east meets (mid)west

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, designing, projects

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awww, i just came across this picture when i was downloading blog photos from my camera; don’t you just love baby clothes? they are so cleverly cute, they cannot be resisted. of course, only a baby could wear them and only for a few months—which is just the point, haha.

while we were visiting, james and diana said they wanted to shop for the baby’s hanbok (traditional korean dress, usually worn for special occasions).

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my sister in law, mun, worn this beautiful hanbok at their wedding as did her best friend.

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on saturday afternoon we headed out, stopping first at honey pig to indulge in a full-on korean meal. it was excellent and we all happily ate too much while the baby snoozed.

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well, he didn’t sleep the whole time—there were plenty of photo ops.

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three generations of men fighting the forces of evil, haha.

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afterward we moved on to lótte, the large asian shopping center in their area, to stock up on some korean foods. we have nothing like it where we live (we WISH) and we strolled the aisles appreciatively. diana and i immediately got into trouble for taking photos inside the store, when we should have noticed the sign outside prohibiting it.

oops—on to asking about the hanbok. james and diana were under the impression he would need it for his one hundred day birthday (baek-il), but the sales person who helped us out said it was worn for the first birthday (doljanchi). baek-il is celebrated only with food.

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we flipped through a stack of dol hanbok and when we landed on this one, james and i both said at once, “that’s the one!” it was clear that this handsome ensemble was going home with us, haha. click here to see all manner of adorable doljanchi photos of babies in hanbok—you won’t be disappointed.

by this time, the rain and the crowds had gotten the best of us and since we had procured everything we’d been looking for (i found my favorite black pepper sauce and bought a BIG jar), we headed home to settle in with some movies and knitting.

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i rotated projects all weekend long, depending on the lighting and how much attention they required. can i just say that i adore this orange color?? chris dyed it just the exact perfect orange that i wanted (how does she do that?). it’s going to look so good with my hair; i can’t wait to wear it. and with any luck i should be doing that soon.

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it’s briar rose joyful, a new polwarth sport yarn offered by briar rose fibers. the yarn is deliciously spongey and produces a velvety-soft fabric surface and terrific stitch definition.

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it’s different than the better breakfast fabric i knit for the pullover version, which has a luxuriously slouchy softness. i finished this pullover front up on friday night and moved right on to finishing up the first front for the orange cardigan and starting the second. in no time i had the ribbing completed and was into the body pattern.

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the orange fabric is a bit stiffer and has more body—it feels a little more dressy and snappy. since i’ll end up with two sweaters that’ll be very alike, i’m glad they will feel so different from each other.  this joyful yarn knits up so quick, too—i managed to get one front completed and the second one is pretty close. which made ME pretty joyful . . .

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i alternated that project with working on my wheaten cardigan—i was just about at the point to begin the body shaping when we left home. this is another completely enjoyable knit, in spirit trail tayet, a 100% BFL fingering yarn which jen will be rolling out at maryland sheep and wool in may.

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in other words, i’m on a deadline and it’s fingering weight AND we have these extra-wide fronts; i’m not letting myself get behind on it. besides, karolyn is waiting on a draft pattern so she can get started on jen’s booth sample; we have to stay focused. after i finish writing this post i plan to go on a pattern writing binge to get a draft into karolyn’s hands by friday as well as to tana, the tech editor. same goes for the natty pullover/cardigan—that pattern has to go into production ASAP as well. then i can get back to putting the final polish on the other three sweater patterns i have in various stages of near-completion (they are being test knit and finalized, yay).

confused yet?

so i was tooling right along on that front and by this afternoon i had it knit to the underarm when i realized i had made a mistake and forgotten to start the neck decreases, which for this garment begin at the waist (so it was understandable, bit still . . . grrr).  don’t you just hate when that happens?

so out came the last four inches of knitting. honestly SOMEone has got to invent that alarm which goes off when you get to these pattern landmarks. honestly, why can’t my iPhone do that??

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anyway . . . i’ve got a sleeve and half a front knit. sweaters in lightweight yarns take a lot more time to knit but they are so worth the trouble; these are sweaters i wear a LOT and i should have more in this weight, considering that. besides, even though at the start they seem like a never-ending project, i eventually get into a rhythm and gain momentum. even this one will be done before we know it.

the pattern will have an option for a three-quarter sleeve and i considered ripping back to knit it that way, but instead, i think i’ll ask karolyn to do that version (i’m sure she won’t mind a little less knitting, haha).

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so i came home with a pile of things to take care of—block my pullover pieces, sew up the seams, and add the neckband. finish knitting two more sweaters, and write up two patterns to go with them. finalize two other sweater patterns and get a third set of two patterns to the next stage of editing (six unique new sweaters altogether, two of them with options).

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i also worked on the march blanket statement club chapter, which was released on tuesday. everyone seems to be having a lot of fun with this club and it’s growing in polarity as we proceed, which is interesting. we have new signups every day, both for yarn memberships and eBook ones. so cool! i think we’ll just keep this one going until i can gather my wits to create another one (maybe cable focused? maybe lace? who knows?).

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i just love going over to the projects board for this club—it is really inspiring to see how many of the posted projects are knit in our bare naked wools. and we are doing some really fun extensions on the patterns too, like this awesome piece we call Wrapping Up Winter.

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using a blanket club kit in size small or the instructions in the eBook, knit four strips in any combination of shades and patterns; ours are knit in kent DK yarn (anne marie used one skein for each strip), but you could use stone soup DK or better breakfast DK (the most popular choice this week). and you can make them whatever length works best for you—they dont have to be even; jon super long side and one short would be fun, too.

you make one simple change—at the end of each strip, add two buttonholes evenly spaced (you can use these or not, but if you don’t have them, you can’t use them). laura and david made a video to show you how to put it all together. add some buttons, hardware, or shawl pin and voilá!

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another  terrific video was inspired to give you ideas for styling your ponchoWrapThing six different ways. of course there are many more you can try once you get started. how fun is that?

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and how perfect for the season? now is just the time that we need a totally adjustable garment. i know we’ve been marveling all week at how sunny it is and at the same time, when we step out the door how chilly and windy it is. we love this garment for right now!

we just received the march shipment of better breakfast yarns—milk and honey, americano, mocha, and sugarfrost are all in stock in both DK and fingering weights. at least at this writing; anastasia tells me they are going fast. the americano is especially delicious this time—it has wonderful flecks of coppery brown mixed with the espresso brown so that it truly looks like fresh-ground dark roast beans. amazing.

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just after the styling video went live on youTube, i got an email from someone who saw it and loved the garment—she wanted to make one and asked if could pick out the softest range of shades in better breakfast DK for her kit. i pulled milk and honey, sugar frost, porridge, and daybreak—so beachy and pretty we had to take them outside for a photo! hehe, some of her skeins didn’t even have labels yet.

if you’d like a blanket or poncho kit in better breakfast yarns, please email us and erica or david will put that together for you.

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david is the unlikely inspiration for another avenue of clubhouse fun in the thread that is dedicated solely to his blanket knitting progress (well, as much as any of our threads can focus on just one thing, haha). being a truly nocturnal being, it’s hard to catch him at work; he does most off his knitting after i go to sleep.

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all the cheerleading must be having a good effect however, as his pile of finished blocks is growing (he’s a square, not a stripper). if you want to know more about squares and strippers, you’re going to have to visit the clubhouse, that’s all there is to it. and if you go there, you may as well join the group; it costs nothing to be a rubbernecker and is infinitely entertaining in there . . .

coming up soon, we’ve got signups for our ENVY club opening on april 1st—a luscious selection of green yarns in luxury blends to keep you coolin’ through summer. if you are participating in the current blanket statement club on any level, you may sign up for the green club early and receive a discount.

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and very VERY soon, we will be opening now we have opened signups for our WOO!ster summer retreat, planned for wooster weekend (memorial day). we are excited to have lots of advance interest in that event and are making plans to show everyone attending a good time; we are proud of our regional show and we think you’ll enjoy it too, along with classes and knitterly relaxation.

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whew, such a whirlwind week already and it’s just wednesday night (it’ll probably be thursday by the time you read this tho . . .). i am ready for some knitting right now. see you next time!

8 thoughts on “east meets (mid)west

  1. Interesting post. I’ve never heard of the hanbok. They are so cute. But seeing and hearing about all of the sweaters you have been knitting, makes me feel like a slacker! I blame it on the job, though. Really if I didn’t have to be at work from 8-4 I’d get more knitting done. I’ve given up everything else, including housework, for knitting. I enjoy reading about what you are up to and read Ravelry to see David’s progress, too.

  2. interesting that you say that orange will look good with your hair. I have stopped dyeing my hair last year, and now I am gray too. The hairdresser warned me: no more red shades in clothing! J wear mostly blues now…

  3. Don’t you just love Chris’s new Joyful! I’m knitting a Sticks and Stones sweater in it and I’m enjoying every minute of it. And that orange!! It’s really to die for. I would hate to be a copy cat, but I just may have to have Chris dye some orange for me once I know the yarn requirements. For some reason now that spring is approaching I’m in sweater mode. Go figure. I REALLY want to make Ommegang, but can’t decide between the Stone Soup and the Kent (not having worked with either one, making me crazy trying to decide!!). Keep turning out the wonderful sweater patterns! I look forward to what you have in store for us!

  4. With all that knitting and pattern writing tomdo, you stillmtook the time to write this post, full of beautiful projects and interesting information. We have many Asian markets in our part of town and they are becoming increasingly popular. Now I’m going to go check out the Korean garbed babies!

  5. you said, “honestly SOMEone has got to invent that alarm which goes off when you get to these pattern landmarks. honestly, why can’t my iPhone do that??”

    An IPhone can do that with KnitCompanion

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