faithful and frozen

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, designing, projects, yarn and dyeing

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i am being SUCH a good knitter, not getting distracted by new upstart projects that pop into my head at 11:37 pm.

it’s taking a hurculean effort, what with all the new yarn arrivals testing me daily, but i’m managing to keep my head; it really helps that to fondly the yarn to the point of weakening, i’d have to get dressed in coat, hat, scarf, and boots, find my keys, and then cross over to the office on a treacherously icy path in frigid wind.

but i’d do it if i were bored enough . . .

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that, however, has not been an issue—it’s been such an exciting week of being on the go, in fact, that i haven’t even been at my desk long enough to blog (sorry!).

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for some reason, however, i got all this knitting done—i’ve finished the front of my cam cable sweater and have started the back piece. obviously, i am really enjoying the knitting.

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(i’ve got even more done now, as i had an hour or so over coffee to add some rows.)

i’m super excited to finally have a garment to wear in our kent DK yarn. while i’ve knit with all of them quite a lot by now, i actually i have surprisingly few things to wear because everything i knit becomes a shop sample.

this one though, is all mine (as well as the next couple; i should have some BNWs to wear out and about!). and  it’s pulling together so nicely.

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i even got the front pinned to the form and the fit looks like it will be right for my purpose. with no defined shoulder line, a raglan sweater like this can fit across a couple of sizes—i want it to be a bit loose and casual, so on me it will have about four or five inches of ease, once it’s blocked (sigh, i could only hope to fill it out as prettily as my mannequin does).

my dress form is a size or two larger than i am (industry standard fit size), so the sweater fits nicely in a more body-concious way that shows off one’s curves; i like them both! since it knits up so fast, i may even make one for myself in the smaller size, with maybe one or two inches of ease, to wear with nice slacks and skirts when i teach.

hehe, barb was NOT laughing the other night when she saw my progress; she even said that as much as she made fun of all my swatching, it was looking like my sweater would be done before hers. i’m not gloating (yet); anything could go wrong . . .

i’m sure that a little friendly competition was all she needed to get her back piece off the needles and start her seaming.

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speaking of wednesday and knit night, we had the most fun and productive day in the middle of our week, over at bare naked wools boutique.

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the staff from natural stitches yarn shop in pittsburgh cam for a field trip to take an all-day sweater fitness class (for some reason, darling yvonne is not in either of the two photos i have—drat). they arrived around 10 am and we got to work; it was a really great class. the morning half was full of information, talking about and touching fabrics and yarns, swatching (of course) discussing all the material factors that go into a successful sweater, etc.

then we used the afternoon to take measurements, talk about the important principals of sweater fit and various sweater constructions, work out how the measurements relate to the pattern, and then choose sizing. we ended by going over some ways to make adjustments as needed.

in between we had a lovely lunch and afterward, they stayed for knit night! barb was in seventh heaven, with a full house to talk to, haha. we all agreed that knit night is a lot more fun with more people. in fact we all had so much fun that none of us took many photos.

we are definitely doing this again. and you’re invited—seriously, any time you and a small group of friends want to plan an outing like this, just give us a ring or write an email telling us what you have in mind. we can seat five to eight people for a small group class.

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in other knitting news, i also finished my mass transit cap, yay. just in time; it’s been really cold here and i can use a warm hat.

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the good news is that i love the way it looks and feels AND it fits pretty well around my head; it could be a little smaller, but it’s alright.

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a view of the back and the top shaping.

the bad news is

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i made it a bit too long, darn it. stupidly, i knew i was doing it too; i just wanted “to be sure”.
HA, as if having a teeny tiny head for fifty-five whole years made me a rookie at it. dummy me.

i can fold it over and that looks pretty cute

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for a while—but it doesn’t stay that way and it feels a little heavier than it ought to (because there’s nothing to hold it up!). i think i’d like it a lot better if i took out the top shaping and reduced the depth by at least an inch, maybe two.

but since it could also be just a leeetle bit smaller, i might just knit another one and find someone who will fit into this one (and who doesn’t mind being my hat twin).

good thing i’m a patient person. NOT.

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it was so cold in my office today that i wore a long knitted wrap, the new hat (even though it’s big),  and my favorite fingerless mitts that my friend susie knit me long into the morning. and it was still only 62 degrees up here after the heat had been on for hours.

i looked ridiculous, but i couldn’t think of any better solutions. some day, spring will come, i just know it .  . .

in the meantime, we have a couple of exciting events to look froward to in just the next few days.

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lillian has been hard at work labeling the new better breakfast yarn so that we can begin rolling it out onto the website on monday. she’s working as fast as she can, but says it’s awfully distracting

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mmmm. david named this new shade mocha.

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today she learned about the term, “yarn ho”. i think she’s got the concept down.

but don’t try to help her out—she becomes uncharacteristically crazy.

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i think this is her honey badger approach to appreciating better breakfast.

next saturday, we are hosting an open house for valentine’s day—a little event for kids and parents to come in and discover knitting. we’ll have half hour knitted bracelet lessons, spinning demonstrations, and a photo booth.

and the week after that we’ll be meeting up for a knit night at deli ohio in downtown canton.

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come have a sandwich or salad fro late lunch or supper and join us for some knitting. there will be room for a few smaller spinning wheels as well; those are bound to draw some attention!

that’s all i have for now; i need to go off and ponder a solution to my hat. but laura will bring us another designer spotlight tomorrow and i’ll be back on sunday or monday with a sweater update for sure. have a great weekend!

14 thoughts on “faithful and frozen

  1. Oh this post is just such a RIOT! First, I love the new sweater. I couldn’t visualize it from the swatch but I love it on the dress form. Although, for me, there’d have to be a buddha belly. My curves are heading in the WRONG directions. And the photos of Lillian are such a HOOT! I just bet she’s totally distracted with all the BB yarn. Love the hat too. I just submitted an abstract to give a talk at a professional conference to be held in Pittsburgh in June. You just should bet on me scooting out one day and heading over to your store for a Stash Enhancement eXpedition! Stay warm! When I’m home I turn the thermostat up to 60 degrees.

  2. I LOVE Yvonne and Natural Stitches! That was my LYS when I was living in Pittsburgh and it was such a wonderful, relaxing place.

  3. Such a fun night with the group from Pittsburgh. They can join us anytime. Looking forward to a trip over to visit their shop. I will be wearing my sweater next Wednesday……how bout you? I just can’t wait to put that BBB on my body. Plus then I can decide what new yarn I need next for a sweater. Great photos of Lillian.

  4. Ugh, I can identify with the small head thing…and the small face that goes along with it. It makes finding becoming hats – and glasses – a difficult task. Love your new hat, though, and will have to give it a go myself. Your color mix is really nice so I may have to copy that as well! 😉

  5. Ooh, that Better Reakfqst Blend is calling my namei the worst way!

    Love the progress on your new sweater too!

  6. i habitually make my husband’s hats too big, only one out of the five I’ve made him was exactly right. Bless him, he ‘s worn every single one anyway.

  7. Thank you again, Anne, for having us! It was a lovely day to spend learning with friends.

    I’m looking forward to another trip there!

    And Yarndude — we miss you so much. I hope your travels bring you close to us again soon.

  8. Obviously, I am behind in blog reading–what can I say–super busy weekend! It’s nice to know that one may be a yarn ho at any age. Lillian is a hoot. The sweater is glorious–can’t wait to see the finished product!

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