FO: Karen Shawl by Amy Swenson (in Tosh Pashmina)

And so the Tosh obsession presses on. It feels like I have been knitting with laceweight for the entirety of the past two months. Oh, but wait, I have. Before March, I had maybe worked on size 3-4 needles once or twice, but over the past two months I have become obsessed, which is kind of a bummer for my productivity meter.

I managed to produce a whopping ONE finished object in April and that was my Karen Shawl by Amy Swenson, which I really finished on May 3. I just have to tell myself that "it's quality, my dear Watson, not quantity." And this shawl, I must say, is quite divine. Check out the photos (you can view more at my Ravelry project page) and read about the specs and some concerns below.

 

For Karen, I used one skein of Madelinetosh Pashmina in "Port." And, when I say I used one skein...I used one skein. For the first time *ever* I was very certain that I would run out of yarn before I finished my project. If you too decide that you need a Karen shawl in your life, please, please, please don't attempt this with a skein smaller than 360 yards. Also, for comforts sake, knit this on a 24+ inch circular needle.

Aside from cutting it super close, the only real issue I have with this pattern is some of the directions. Dear reader, you may note (in the third photo) that there is as knit row before the edging. Well, that knit row isn't on the other side and it looks completely different. I thought I had made a mistake due to lack of attention on my part, but upon closer inspection I saw that many of the finished objects posted on Ravelry had this same issue going on. I'm still not sure if this knit row is intentional or if we all have botched it up, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I do know, however, that I will not be tearing back: it took me 4+ hours to bind off. I shall learn to live with it. Amy has designed some other awesome patterns, including the Watershed and Cloud Chaser vests, both of which I look forward to knitting. She's also from these parts and frequents the shop whenever she stops home. Thanks for all the beautiful patterns, Amy!

Pattern: Karen Shawl

Designer: Amy Swenson (Indigirl)

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in "Port"

Needles: size 6, 20 inch circular

Start: April 22, 2011

End: May 3, 2011

Queue it up

Meeting Sally Melville...part two

As I mentioned in my last second to last post, Sally Melville was in town this past week for a couple of workshops and meet and greets around town. I work most days at Wool & Co. and it was definitely exciting to have her stroll in and out while I was working.

Me with Sally Melville

Now, I try to be as honest as I can in this blog. And, before working at Wool, I was not very familiar with Sally's work. And even as news of her rolling into town spread, I still didn't really know what to make of this lady, BUT now I know. And she is pretty incredible.

While I was unable to attend any of her workshops (pesky computer science exams, boo), I did have the pleasure of seeing her speak at the Fox Valley Knitter's Guild meeting on Wednesday evening. Matt's mom, who is a huge fan and owns all of her books, accompanied me and it was a nice little venture for both of us. Hey! We're guild members now :)

The topic for the evening was how to make the most of your yarn collection and pairing colors/tints/textures together to make something beautiful and cohesive. I like to think I have a good grasp on which colors go together and how to arrange them, but Sally pointed out something rather revolutionary: ALL colors go together!

What? All colors? No, you can't be serious. But, as it turns out,  they do. Now, you can't exactly pair a pastel with a pure and saturated color, but you can pair pretty much any pastel with any other pastel. Weird, huh? And it makes sense. I remember when I was making my second Calliope hat I decided that I wanted to use a dark red yarn and green/blue buttons. Kate questioned my decision, but, in the end, it all worked out. Because they were the right shades of red and green and their "tones" complimented one another.

Knitting and signing

So, Sally has inspired me to sort my stash...one of these days. I went into work Thursday evening, the night following her talk at the guild, and heard rumblings of the aftershock. Apparently more than one guild member went home that night (or, in the case of one, woke up at 4:30 that next morning) and dove into their stash.

Sally also hosted a meet and greet at the shop on Thursday evening. She was kind enough to sign books and allowed us to try on samples from some of her newest books.

Samples

Sally modeling her designs

Sample from Mother and Daughter Knits

I tried on this one...no action shot.

Some of the ladies

All in all Sally's visit was very exciting and inspiring. Hopefully I will be able to put some of her suggestions to the test. Y'know, when my 19 pound box of yarn arrives this week. But more on that later...;)

Slow week...and meeting Sally Melville!

Sorry it's been such a slow (and pornzless) week, folks. I just haven't really felt inspired to write, nothing is moving off my needles and the design process has come to a slow. AND my yarn still isn't here. Boo *pouts* Let me tell you, though, that this next yarn order is going to be a doozie and that my mother is sure to disown me. Curse you, non-lys, curse you!

I started to knit a hearthstone (World of Warcraft reference, anyone?) a few weeks ago for the nerd in my life. I found an awesome nerdy crafting site (seriously...check if out, even if you're only a little bit nerdy) while searching for some WoW knit goods, but didn't really see many. But, seeing as I hate dpns, I gave up on it when I needed to locate stuffing. I was cleaning yesterday and feeling sentimental, so I finally stuffed it and stitched it up. I don't know if I'm still going to give it to him (it was meant to be romantic...hearthstones are used to teleport you home in the game, yada yada).

My hearthstone

The back

So I kind of concocted my own heartstone pattern (basically a little hacky sacky thing) and stitched the hearthstone spiral and the word "home" on it. I wanted to write "to guide you home" on it, but, as you can see, my embroidery skillz, they suck. As do these photos.

//romantic nerd.



Anyway, something exciting is going on at Wool & Co. this week. Sally Melville, the knitting legend, has come to town for some seminars and whatnot. And today I got to meet her and help her find some Tosh. It was super exciting and I even showed off my Daybreak shawl to her. I texted my friend Katie Cyborg (of the Harrisburg Cyborgs) and she kind of died a little :)

Unfortunately, I won't be able to take any of her seminars this week (too much working, examing and concert going for me), but I'm hoping to see her speak at the Fox Valley Knitting Guild tomorrow night. My favorite Sally Melville book that I've browsed through is Mother-Daughter Knits, one that she co-wrote and designed with her daughter Caddy. My favorite designs?

Cabled-Edged Vest by Sally Melville

Altered Austen Jacket by Caddy Melville Ledbetter

The Slouch, also by Cady

I really enjoy that book and both ladies are super talented. We sell so many of Sally's books at the shop and the Einstein Coat class is one that always fills up.


Hopefully my next class will contain at least a little yarn pornz and some Sally Melville updates. And less nerdery.

Yarn Wrangling & the Dangers of Yarn Hoarding

I remember the first time my boyfriend opened his forgotten suitcase and discovered my dirty little secret: I hoard yarn. After a trip to Galena this past fall, Matt had left his travel bag at my house and, when he still hadn't taken it home a month later, I decided to put it to good use.

At least I'm set for vacation knitting?

 You see, when you have other space-consuming hobbies (book collecting), there isn't really much room for anything else. I still live at home and whenever I received a yarn order, about every week, my mother rolls her eyes at me and throws the package on my bed. Because there is just too much yarn and not enough space, which means you need to get creative...especially when underneath the bed/the closet/project bags from your LYS are all full. Which they are (not pictured).

Wine Bar Yarn Storing

I bought this wine bar at World Market, my other place of employment, at a crazy low markdown. It retails for over $500, but I think I paid $60 for it after my discount/coupons/etc. And it's great! But sometimes the shelving pin falls out of the second shelf, which makes me a bit apprehensive about placing wine glasses on it. So why not use it for yarn?

My straight needles

I'm still working on needle storage. Right now, my straights are all housed in a jar on my computer desk. All others, including my interchangeable circular needle sets and notions, are stored in cute little Halloween tupperware I bought on clearance at JoAnn last year. As dorky as it sounds, this is actually a pretty good storage unit for me and, when I think of a better solution, I can use them for cookies :)

I know it won't always be like this. Working at Wool & Company has definitely shown me what some pretty fantastic yarn storage can look like. Considering I'm in charge of maintaining tidiness over all our yarn 20-25 hours each week, I thought I should share some inspiration for how things might look...someday.

Our store is pretty large, meaning there is a constant need for creative organization. The first picture is of an old card catalogy thing full of Koigu. It's my favorite storage unit in the store and I would love to have a real, legit card catalog for my own yarn someday. Except mine will have drawers. The second photo is of our Malabrigo Lace yarn. We have a few of these "trees" throughout the store and, while they take up minimal amounts of space, they can still hold a lot of product. The final photo is out Rowan Purelife collection. Kate set this one up last week and I love the idea of using an old box for yarn storage. I would love to use wine crates someday or hat boxes, as Ysolda does. But that, dear readers, will not be for a long while.

Until then, I will continue to shove yarn into every nook and cranny. And, once those are full, I guess there is always the trunk of my car. Oh, wait...

Remember, friends don't let friends hoard yarn...alone.