The Love Boat, and then some

Do you remember watching Captain Stubing and his crew on Saturday nights? Oh, how I loved that show growing up – and how cheesy it is in retrospect! I don’t think there were many episodes where Shelley Winters, Charo, or Carol Channing weren’t sailing. (If you missed this gem of the ‘70s-'80s, the plot basically consisted of shipboard goofiness and chaos-turns-to-love.) The truer test of my adolescent mettle was if I could make it through the show that followed: Fantasy Island. Most episodes weirded me out a bit. Things haven’t changed much – no me gusta with the suspense or horror genres as a rule.

It's been a smidge of time since I last posted knitting pics, so feast your peepers on these:

pattern: back panel of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s “Heart Hat” (Spun Out #8 leaflet from Schoolhouse Press, or Wool Gathering #20 from same)
yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sport (conversation hearts and white arrow), Malabrigo Worsted Merino (arrow heart), Nashua Handknits Julia (dark pink writing, contouring)
needles: Denise Interchangeables US#10.5 (arrow heart), Knit Picks’ Options Harmony Interchangeables US#7 (conversation hearts), Fiber Trends’ needle felting kit (detail work)

I was inspired by a mini-clothesline of these hearts in various reds on display at the LYSTTS, and decided to learn the pattern (Malabrigo) to make Kidlet’s Necco-themed valentine out of something yummy (alpaca, natch). They knit up quite quickly; after the third heart, the pattern was basically memorized. note: The Spun Out leaflet contains five(!) hat patterns by EZ – a great addition to your arsenal for just over $2.00US.

Speaking of Julia, its creator, knitwear designer Kristin Nicholas, will be in the Twin Cities this weekend for the Knit & Crochet Out 2008. She is having a meet-and-greet-slash-book-signing at The Yarnery from 2:00-3:30 on Friday afternoon (that’s tomorrow - her yarns and newly released book, Kristin Knits, are available at The Big Y). Friday evening she will be delivering her main presentation, entitled “The Joy of Color,” at the Textile Center of Minnesota at 7:00 p.m. You can read more information here on her blog. After seeing – and then purchasing – her book, I realized my personal color choices tend to be fairly “safe” and conservative. Her yarn line and patterns use vivid contrast and lush, saturated colors, which I can hardly wait to incorporate into my own work.

Squee!! I just learned that another knitter of renown is coming to MSP. I'll post info as soon as the announcement is official...

Happy, colorful knitting to all!

Addendum: It's the Yarn Harlot on April 10! Check the LYS web site for more details. Woo-hoo!