almost everything in it!

Maybe I'm drawn to it this week in particular because of its theme...

"30 Projects to Knit, Wear and Enjoy, On the Go and Around the Clock"

...and because of our early spring-like weather in the midst of our late spring calendar (not unusual in Toronto). I'm feeling the value of multiple knitted layers, many fabulous examples of which are found in this new compelling book.

The Book's divided into sections of a.m., p.m. and weekend, each starting with an empowering little list of times when a knitter might squeeze a few rows of grounding/energizing knitting into a busy day. Sensitivity to the wider life of a knitter doesn't end there though. The patterns seem demanding but they're all easily memorized.. Many are also small and so, by definition, portable. And they all seem sooooo wearable!

Of course socks fall readily into this category but Veronique gives these a wonderful twist with faux cables that pass through each other rather than in front or behind; a toe up version that includes a slipped stitch heel for better wear than the more usual short row heel found in many toe up patterns; lace knee highs with a manageable (even for me - generally lace averse as I am) four row repeat, all over pattern.

• Bags and hats - with a distinctly French flair.
• Slippers, one felted for winter the other, knit in the same pattern in cotton for spring and summer.
• A tea cozy - easily adaptable for any size pot.
• Mitts, gloves and hand warmers long and short in styles from traditional to funky. All patterns with careful attention to ease of execution, fashionable and easy to wear paired with all kinds of things and whatever your personal style.
• Scarves and an ingenious wrap

I am even considering taking a run at the skirt knit in Cascade 220 Heathered yarn to pair it with the stunning alpaca "Elemental Pullover"! (Tamara at Passionknit suggested Galway Heather as an alternative which sounds even better!) As it says in the notes, the skirt, knit in the round is the perfect take along project. For me it also sounds like great motivation over the summer to keep up with my exercise regimen to be able to carry off a knitted skirt in the fall! (Darling Daughter is horrified at the prospect of a "grey haired woman" as she put it wearing two knit pieces together. I do love getting a reaction out of that girl!)

Perhaps this book has come into my collection at just the right time for my wardrobe or lifestyle or just my interest in knitting a variety of items but I can't help thinking any knitter would want to knit and have a number of the pieces in this book.  I am generally loath to buy knitting pattern books but I'm thrilled to have this one. I  know I'll be knitting from it in the weeks and months ahead but I wouldn't be surprised if its also a collection from which I draw for years to come!

Thanks for dropping by today...have a good weekend and if you happen to be near a book store, check out Knitting 24/7!

I spent a lot of my weekend knitting time reading Annie Modesitt's book Confessions of a Knitting Heretic. Much like her class it was entertaining, edifying and empowering. I would highly recommend not only reading it but owning it. I'm anticipating I will refer to it often (its even spiral bound - as all how to books should be!)

I have how-to knitting books by three knitting gurus. Montse Stanley's classic, and bone dry tome, Elizabeth Zimmerman's staccato styled lists of "opinions" and now Annie Modesitt's heretical recommendations that seem to spring from a third dimension entirely.

I have to say, Annie's writing and projects had a similar effect on me as did those of EZ. I want to try them, take them all for a spin. I may even do a swatch of each of the techniques illustrated in the book. (Ms. Stanley's work makes me want to check what I need to know and put it right back on the shelf - its valuable information its just not very entertaining or engaging)

Which brings me to what I now recognize was a wee bit of my own brilliance last week. For the first time I left the acrylic yarn I'm always trying to use up, at home, and took nice yarn to work with in class. It was Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch Worsted left over from last summer's colourwork. It felt great to work with at the time and now it not only displays a bunch of nifty new tricks I did but it also feels and looks great! Very motivating indeed! I even went home and finished it off with the two techniques Annie showed us at the end of class but which I ran out of time to complete. Comparing it to swatches in my collection from other classes, I think in future I'll make a point of investing in nice yarn to work with when I invest time and money in taking a class. It seems to make the results so much more satisfying!

In other weekend news - look who decided to stop sulking and put on her proper June show...

Its hard to believe its real - Just look at that face amid those amazing crepe paper-esque petals!

Have a great day! Thanks for dropping by!

I was afraid this would happen...

That's why I put off diving into Elizabeth Zimmerman's work before now.

I suspected, just by what I've read from others who have become Zimmerman devotees (Brooklyn Tweed is the best example of this) that she might prompt an entire knitting agenda in addition to the robust queue I'm already enjoying. Sure enough, she suggests trying to master her seamless techniques by knitting all four (Seamless Yoke, Seamless Raglan, Seamless Saddle-Shouldered, Seamless Hybrid) in order. She reasons...

"If you diligently follow instructions when making the first one, the other three should be duck soup."

I love the idea of "duck soup" which I think of as being able to do something with such complete understanding it becomes essentially effortless and easily adaptable to any notion of design or practicality. I've experienced it with cooking and baking and gardening and grudgingly, sewing so I know it takes real time and energy. Just think what a struggle using computers used to be before we all came to see them as "duck soup"? Once integrated into our lives these things do enrich them and our experiences hence I like the idea of coming to understand how sweater construction really works and feel her approach might be quite a rewarding exercise.

I would have to set that little queue of knits (4 sweaters is no joke!) against the another aspect of my recent reading up  - all the gorgeous patterns that are available, with more coming out every day - not the least of which are Jared Flood's Cabled Gloves (Vogue Knitting Winter edition)! My plan to dedicate January to "Vivian" from the latest Twist Collection has evaporated as I've slogged along with my outstanding WIP's and the longer my queue on Ravelry sits unchanged the more it feels like a sentence rather than a list of real possibilities.

What's a keen knitter to do beyond learning how to stretch the time/space continuum to make every day yield three times the knitting hours?

All the angst aside I do enjoy her writing.  I love the cryptic style without embellishment or apology for an unorthodox point of view. What confidence she wields as she waves established mitten knitters on past the section on mittens. If they're already doing them successfully, she reasons, there'll be nothing of value for her to add.

When I read her words regarding fitting a sweater... 

"The important thing is the body-width you want, and the best way to ascertain this is to lay your favourite sweater out flat and measure it."

I thought of all the posts I've lapped up from Interweave's Sandi Wiseheart on fit and ease and their terrific galleries that show the same knit on different body types. I pored over them last year, struggling to understand how big to make a sweater for myself. EZ kind of sums it all up in a sentence. 

I also had a bunch of other moments of sudden clarity as I recognized design elements I thought were utterly new but I found were concepts she wrote about in the 60's.  (Seamless and top down construction, fake side seams on seamless sweaters, afterthought heels - they're all in there - copyright 1971.)

So I love the book and its got me freaking out about time and queue - all just as I suspected - now to do something about it!

As a first step towards resolving this I'm going to show the red knitted curse scarf to the Knit Doctor at tonight's DKC meeting. Maybe she can tell me whether the wavy edges will relax with blocking or whether I should just bale on the project before I waste any more time with it. I'll work towards finishing the second sock with gauge issues on the subway to and from the meeting as well as during the lecture. I also need to reexamine my Ravelry queue and do some editing. Meanwhile I'll continue to think about undertaking the "Zimmerman Four" or more accurately how I can integrate them into my knitting life without having to bale on all my other knitting dreams for the next six months.

 

Debbie Bliss Magazine

The weekend at the cottage was rainy and dark and awash with incandescent light. Without screens (TV/computer/cell phones/pagers) to distract, everyone tends to sit together reading the paper, plucking out tunes on the guitar, chatting about the events of the past week and plans for the one ahead. With the sound of the rain on the roof there can also be the odd nap as well! Its a great atmosphere in which to knit with enough distraction to keep me going when I might otherwise get up and do something else. (I find this a problem when I'm trying to get into a project or a pattern, as I was in this instance, with Honeycomb.)



I also had the Premier Issue of the new Debbie Bliss knitting magazine with me and I finally had a chance to look through it in some depth. I always think premier issues offer the purest expression of the editor's intended look and feel before its affected by sales trends and advertising so I was keen to see what Ms Bliss would include.

This is the first magazine dedicated to the work of a single designer and her yarns I've seen. Its like a book of designs at a vastly reduced price. I like this because I only buy books that I think I will make numerous things from and I rarely find this to be the case with books filled with 15 patterns for sweaters for adult females following the fashion trends of a given year.

The look of the mag is very evocative of early Martha Stewart; clean, pure and brilliantly photographed. For me,professional models facilitate considering the pattern (I know my body type is nothing like theirs and their shape and size neutralizes their impact on the garment. They don't distract. I find the models in Vogue Knitting to be so high fashion they overpower the sweaters - I often put sticky notes over their faces when trying to judge the merits of a pattern! Interweave doesn't seem to be consistently able to find models the same size as the knitted samples. As in other mags I long for shots of the back of the piece and as in other mags they are sorely absent here. I want to see how the thing fits/drapes across the back without having to flip back to the pattern schematics and guess.*

The patterns are all quite beautiful and seem to be designed to look good without the addition of belts (what is up with that in the current VK?). None of the designs are named but this link features a slide show of the design contents. I am personally in love with many of the patterns but the cabled peplum jacket in Rialto - nice shot of the back of that one - is the clear winner. A close second is the Fair Isle purse that uses an extra long zipper for the handle as well as to allow for making the sides of the bag wider or more narrow. Frankly though I'm most likely to actually make the Green Rialto DK wrap style vest. The baby knits in the book are stunning as always with DB.


My teen aged daughter cannot abide the contents of virtually any collection of knitted patterns I've ever showed her. (I think I may have pushed hand knits onto her a bit too hard in her pre school years.) But she actually expressed interest in the moss stitch jacket/cardigan in Donegal Chunky Tweed!

My bottom line on this magazine is I'm glad to have it in my collection and I'll be looking forward to the second edition next spring.

*Afterthought Note...
I just found this link - now this is what's I'm talking about when I say I want to see how the piece works and fits!

Knitting (K)night

Yesterday was a very busy day, much of it dedicated to exterior painting made necessary by the ongoing (seemingly forever) porch reno.

Last night however, was the perfect knitter's night. Dinner was done and cleaned up early as well as the few loose ends I didn't get to during the day. Kids were quietly working away on homework, my Beloved was sitting with me but catching up on email. My herbal tea was hot and steaming, the first Boat Sweater was blocking and the second just needed a bit of sewing up. A soft rain was even audible on the roof for an extra hit of coziness. I was sure by the end of the second episode of Project Runway I'd be done with the Boat Sweaters at last!

Apparently too far into my state of blissful household and family perfection I mindlessly sewed up one seam and wove in the end without coming close to properly lining up the two seams. Picking out the end did two things...

1. Convinced me that my weaving in technique is extremely reliable and durable - it took forever pick it apart.

2. Gave rise to a tension headache that probably came from the day of painting but only emerged when I started to relax. It worked its way up my neck and wouldn't be ignored. I threw the knitting aside.

Unwilling to give up my whole knitting (k)night I reached down beside me to my wonderful pile of knitting reading and came up with my latest book borrowed from the library. "Knitter's Stash" by Interweave Press 2001. The book was started when letters were sent to every LYS in the US asking for contributions of the most popular original patterns the shops offered their patrons. As my headache moved into my eye sockets forcing me to even stop reading I wondered whether such an exercise would even be attempted today since it seems to me the majority of original design work is now found on line and so many designers have their own public profiles separate and distinct from those who might sell their work. I was most intrigued though by a quote from the editor's introduction describing the traits one LYS owner had observed among the knitters in her shop..."Knitters...delight in colour and form and have heightened tactile senses. They love containers and tools and have an almost endless amount of patience and ability for self-entertainment." The first sentence is pretty obvious but the second one is quite insightful. Of course knitter's love affair with bags has been all over blog land for years but lately I've also been seeing a bunch of blog posts about stash management and storage and even that new magazine "Studio" that Interweave is offering that certainly speaks to knitters' love of containers and tools. Also amazing is that new line of custom needles by Signature Needle Arts or how about the new Harmony Straights? I also have to say every element in that description - especially the last one is present in my personality and has been as long as I can remember. Can you relate to that description?

I'll have to muster up some of my "endless patience" tonight to take another run at finishing Boat Sweater #2. With the sun now shining again and my job site drying up I'd better head out for more painting. Tonight I'll be sure to do some stretching and to have a hot shower and to get the knots out before a(k)nother knitting (k)night) gets wrecked!