cowling at the moon

I am thrilled to say that Megan loves the cowls I knit for her. I have to say, I prefer knitting for knitters than for non-knitters. Knitters "get it" when they are presented with a handknit. They know how much care was taken in the construction. They appreciate good fiber. They coo over the details. They "get it." Sometimes non-knitters when presented with a handknit don't really appreciate it as much. They know that a certain amount of work went into creating the item, but having never knit themselves, they don't really understand - that even though lace is a breeze when you're actually knitting it the charts themselves can be a little maddening and that a mistake is hard to fix and that if you're a combination knitter you have to do things differently, or that cables can be complex, or that certain fibers are much nicer than others. It's all the same to them. Anyhoo, onto the cowl details:

pattern: based on the Monkey sock pattern
designer: modification of Cookie A.'s work
yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in the old 325 yards put-up in Turquoise
needles: Clover size US#3 16 inch circs
modifications: I cast on 144 stitches, k1p1 for 6 rounds, worked the pattern 9 times over the stitches, knit 9 pattern repeats total, k1p1 for 6 more rows, then bound off in k1p1.

pattern: slightly modified Lace Rib Cowl
designer: Joelle at the purl bee
yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Ankara Green
needles: Crystal Palace size US#7 16 inch circs
modifications: I cast on 108 stitches and knit 20 pattern repeats total, so the final result is not as loose-fitting as the purl bee's cowl. It's slouchy without being flappy.

Soooooo, I thought I had taken photos of the cowls once I finished them, but apparently, all I can find on my iPhoto of the lace rib cowl are detail shots, so that's all I've got for you. And my lighting made it look much greener than it does in natural light, as it looks pretty turquoise on Megan. Doesn't she look happy wearing it?

look at my pretty!

Tired, busy, distracted, but buzzing about whipping up stuff for the shop and all. Hence, no cowlie goodness to share right now; even cutting and pasting my ravelry info about them seems like work right now. So here! Look at the pretty-pretty that I managed to get my hands on while at Rosie's Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia over the weekend. They have baskets full of leftover bits of Koigu (from miter blankets that they knit up for the shop, it appears) that they have re-skeined and sell priced by the ounce. And I'm not the only one who walked away with a buttload of these. check out Julie's lovely little collection! Love it! Cowl details tomorrow. Until then.... Look at my pretty!

things i learned at knitblogcon (a.k.a. the time i od'ed on narniness*)

1. Loop is Philly's answer to Purl Soho, and I think I love it just as madly and deeply. (Well, okay, maybe not just as much as I love Purl as I would never want to betray Joelle & co.)

top: the wall of Koigu (not pictured are my brains exploding all over the place at the sight of this display)
bottom: my good knittas, lounging and knitting on the lovely little space in the middle of the shop.

May I point out that the lighting and display were perfect here. I wish every yarn store owner would take into account how important it is to have good lighting. Also, I wish yarn shop owners would take note of how much carpeting sucks in their shops (i.e. causes customers to break out in a huge allergy fit). Seriously, I wish we had a yarn shop like Loop in Boston. The staff was courteous and friendly without being pushy and weird; they were knowledgeable and helpful. The store was beautifully laid out, with the most organized needle display I have EVER seen. That needle display was the stuff my anal retentive dreams are made of! They had a great selection of fiber in just about every color of the spectrum (which blew my mind as my LYS seems to think the only colors worth knitting are various shades of doo-doo brown). And no one complained about the fact that we hung out there forever. It was a cool, clean slice of heaven.

2. Knitters like to get their drink on:

3. Julie Frick really is the Queen of Cowls:

top: Julie looking radiant and beautiful in a cowl knit for her (CORRECTION: knit for Christy) by the insanely talented Caro
bottom: me in the lovely Beech Wood Julie knit for me

4. I really don't watch enough TV. Man, how sad is it that I cannot hold my own in a simple conversation about TV shows? I was kinda drooling on myself blankly while everyone else was deeply immersed in talk of GossipGirl and Heroes. Sorry, guys! Apparently, I live under a rock. Or maybe a bridge. I'm like a hermit under a bridge. Or is that a troll? Wait, I'm not a troll, but I think I'm definitely a hermit. Who doesn't watch TV, not for any political reason or socially conscious effort, but because our reception is crap and we refuse to get cable. And we refuse to Netflix TV shows when there are so many movies that I have yet to watch. Still, what a dork I feel like sometimes.

5. Diana and Caro are pretty much the awesome-est traveling companions EVER! I would go anywhere anytime with you peoples!

6. I got to learn about "The Story of the Sack-Dragging-Freak." Enough said. Also, Pam is the funniest story-teller ever.

7. Apparently, not pooping for three days makes me sick and cranky. Who would have thunk it? TMI? Maybe? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhh, so, hmmmmmm, yes, and moving right along....

Thanks to our hosts, Megan and her other half, Michael, and these little guys, who were so cool, calm, and collected dealing with so many people that they've never met before all up in their space:

top: Simon Flavius, wee kitty esq.
bottom: Edwin Claudius Cat

And yay! I am happy to say that Megan likes the cowls I made for her:

More on those tomorrow or sometime soon, once I recover from the shock of being around so many people all at once - OMG! I was in a social situation! *gasp!* Holy fucking horror! I have to admit feeling like the big red monster from the Bugs Bunny cartoons at several points during the weekend, like just throwing up my arms, screaming "PEOPLE!" and running for them thar hills. If I seemed weird at the end, it's because I felt really really sick and thought I was going to pass out for a second there. I think I OD'ed on all the narniness*. I have to say, it was kinda worth it, though. I had such a great time!

* narniness |när NEE nes| noun - state of crafty and knit-related bliss
ORIGIN - Matt, 2005, combination of "nerdy" + "yarniness"

see you in a while crocodile

I'm outta here for a few days, folks. Mali is holding down the fort (and apparently, playing with fiber). If you get the chance and find yourself in the South End in Boston over the weekend, please check out the Open Studios at 450 Harrison Ave. Matt will be there at Studio 419 on both Saturday and Sunday, May 17th - 18th, from 10 AM to 6 PM. In addition to the fabulous paintings and prints he has been working on lately, he will also have a few of my softies available for sale. Hope you guys can check it out. There are a lot of truly talented artists in that area so it's worth checking out if you're out and about. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

dagnabbit!

What does it say on this label?

Did I read that right?

So while I've been telling you all about that Manos Silky Merino in Ankara Green that looks like turquoise, I've really been talking about the Malabrigo Silky Merino in Ankara Green that looks like turquoise. Oh. Snap. DOH! Sorry about that, guys. I am resisting the anal retentive urge to go back and correct my previous posts on this yarn. Must. Resist. Other. Things. To. Do. More. Important. GAH! I need to pay attention.

post NESW - the haul

top: Still River Mill laceweight 100% cashmere, 200 yards, I have no idea what the colorway is called - Matt calls it "JJ Gray" because it's the same shade of gray as our kitty)

bottom: Ball and Skein single ply merino/silk blend, 3 skeins @ 160 yards each, I lost the colorway info, but it is my favorite shade of green EVER!

The haul was small this year, and that's a very good thing as I have enough stash to burn through for the next year or two (or more). There was SO MUCH insanely gorgeous stuff and so many wonderful vendors there. It was hard to be so hyper-selective. I kept picking stuff up, thinking about it, and putting it back because I couldn't think of a project for it already in my queue. I find that yarn with a purpose gets used much quicker than that which gets stashed with no intended project. The gray cashmere from Still River Mill will soon become these, and the gorgeous green merino/silk blend from BallandSkein will become a Shetland Triangle. Lest you think, "Dude, what the hell? You just got some silk/merino blend from Malabrigo that looks just like that!" this is the difference between the two:

The BallandSkein is on the left and the Malabrigo is on the right. See? It's definitely a touch more blue/less green. This further proves the case that the Malabrigo is definitely turquoise, which means that tomorrow morning I am casting on for the cowl for my friend. And then, I am knitting like the wind!

fiber festivals rock!

We went to the New England Sheep & Wool Festival earlier today, and man, what a perfect day for a fiber fest. It was truly phenomenal! It was great meeting up with such lovely people and friends. And there was even apple crisp to be had! It was awesome; we sucked it up. I have to admit, as much as I love going for the yarn, I love going for the border collies and the herding just as much. It's not like I ever get the chance to watch herding demos and trials outside of this venue, so I really appreciate it when I see it at the fiber fests. Those dogs are amazing! Speaking of which:

We also saw lots of lamb:

We even saw Lucha Libre lamb:

and alpacas:

And yes, I did score some sweet fiber, but more on that tomorrow. Right now, I'm feeling a bit like this fella here: