whew, the loopy ewe spring fling made for quite a weekend. sorry i didn’t blog—honestly there was great internet access in the convention center but absolutely no time. i was able to read a few emails late at night, but that’s about it for this jam-packed weekend. i brought home plenty of yarn (which i didn’t expect to do, don’t ask me what i was thinking), pictures, memories, and that adorable limited-edition loopy. she finds my garden a nice place to do yoga.
i was a little nervous about teaching but quickly relaxed with these fun (and funny) knitters
see what i mean? everyone made me feel comfortable right away and we had some great class time together (why oh why did i spend so much energy last week being so anxious??).
the lounge buzzed all weekend with the voices of 100+ knitters, all happy to be there. there were lots of gorgeous knits and yarns including this beautiful rivolo that lisa knit
from her own handspun (it’s that briar rose BFL again, doncha know . . .). wow. you can’t see it in this photo but on her ravelry project page, you can see the colors shift from one end of the scarf to the other in the most beautiful way.
and then there was kathy who brought along her stonewall wrap.
i love it in pastels, don’t you?
but kathy didn’t stop there—she was rockin’ it with no less than three different shawls to show off. kathy told me i didn’t need to show the pictures on my blog but she sooo doesn’t know me . . .
who can resist talking about such an obviously happy knitter?? that’s her wing-o-the-moth shawl just above, and below, another wrap—this time obastacles
which we all agree looks amazing in DIC Smooshy, colorway petal shower. you go, kathy.
sadly i was separated from my camera too much of the time, or i’d have more photos of knitspots in the wild. i’m really kicking myself that i didn’t get a picture of wendy, who it was my pleasure to meet for the first time; i have long admired wendy’s work and was thrilled to get to know her a little (oh look, she has her special loopy topping her blog today, too).
i was however, lucky enough to score this gem of a picture
that’s samantha—yes, that samantha, designer of the wildly popular shawl that jazz AND she’s wrapped together here with dye diva allen, whose numma numma yarns are all the rage (and always sold out, which is why i don’t have any). they are posing with the shawl that jazz which allen knit in her hand-dyed yarn.
one of the nicest aspects of the weekend was seeing cookie A. again and seeing everyone fawn over her aMAZing new book, sock innovation. we got to spend lots of time talking and laughing by staying up way too late for two nights. oh well, i really, really like her, so why not?
it was also a treat to meet long-time readers in person like ronni (on the left there with cookie), who some of you might recognize from comments and julie, below
who i know a little because they write to me periodically. it was great to spend time with the real women and get to know them better. julie is holding the project we worked on in the advanced lace knitting class, a doll-sized baby bee shawl.
in between classes, there was time to get plenty of sock knitting done, since that goes well with socializing and talking shop
that little bit of sock i showed you the other day in woolen rabbit bambino (colorway mama mia) grew quite a bit on the flight out and then back again—here it is first thing this morning
and i finished it off in class this afternoon. i just love the feel of this yarn—it’s fine and silky enough to be a great weight for warmer weather, but has plenty of heft to make for nice knitting—a real pleasure to work with.
it knits up so fast, too—i need to start thinking about a name. the motif looks a bit like tulips but there are so many items with tulip names that i might need to explore another avenue.
another sock i have nearly finished is the mate for my design that went out with the woolgirl sock club kits this month. i sent the first one winging off to jennifer a while back and have been working on the second one rather lazily since then.
knowing that the first one would be waiting when when i got home, i decided i needed to finish this one off, so i toted it along to the fling. i managed to get it all the way to the toe and just have a few more decrease rounds to go.
this sock is club-exclusive for six months but will eventually be offered in my shop. it is designed for fine sock yarn and knit on small needles for a nice, dense fabric that will still slide easily into shoes. i love the colorway—it will be elegant with dressier trousers. the yarn is curious creek wasonga and the colorway is head of kinsale.
and as long as i was catching up on sock knitting, of course i put some inches on the poor traveling sock that sits in my tote bag most days without receiving even a glance
holidazed has a complete leg now and i’m halfway through the heel flap. this one will see more activity this weekend when we head out for a short but exciting car trip that i’ll tell you about later in the week. i hope i have enough yarn to finish—right now my supply looks ok, though it’s probably going to be close.
because i really need to increase the number of man socks i get completed in the coming months, i started a new one for david in briar rose grandma’s blessing
for a change of pace, i put a deeper-than-usual cuff on this one with a little ridge to set off the top section. the pattern is a sort of tilted checkerboard with some holes—just enough for manLace. david is already eyeing it, so i think we’re good. i just love the colors—blue/greens and brown gold together??—mmmm.
of course there was a nice trip to loopy central in the mix of the weekend, too, when cookie, wendy, and i had the store to ourselves for roaming and dreaming on. i didn’t really think about what i’d buy ahead of time, just let the spirit guide me, so to speak. sheri has so many gorgeous indie yarns—it was a struggle to pass on some of them. i decided to narrow down my choices to yarns with adequate yardage for man socks and blends with strong fibers like nylon and bamboo. i purchased four skeins in all
this sheepaints silkbamboo is a luxurious blend of wool/silk/bamboo in an unusual straw/gold-and-gray mix—colorway berenjena—that completely captured my heart (i love grays and yellows together). this skein is so luxurious that i can only think it will become anniversary socks for david.
enchanted knoll farm yarns are new to me, but i can tell i will love them—for one thing, they were heartily endorsed by wendy and cookie, heh. i bought the skein of fresh greens (athenos) at sheri’s store for david and then was gifted the skein of lavenders and browns (hot mama) by the lovely josette herself, who attended the retreat (thank you josette; i was coveting this colorway but trying to be good). the lavender-brown skein signed by the artist will be mine, all mine.
a third skein that came home with me from the shop was this bright olive semi-solid artisan sock from hazel knits. wendee and i worked on a sock club project together last year with wonderful results and i very much enjoyed knitting with her yarn; i think david will love this color and it will work with almost any stitch pattern.
the fourth skein that found its way into my bag was this soft, quirky-wonderful fannie’s fingering from farmhouse yarns, colorway rhapsody
oh, too ba-a-ad, the yardage isn’t enough for man socks, shucks. sigh—i guess i’ll just have to make myself something with it (hum-de-dum-de-dum . . . sorry guys, i was helpless in the face of it). this will be great for a simple traveling sock—i don’t know if it will be too much coloring for a pattern, but if it is, i’ll just go with ribs or stockinette, or maybe apply of the interesting alternate sock architectures floating around out there.
another special person who i was honored to meet this weekend was claudia, the incomparable wollmeise herself. now, i have not knit with claudia’s yarns because truthfully, i have so little spare time that stalking the site for yarn releases is pretty much out of the question.
however, a new ravelry friend, dani, has doctored that situation right up for me (which i deeply appreciate dani, thank you!). recently, i saw her awesome green socks while browsing projects and commented that i thought the color was smashing. she replied that she had another skein of the yarn and would i like to trade for it? i said sure, not realizing right away that it was the famous wollmeise sock yarn.
it was even better in person—i do love me some greens. then dani suggested that i really did need to get some laceweight too for a shawl project and set about finding some of that for me to trade for as well. lo and behold, when i opened the mailbox this morning
there it was—a big fat skein of the most gorgeous spice market colorway. oh my.
(insert reverant pause)
isn’t that something?
in fact, i think we should end today’s post there.
so much happened around here since i was away—david totally reconfigured the vegetable plot and the yard positively came alive and got tall. there’s so much to show but plenty of time tomorrow—for now, let’s go knit.
50 thoughts on “far flung”
What a frabjous time! And the tulip sock….kinda reminds me of bleeding hearts and/or amarynth or astilbe!!!
Oh, WOW…that Spice Market laceweight may be the prettiest yarn I’ve ever seen!
Oh you’ll just love the Enchanted Knoll yarns, I’ve bought some of her’s from etsy and they are wonderful.
I’m drooling over the wollmeise yarn…gorgeous!
It was great to meet you in person! Now I can leave comments without feeling like a stalker 🙂
the spice market laceweight is my holy grail of yarn seeking. I’m glad you have some. Can’t wait to see what you do with it.
Anne it was a pleasure and a joy to meet you. I’ve looked forward to this for months! Thank you for the wonderful compliments on my shawls, but I truly cannot take the credit. You see all I do is follow the instruction of an incredible designer. I look forward to the next time we meet!
WOW the socks! I want them all!
Sounds like the loopy thing was fun!!! Maybe one of these years I’ll get to go. 😉
so many wonderful projects I don’t know which to comment on first! Congrats on scoring your first Wollmeise! Dani helped me out with some Miss Babs that I was dying to have. Fellow knitters are the best 🙂
Dani is my good friend on Ravelry. I have to agree that she is the best! And boy, oh boy are you spoiled with the Wollmeise Spice Market. That’s the color that everyone is trying to get! I hope to get a skein of it in the sock weight sometime in my lifetime LOL! I can’t wait to see what you design for it.
You’re so sweet to include that picture of me with my Rivolo here! It was so lovely to meet you this weekend, and I really enjoyed your advanced lace class. If you’re ever in the Pittsburgh area and need someone to go yarn shopping with, I’m your girl! Just drop me a note!
Oh Anne, looks like you had a TON of fun. Your socks all look awesome, and that Wollmeise Spice stuff truly is beyond beautiful. Let’s see. . . . 2 weeks, eh??
Oh, Anne! Your photos of the Fling look like you all are having such fun. My sister and I have our hotel room for Sock Summit already and now I am really excited about it. Hope to get into one of your classes. I have also used Enchanted Knoll yarns and they are just beautiful – you will like knitting with it. There is not enough time to knit.
The new manLace sock’s stitch pattern seems very interesting!
Your short row heel on the pretty pink bamboo socks looks amazing. What’s your technique? Got any tips? I struggle with short row heels! 🙁
That sock pattern looks like fuschia flowers to me. Whatever you decide it is, it’s beautiful.
Oh boy, oh boy, I can see a couple more socks to do, coming up…..just lovely!!!!
Anne, I was thrilled to find a pattern by you in my WoolGirl sock club kit. It’s wonderful! (But I may knit it toe-up…hope you don’t mind.)
All those smiling faces, what a wonderful way to start my day. Your hostas are growing like mad, aren’t they?
Beautiful socks and yarns! Looks like a great time.
Okay, I know that’s supposed to be a sheep, but it looks like a monkey.
I’m amazed at your restraint at Loopy Central!
Once you’ve tried Wollmeise, you will only want more (and more, and more…..).
So glad you had a great time.
I’m jealous! There, I said it!
Wow! It sounds like you had a wonderful time. You were absolutely correct in leaving a reverent pause for the Woolmeise — that is an amazing color and will be terrific in a shawl. Someday my time will come for the Woolmeise as well. Sigh
Welcome back! It sounds like a fabulous weekend, and that is certainly some gorgeous stash enhancement going on there 🙂 Wollmeise…mmm…
Anne-Wollmeise is highly covetable, as is Enchanted Knoll.
I just adore Josette- she’s amazing.
How fun to see the Knitspot FO’s in the wild!! love it.
And you were really nervous??? oh my – don’t you just know we all think you’re grand? !
And insert a huge sigh here over that spice market skein… truly stunning.
Glad you had such great fun.
Awesome!
LOVE the Rhapsody. I covet your wollmeise, droooollll
Hmm… short trip later in the week… are you going to Maryland Sheep and Wool, perhaps??!!
Welcome back–it sounds like a marvelous time! Congrats on your yarn scores-especially the Wollmeise. I try not to covet other peoples’ yarn, but that is just too gorgeous. I like the new sock–it reminds me of a phalaenopsis orchid (moth orchid), the way it sort of trails down the sock. Love that Mama Mia color!
It was wonderful to meet you this weekend. I enjoyed your class tremendously. I am just sad that I had to frog my Mini Bee in class. That is going to be on my to-do list.
I just got the Woolgirl sock club pattern. I am happy that you showed it on your blog. Your photos show the pattern much better than the one on the pattern.
Just as well you didn’t get my photo — I’d hate to break your camera with my ugly mug! 😉
It was great to finally meet you in person!
Anne – it was an absolute thrill to meet you this weekend. I’m an awe of you, I really am.
Josette
Oo, oo! A BABY Bee Shawl?! My Grands would love that! For themselves…or their dolls.
SO much loveliness in this post! I LOVE that Spice Market….beeutiful!
anne, the pleasure was all mine. I, after all, have your amazingly well written patters to expand my knitting potential- thank you 😀
Dani
Those socks are really lovely! You should call them Laleh, for the Persian word for tulips. And yup, I like Wikipedia 🙂
Congratulations on the Wollmeise yarn – I am not sure that I will ever find any! Sure is beautiful, isn’t it?
Sounds like a fabulous weekend… For the tulippy sock, “When it’s spring again, I’ll bring again, Tulips from Amsterdam”… so how about Amsterdam, or Keukenhof, the name of the bulb fields just outside Amsterdam… Lovely sockage, and I love Kathy’s knits, too.
Thank you for a great class this weekend. I have always been amazed by your work – now I’m really impressed.
Thank you for sharing your talents with us.
Wow. All those photos – fabulous! I might be a smidge jeaslouse over what sounds like a fantastic knitting weekend. 🙂
Other than the Sock Summit, do you plan to teach at any other workshops/retreats west of the Rockies this year? (I have high hopes of cloning myself and my bank account so that I may take all the classes at Sock Summit – all before August – never mind the wedding shawl I need to spin for and then knit before then. Should I fail, I was wondering if there would be any second chance oppurtunities….)
Thank you again for all the photos – yummy fibery photos 🙂
It was such a pleasure to meet you and take your class Anne. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself and got to bring home a little stash of your own. The Wollmeise is wonderful and you have some beautiful colors to work with.
well, it sounds like you have a good trip! with lovely yarns to show for it, too.
as for the other, have the gardens ever been growing! my mom’s lily of the valley must have grown 6″ just over the weekend. i’m sure your garden must really be going in leaps and bounds too…
It was lovely to meet you in real life. And your class was fantastic. Although I would have loved it if it had been even longer. I too ended up frogging my mini-shawl. Because I thought I had screwed up, but turned out to be mistaken (to paraphrase the old joke). I’m going to do my very best to catch up with you again at Sock Summit.
Although I have only been knitting a short time and not familiar with all the big names in knitting, I was thrilled to meet you outside of the hotel for a smoke break and I am in Oregon and will be attending Sok Summit. So I am signing up for one of your amazing classes. Everyone that took your classes gave rave reviews. You seems so down to earth and friendly for someone with such amazing talent. I can’t wait to actually join one of your classes. Hugs to you and prayers for safe travels in all you endeavors. JoyB
yum yum those new yarns. i have just finished stonewall in baby blanket in the sheepaints wool/nylon and have the one you showed (oooh those blues and grays) in my stash!
and of course if one could ever snag wollemeisse!!
enjoy.
What about Amsterdam Weave for the pink sock, it’s so pretty.
Thanks for the in-depth report on the Fling! I SO wanted to go this year but it wasn’t meant to be. Thanks for the great photos and so glad you like some of my favorites from Sheri’s great selection (down to some of the same colors, he-he!)—will be eagerly waiting to see what you make with them.
Nice scores, Anne! Laceweight Wollmeise? Swoon!
I really like the pattern you designed for the Woolgirl sock club. Sadly, I’m not a member, so I’ll just have to wait! I’m not worried, you’ve got plenty of patterns to keep me busy and content until then!
anne, i love the woolen rabbit bambino sock, and i truly wish i had some sort of botanical association for it, but i see OWLS! yes, truly: stubby, wide-eyed birds. strigiformes, wikipedia tells me, so I’m not sure how that might be translated into a scintillating pattern name. maybe something involving sophia, via the connection between owls and wisdom?
Anne,
It was so nice to meet you and find what a wonderful down to earth person you are. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning lace class (should have taken the other) and enjoyed just chatting with you and picking your brain.
Thanks for a great weekend.
Lynda
You are a busy lady! I love the tulip socks. I was at a flower presentation the other night and the speaker talked about Rembrandt tulips. The tulips she showed had similar colors to your socks. So now I’m thinking of them as Rembrandts! 🙂
Love the pics of Spring Fling. Thanks for sharing. I love the socks. Maybe instead of tulips they remind me of rose buds when they are just starting to open. Especially with the socks knit in that gorgeous color.
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