I just returned from a delightful weekend in Las vegas – one of my hubbie and I’s . . . → Read More: Unique Twist Thru A Knitter’s Eye]]> I love my job, owning a yarn store and being around my fellow knitters every day.  And the best part is discovering the unique ways our beloved hobby effects how we look at otherwise everyday, normal, unremarkable things.  Like toothpicks.

I just returned from a delightful weekend in Las vegas – one of my hubbie and I’s favorite getaways from reality.  With a 2 hour plane ride ahead of me, I of course packed a knitting project; my Cookie A Haleakala sock.  Settled into my seat and scoffed at the other passengers as they had to shut down their iPad and Kindle books. I had an old fashioned, non-electronic pastime – knitting.  The plane took off, I hit row 8 and the instruction “C4R,” reached into my bag and . . . oh no, no cable needle.  Now some of you may say “Anne, you silly girl.  Don’t you know how to cable without a needle?”  Of course I do.  But on a sock?  A Cookie A sock no less?  No way!  I had my trusty repair hook, so was able to improvise and move on.  Then the ball dropped.  On the following row 8, Cookie asked me to “slip 2 stitches to cable needle, knit 1st stitch from cable needle along with stitch one on left needle  . .”  OH MY GOSH!  Can’t do that without a double ended needle, which I did not have.  And guess what. No knitting stores on the strip.

Enter my new found appreciation for the underrated and most often never noticed toothpick.  With each meal, appetizer and cocktail, I evaluated the utility of the tiny food pick as a cable needle.  And I discovered the unbelievably varied and numerous forms of the toothpick.  Plastic. Wood. Round. Square. Triangular. Pointed on one end.  Curved. Larger at one point than the other.  Embellished with feathers, logos and fluff.  Believe it or not, it wasn’t until day 3 (and an enjoyable variety of poolside cocktails) that I finally found a plain, round double pointed toothpick.  Hooray!  I used my nail file (yet another atypical use for a basic item) to smooth it down, and dove into row 8.

Just one example of how we knitters look at the world from a skewed perspective.  I’ll never forget the customer who shared her excitement with her new job that increased her commute time from 10 minutes to an hour and a half each way.  When she noted my perplexed expression, she explained that meant a 90 minute ride at the start and end of her day on MAX, knitting.  Ahhh!

Why baseball?  . . . → Read More: Play Ball!]]> Yahoo!  The long dark months of winter sports come to a close.  The boys are back on the field and the parks are once again filled with hot dogs, garlic fries, beer (yup, my favorite), and the sweet sound of that little white ball getting hammered by a big ‘ole wooden bat.  I’m in heaven!

Why baseball?  Other than the reasons just noted (if you haven’t had garlic fries at Safeco Field, you haven’t lived), its just so down home, feel good, All-American.  A real rootin tootin great experience.  My deeply held admiration of the sport was again reinforced as I watched the Mariner’s home field opener. Just before they had a fabulously famous player from the past throw out the first pitch, the team introduced an adorable little girl who’d been valiantly battling cancer for the past several years.  She had her own custom made uniform with her name on the back, just like the big boys.  In front of the thousands of cheering fans, the youngster kicked off the season by being the first Mariner in 2012 to run the bases.  As she came across home plate, she was greeted by three of the star players. The smile on her face was priceless. Now how can anyone not love baseball with heartwarming moments like that.

Another perk?  3 uninterrupted hours of knitting while watching the game – add extra innings, and the sky’s the limit.  Oh yeah, I love baseball!

Well, Skacel has a new product out there – Peek-a-Boots™.  Clear rain boots that allow you to show . . . → Read More: How To Show Them Off]]> You spend hours creating a gorgeous pair of hand-knit socks, then shove them inside a pair of boots or tennies, not to be admired by the world at large.  What the heck?!  Even clogs only show off the heels.

Well, Skacel has a new product out there – Peek-a-Boots™.  Clear rain boots that allow you to show off your favorite sock creations.  Hmm?  Might have to give a pair a try.  And what a perfect accessory in our rainy state.

Converse makes clear tennis shoes – another interesting way to give  your hard work its due.  And there are clear clogs available, although I can’t recall who makes them.  I’ve often wondered why Crocs don’t sell see through clogs.  Now those would be a hit in our craft’s community. I’ll have to give someone a call.

In the end, I wonder how many pairs of see through shoes or boots we’ll be seeing.  Can’t quite picture them on the fashion runway, but who knows.  Maybe the next high-fashion trend will come from the knitting world.  On reality TV, perhaps?  Call the networks!

I use to cherish every extra minute I could spend tucked under my down comforter in the morning, warmth gently lulling me into sweet moments of morning sleep.  And weekend sleep-ins.  Yahoo! Now I look forward . . . → Read More: A Time To Knit]]> Too many responsibilities, too little time.  Give some of those precious knitting minutes up for life’s ever increasing demands? No way!

I use to cherish every extra minute I could spend tucked under my down comforter in the morning, warmth gently lulling me into sweet moments of morning sleep.  And weekend sleep-ins.  Yahoo! Now I look forward to quietly slipping out of my room in the wee morning hours, Ugg slippers and my two trusty terriers, Tatonka and Nellie, rather than a fluffy down comforter keeping me toasty (anyone who tells you that terriers are not lap dogs is sorely wrong).  My weekly routine usually starts at 6:30, but I steal extra minutes to knit by dragging my sorry tush out of bed at 6am.  30 minutes translates to a blissfully quiet, uninterrupted rendezvous with my favorite yarn of the day.  This morning?  Tosh DK “Vanilla Bean,” oh-so-gradually transforming into the Gnarled Oak Cardigan.

We all have our favorite times to knit.  What’s yours?

The process ignited my lost but not forgotten passion for those tiny size one needles and single skein foot . . . → Read More: Back to Socks!]]> Yeah!  I’ve found my way back to knitting socks.  For whatever reason, the urge to finish something possessed me this week, and I dove into Hanna’s Gansey’s with a vengeance.  I’m one repeat away from the ribbing.  Score!

The process ignited my lost but not forgotten passion for those tiny size one needles and single skein foot fashion.  And the new Jitterbug from Colinette called my name (“Knit Me, knit me, knit me, . . .).  I must confess, though, that the abundance of new sock books has corrupted my Wendy Johnson mania.  Socktopus had some great, exotic designs.  Cookie A’s latest and greatest are pretty inspiring as well. And then there’s Sara Morris’ sock design in the latest issue of Interweave Knits (Sarah of Rose City Knits – a fabulous Portland area designer) – kudos Sara!  But alas, I settled on a lace and cabled design from ‘The Knitter’s Book of Socks’ for my “Marble” Jitterbug – Marlaina Bird’s “Buddleia.”  Toe up of course.  And I haven’t lost sight of my WJ goal – just adding some variety.

And of course, there’s several sweaters on the needles too (Julia’s Griffindore pullover, 2 cardigans from Coastal Knits, hubbie Jay’s Tosh DK cardi).  Who says you have to finish one thing before starting something new?  How boring!

Tosh Chunky.  Yum! Super soft, bouncy, a dream . . . → Read More: Something Finished!]]> No way!  I actually finished (knitting) something.  And after I took pride in my declaration to knit for knitting’s sake rather than to reach an end goal.  Well, I now have a sweater, and its the result of my newly committed style to just enjoy the process and yarn.

Tosh Chunky.  Yum! Super soft, bouncy, a dream in your fingers.  I’ve had a very basic cardigan pattern in my cue for several years, but never quite found the right yarn. Started it many times, but stopped when the yarn wasn’t inspiring.  Then Madelinetosh released their latest yarn – Tosh Chunky. In my favorite color, no less; Corsage (a romantic dusty pink).  I just had to try it out – how could I tell folks how wonderful it was if I hadn’t tried it myself.  And wonderful it is.  So much so, I just kept playing and knitting until, much to my surprise, I’d finished a sweater.  Well, almost.  Like many knitters, I hate to sew.  Everything is done and blocked, just waiting for that silly darning needle to do its magic.  I’ve left it out at night, hoping the sewing elves would sneak in while I slept, and put it together.  No such luck, yet!

And how ’bout those socks?  They’re evolving, slowly but surely.  I’m almost around the heels on my daughter’s peach colored Gansey socks, and I knit a round or two every day on the beautiful blue Qiviut pair (how can I not ply that gorgeous Musk Ox fiber every day, if only for a minute or two).  A long process, to be sure.  But not abandoned.

Vanilla Bean!  It’s been taunting me for more than a year, when Madelinetosh first introduced this enticing new colorway.  A dark greenish brown, with pops of violet swirling its way in and out of the strands.  I fell hard for this color the moment I laid eyes on it.  And I have a bunch – sock, . . . → Read More: Oh, What To Do With That Yarn]]>  

Vanilla Bean!  It’s been taunting me for more than a year, when Madelinetosh first introduced this enticing new colorway.  A dark greenish brown, with pops of violet swirling its way in and out of the strands.  I fell hard for this color the moment I laid eyes on it.  And I have a bunch – sock, dk and chunky.  Yup, its all in my stash.

Over the past year, I’ve started many a project, thinking I’d found the perfect pattern to show off the yarn.  One of Wendy’s socks?  Nope, the lace pattern is lost in the variegation.  A sweater using chunky?  Dang!  Again, the stitch pattern is lost on the purple and brown.  How am I ever going to see how this to-die-for color plays out?

Well, I found it!  And the timing couldn’t be more perfect, what with my New Year’s resolution to not knit for an end, but purely for the thrill of the  process.  Enter Alana Dakos’ Gnarled Oak Cardigan!  For Yarn’s Sake’s most likely knit-along project for March and April.  Several of us discovered, in reading Ravelry posts, that Alana is a crazy tight knitter (Sorry Alana; love, love, love your designs, but your gauge – are you kidding?).  So nice knitter that I am, I thought I’d play around with the pattern and gauge before we all tackled the sweater together.  Enter Vanilla Bean (yeah!!!).

Now realize, I have 5 (or more) sweaters under way, all in various states of completion.  So the thought of starting another . . . well, not what most would do.  But wait, its the process!  So I don’t actually have to finish; just enjoy playing with the yarn, right?  RIGHT!!!  So 216 stitches went on the needles, and I’m totally enjoying the experience as the slivers of brown and violet twist and turn before my eyes.  And who knows – maybe I’ll knit and knit and knit, loving how the colors unfold in my hands, when, low and behold, a sweater emerges.  Hmmm?

Socks?  Oh yeah.  I’m close to finishing the peach colored Caper Sock pair of Diamond Ganseys for my tremendously sweet and talented daughter, Hanna.  Then I’ll dive into the Qiviut again.  Stay tuned!