Slice of the Big Apple #8

We started our Big Apple Thursday in divide-and-conquer mode: Ness and Dad trained over to visit Shea Stadium, and Mom and I headed south downtown for our second yarny indulgence, purl soho. Ooh, it was nice.

See the storefront photo? See the little metal cellar doors in the sidewalk on the right? That's their stockroom. Yes, it was quaint and very Soho on a lovely summer day, but I can't imagine it holds as much charm in a rainstorm or blizzard.

See the (negligible quality) self-portrait of me and another in the shop? I was looking for souvenir yarn and heard a voice behind me mention something to the effect of "we used to carry this at The Yarnery..."

"Excuse me? The Yarnery in Saint Paul?"

Yup. That's me with former Yarnerista Kristi. It's a small yarny world out there.

The souvenir which leapt out of the cellar and into my bag was Lorna's Laces sock yarn, exclusively dyed for the shop.

One week left

... to submit a square for The Promise Blanket project at The Yarnery. Donations are due next Tuesday, so get them to the LYS soon!

yarns: Boo Fly Socks by FLY Designs in Seattle (left), and Claudia Handpaint Fingering in Chocolate Cherry (right)

To sum up

The parade was great. Kidlet had fun with strangers. Nails, nails, nails. Finished two squares for The Promise Blanket.
I'm going to turn my air conditioner on now. May the planet forgive me.

Manicure mania

Today was the first day of the Twin Cities GLBT Pride Festival. My church has a booth on the festival grounds this year (yay!).To encourage people to stop and check us out, we offered free "Pride Manicures" - varying applications of rainbow-y colors. I sat in front of the tent painting nails from 10am to 6pm, with about 30 minutes total of no one in the chair.Kicking myself now for not keeping a running tally...

And, silly Meema that I am, I thought I'd have some down time to knit. HA! I had a festive square for The Promise Blanket in my bag, but it never saw the light of day. Maybe tomorrow.

Free your mind!

You've got to give a little...

As summer rears its sweltery head, knitting often goes by the wayside. True, who wants a 6-skein pile of wool-afghan-in-progress on their lap when the mercury is rising? There are little things one can work on, however - hats, mittens, gloves, and socks are time-tested small projects that are compact, portable, and aid in avoiding the aforementioned heat rash on your lap (not to mention getting a jump on the holiday knitting).

Not sure where to start? Go check out The Yarnery Blog for a great charity knitting opportunity using superwash fingering/sock yarn. Knit up a square (or two or three) for The Promise Blanket and drop off or mail by July 15th. Full details can be found here. Get your generous on!

(photo by Sheep In the City)

Papa knows best

Some background information is needed here to understand the culture that is my parents' marriage. My mom has been a knitter/crocheter for over 40 years, in addition to forays into many other creatively expressive outlets: oil painting, sewing, latch hook, needlepoint, cross stitch, macrame - you get the idea.

Dad is creative in his own right, but is not one with "crafty" stuff. He gets the knitting thing, though, and surprises me regularly with the knowledge he has acquired:

1. He accompanied my mom to The Yarn Harlot event in April and had a genuine appreciation for what she had to say - and did not think an auditorium full of (mostly) women knitting was strange in the slightest.

2. He appreciates knit-geeky things, like how Mom can knit socks with more control (and in a better mood) by using sharper needles, how wood needles grip better for her, and the cool concept factor of Flat Feet sock yarn.

3. This one's the corker. Last night I was at their house; all three of us were seated on the couch, my mom working a pair of socks with Maizy, me knitting the sleeve of Kidlet's bolero. Dad leans over to see my knitting and says, "What are those you're using, about a size 6?" Wha? Um, yeah they were. Exactly.

Scott and Eric, I may have another member for Men's Knit Night by the end of the year...

Monday, Monday...

(bah dah, bah dah-dah dah) so good to me.

Glorious breezy spring day here in the Twin Cities today! Kidlet had wanted to go to the Minnesota Children's Museum, but as it is closed on Mondays, we went to the park instead (even better). Between flying our pocket kite, exploring the playground equipment, rescuing an earthworm, and picking violets, a grand time was had out-of doors.

Bus fixation update: we were out at the perfect time this afternoon. Just today we counted 38 buses. Woo-hoo!

The planets are apparently lined up favorably for my stash (unfavorably for my wallet). There's an LYS just up the hill from one of my schools, and they were anticipating the arrival of an order of Flat Feet sock yarn. I've been a bit obsessed with the concept of this yarn. Anyway, I called most days last week with negative results. Then I dialed the shop today. Instead of ringing, I heard someone dialing their phone. "Hello?" I said. "Oh, sorry. Hello, this is the Yarn Garage." I told her I was calling about the Flat Feet yarn. She was dialing my number to tell me she had just opened the delivery box of - you guessed it - Flat Feet sock yarn. Dude.

I chose slightly safe colors this go-round, but I'm thinking this is likely not the end of my experience knitting from flats. Heh heh heh.

OH! I almost forgot to blog this: on Saturday I received my I-[heart]-Ravelry extra ball of Cashsoft Aran from Claire. Thank you so much!!!

Knit with gusto, people.

Flat Feet

I'm not sure how many are familiar with this product, but when I first read about it, my inner (OK, outer) knitting geek became a wee bit giddy.

(photo from the Paradise Fibers website)

This is Flat Feet Sock Yarn (80/20 wool/nylon), and that is how it arrives - not in a ball or hank or skein, but a "blank"; the yarn is knitted into two flat sheets, hand dyed, and then unravelled as you knit. Each pair of resulting socks is completely unique, and rather a surprise. How cool is that idea? Just the storage flexibility set my mind racing.

Learning new tricks

Looky here - Meema made a Magic Cast-On beautiful sock toe on her lovely 40" Harmony needles!

All together now: ooooh, aaaah! And the best part? NO KITCHENER! That makes me seriously happy.

Addendum: The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Stile (80 wool/20 polyamide).

Yarnover and out

Wow, what a weekend. Thursday and today were my first large-scale knitter events. My people! The Minnesota Knitters' Guild Yarnover was held today, and though I didn't attend any sessions, I enjoyed myself immensely (read: crazy shopping opportunity). Showing much personal restraint, this is the sum total of my haul:

Guild Bling, in the form of project bags.

Colorful stash: green and blue angora/merino blend from Kimmet Croft Fibers, and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock.
[note: the Kimmet Croft web link is not working, so here is the analog contact address: 5850 Schudy Rd., Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 54495; phone: USA+1-715-421-012 for Janice Kimmet; and e-mail: jkimmet@wctc.net]

A long-coveted mug and demi bowl from Jennie the Potter.


The highlight had to be The Yarnery's guest for the event, Franklin Habit. I tried to meet with him this fall as I travelled to Chicago, but our schedules did not line up. Then, like today, he was nothing but gracious and friendly as all get out. I sat for his 1000 Knitters Project, which with the participation from today's shoot now totals over 600 knitters. Yay, Minnesota!

ZoomZoom

OK, remember the sock yarn I purchased off Etsy the evening of April 1st and just told you about yesterday? It arrived at my door this afternoon. It's a little more pastel-y than the listing photo led me to believe, but a lovely range of colors. A little overdyeing may be the answer.

Talk about (nearly) instant gratification - I think I have postal whiplash.

Socks (a knitting post)

I have the urge to knit a pair of socks. Maybe it's because I've been questing after non-irritating sock yarn for my mom, who can't use most wool products. Maybe it's the upcoming knitting celeb visit The Yarnery is hosting - or the gorgeous new sock yarns that arrived in the store last week. Whatever the reason, I've swatched some stash yarns:
two different colorways of BooFly Sock (60 merino/30 bamboo/10 nylon) by Fly Designs. The blue and purple looked much more subtle on the website; in person it's a bit clownish.

Anne (60 merino/25 mohair/15 nylon), by Schaefer Yarn. I love this color, but the yarn really wants to tangle itself, even in a center-pull ball. (Note the book and video in the background...)

Confession about the blue/purple: I was drawn to this colorway because, as a little girl, I was certain that my wedding colors would be light blue and lavender. Every time my mom and I were in a fabric store, I could be found in the special occasion fabrics, holding those two colors of satin together and confirming my "plans". (Our attendants wore sage green.)

A moment of weakness has this big skein of sock yarn (75 wool/25 nylon) coming my way from Etsy artist FatCatKnits. The colorway is called Uptown - isn't it pretty?

In other news, this is the Ravatar of Heatherly Walker, a designer I discovered on Ravelry. It says it all perfectly.

Happy tiny stitches, everyone!

Warm toes, warm _______

Who would like to win beautiful sock yarn? Count me in! Visit this link to possibly clothe your toes in wooly goodness. All you need to do is guess the weight of a charming puppy...

p.s. I've finished knitting Kidlet's felted candy corn trick-or-treat bag, but as of right now needs to be felted. Pictures to come, no doubt.