KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Guess what - it is coming along very nicely. While knitting with Jen, Tammy and Ann at Starbucks, I figured I could make myself tackle the dreaded task of seaming...

It is totally adorable and I am thinking about changing the pattern around some more. I realized - after reading the pattern to the end, finally - that I have to graft the hoodie. I am a grafting spaz. Not kidding - every time I have to graft something, I have to sit down with the instructions and go stitch by stitch. Every freaking time - like it's rocket science. That's why all my socks have a 3-needle bindoff at the toe.

But with the hoodie I think I am going to buckle down and give it a really hard try - since it will be in a very prominent location - right on little Pixie's head.

So, I have 8 inches of straight knitting left, well, with the reverse cable on each edge:

Sorry for the picture quality. It was kinda dark when I took these early this morning...

Other than the Pixie Cardi, I worked on the second Monkey sock and I am past the heel. I am hoping to have a translation of the German boomerang heel for you soon...

AND - drum roll - I will be in the thrall of Barbara Walker this week. She is coming to the Atlanta Knitting Guild on Thursday and she will teach a class on Mosaic Knitting on Saturday. I am very excited to meet her. Hopefully I'll have pictures and a bunch of great stories next week. Keep your fingers crossed that I won't behave like a total knitting geek freak dork...

Found on Jane's blog - who I haven't seen in a while! Wave to Jane!

Legend:
Stuff I've done/am doing
Stuff I'd like to do
Stuff that I'll probably never do

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with Bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/Doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with Alpaca
Fair Isle Knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured Knitting
Kitchener Bind Off
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and Purling Backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed Toys
Knitting with Cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with Linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/Bolero/Poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Interesting how much on the list I have already done and what's left. :-)

And this, courtesy of hubby and The New Yorker magazine - the latest job responsibilities for a good admin:

Speaking of which, update from the office - we hired a new admin. YAY for that. I can't really say to replace my coworker because I don't think anybody can replace her. She is wonderful and I am truly sad that she is moving away. But get this - the new colleague is from Bavaria as well. Strike!!! And she seems very nice. And I guess that's all I can say so far - you can't know much from just a couple of interviews.

A couple of days ago I received a letter from Mandy (owner of Schacht Fleece Farm) and Claudia, my adopted sheep. The letter came with a wonderful bar of sheep soap (this time spearmint) and a "Shepherd's Guide" that Mandy wrote. Here are a few excepts from the letter for your entertainment:

Dear Claudia,

Sincerely,
Mandy & Claudia

Isn't that cute?

PS: I just got off the phone with my little brother in Germany. When he asked me about my weekend plans, I told him that I was very excited because we will have a famous knitter in town this weekend and that I will pick her up at the airport in a little while. Then he said "Oh, you have Mom coming in this weekend - I didn't know that". See how knitting worked its way through our childhood! Not that Mom is as famous as Barbara Walker, but she is our very own knitting heroine.

Yup - I spent a couple of days with THE BARBARA WALKER. OMG... This will probably be a very self-involved post, but oh well. Sorry if my gushing makes you want to throw up. Barbara Walker is truly one of my all-time favorite knitting goddesses (gotta stay with the feminist lingo here ;-) ...) and I am just so thrilled that I got to meet and spend so much time with her. Well, that's your reward if you volunteer at the Atlanta Knitting Guild to arrange the knitting super star visits. It is a lot of leg work and organization - which I totally like. If you know me, I like organizing stuff. The Lone Arranger - remember? So, when a super star comes to visit, I am responsible for driving, feeding, entertaining, schlepping stuff, etc. Which means while doing all this, I get to pick their brains and the conversations are totally awesome. Enough gushing (for the moment, at least)...

SO - I just dropped her off at the airport and now I am sitting in my office (yes, but only because I have to kill a couple of hours before somebody needs to be picked up for his birthday brunch) and I don't know where to begin. There are so many things I wanted to remember for the blog and I am pretty sure my peabrain has already forgotten most of it. It was definitely an overload of wonderful events. Speaking of brain - I joked with hubby the other day that my brain might be more like a ball of yarn - fine with me. ;-) Anyway, why don't I just start with Thursday...

Thursday, June 7, 2007

I kept tracking Barbara Walker's flight from Florida all day - so geeky... - and I left around 3:30pm for Hartsfield. I heard a horror story from the day before that all the lots had been totally full, so I wanted to give myself enough time to find a decent spot. And I did, thankfully. Then I stood there and waited. First I was knitting on my Monkey Socks. Then I thought, what if she walks by at the exact moment you drop a stitch and you don't see her. I was pretty freakin' nervous. A good mix between excited and nervous... So, I stuffed the sock back in my purse and instead I held up a sign with her name (very professional - right there with all the overweight limo guys...). I knew what Barbara looked like (from Knitting in America) but of course she didn't know me. And then I saw her come up the escalator. All was well and when we got to my car, she stopped and she said: "OMG, you drive the exact same car as I do." A silver Scion xA. The only difference - I have a bunch of knitting magnets on the back. She said she felt as if she was riding in her own car. At that moment my nervousness dissappeared. We have a lot more things in common. I'll go into some of that later, but it's scary, I can tell you. ;-)

We went to the hotel and then I took her to dinner - coincidentally to her all-time favorite restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes. Which of course I couldn't know and I earned brownie points. ;-)

Then we went to the AKG meeting and she gave a very interesting talk about her life. That was totally fascinating, even tho' knitting was just a part of it. She is very funny and I like her dry sense of humor. She explained to us that she has obsessions that last about a decade and then she moves on to other things. Her first obsession was horses, then knitting, and at the moment it is minerals. But she said that she's ready for a new obsession and has started selling her minerals.

Wikipedia has a pretty good biography and a list of all her books - I won't bore you here with a copy/paste. This post is going to be a long one as it is...

And you've probably already heard this or read it somewhere else - she is not knitting anymore. Which is shocking but I can understand that. You go on with your life and you get involved in different things. That was a turn-off for some people, which made me think - how narrow-minded. At least she still talks about it and teaches workshops. I can't imagine that I would ever stop knitting, but who knows? I don't know what my favorite pastime will be in 36 years. I might collect cows - oh wait, I do that already. How about sheep balls then?

And since Barbara moved to Florida, sweaters and socks are out anyway (and she liked to knit with wool). Which brings me to her knitting stats.

Barbara knitted over 400 doll outfits for Barbie and Ken. She had them all displayed in one room when she still lived in New Jersey. She told us that the room had three walls full of shelves with the dolls. That is a scary thought for me - I don't like dolls. When she moved to Florida, she donated 200 of the dolls to a knitting museum in Idaho, I believe.

When she came to the AKG meeting, she brought some of her doll clothes to sell. I found matching outfits for Barbie and Ken:

And she also knitted over 150 sweaters and she has two drawers full of hand knitted socks.

AND - she knitted all the swatches for her four Treasury Books - you would have to hold a gun to my head... But she also brought a bunch of the swatches to sell and I scored one of those as well:

The pattern is called "Minaret" which is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped crowns, usually either free-standing or much taller than any surrounding support structure. I think I like this for a sock pattern.

Friday, June 8, 2007

On Friday, I didn't hang out with Barbara Walker - work interfered. She attended book signings at a local yarn store - Nease's Needlework - and at Charis, an independent feminist book store.

But I totally geeked on Friday and went to Wal-Mart on my way to work - at 6 o'clock in the morning - and got a Barbie and a Ken doll. Am I totally insane or what? Luckly I am the only one at the office so early, because I put the hand-knitted clothes on the dolls and they fit perfectly. Can you imagine somebody walking up to my desk (at a law firm) and see me messing with Ken's clothes at 7am?

I have to wash Ken's and Barbie's hair and once their are presentable - they will wear Barbara's hand knitted doll clothes after all - I will post a bunch of doll pictures.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Remember I told you that I was worried I would totally geek out and behave like a dork. Well, it happened Saturday morning. I was all ready, packed up, perfect timing, no traffic, and I stop at a supermarket to get lunch for Barbara and me. I get out of the car, slam the door shut, step into an over-ripe smushy banana and realized that I don't have the car key in my hand. I felt the blood drain out of me and pool next to the banana... It was 9am - I was supposed to pick up Barbara at 9:15am and the workshop with 40 (!) students starts at 10am. HOLY EFFING SHIT!!! OK - panic-stricken I call hubby to come to my rescue and HURRY!!! Poor dear - he is really my hero!!! He was still in bed when I called - we live about 35 miles from that darn supermarket - and he made it there in 25 minutes with a spare key. SO MY HERO THAT GUY!!! And you know where my key was? - in my purse on the passenger seat. I tossed it in there but didn't take the purse with me. In the meantime I called Donna, AKG president, and she picked up Barbara. I got to the workshop 10 minutes before them. WHEW - what a morning. Note to self - Claudia definitely needs coffee in the morning.

The workshop was 6 hours of awesome. The morning 3 hours were an introduction to Mosaic Knitting, which Barbara Walker invented. She brought a few samples of Mosaic Knitting for show & tell. And in the afternoon everybody designed their own pattern.

Instructions on the white board. Barbara was an interesting teacher. Extremely patient - she spent a lot of time with students to answer all their questions.

Doug, the only man in the workshop, saved a seat for me and we had a ton of fun during the workshop. He is an extremely fast knitter and we had a little knitting race going. But I couldn't keep up with him. Dangit. :-)

Here is what I knitted in the morning:

And this is my design from the afternoon:

I first tried to make a design with dog paws but it turned into a Darth Vader paw - too square... So I ripped that swatch and came up with the other design. If you look closely, it's all Cs. Hubby said - ahhh a "me-me-me" coaster. Very funny...

And this is a shot of Barbara's very cool purse. Her own design - knitted in the round. Very disco-y. She likes glitzy yarns. :-)

After the workshop, we went to a potluck dinner and had some more lovely conversations:

And now she's already headed home. I can't believe how fast this weekend went by. Barbara is such an interesting and inspiring person. I hope many of you got to meet her when she was here. So awesome. And, last but not least, a few interesting things about her.

She does not have a computer. When I worked with her to come to Atlanta, I either called her or corresponded via snail mail. She wrote all her books first in longhand, then she edited the manuscripts and typed them on a typewriter. All the letters I got from her were typed on a typewriter. I will treasure those forever, correction fluid and all.

She is an animal lover and she owned herding dogs - Belgian shepherds. She had a black dog and a white cat that she and her son rescued together.

She has a jigsaw puzzle collection - like hubby. And - get this - she invited me and hubby to Florida. She said she would sell him her wooden jigsaw puzzles from the 30s and 40s. The only thing is, he needs to pick them up. I AM SO THERE!!! Since hubby's dad spends winters in Florida, maybe we can make a trip next year.

I already told you that she and I drive the exact same kind of car - a silver Scion xA. What are the chances? It is not at all a popular car in the US - too small. :-)

We talked about knitting socks - since I had like 3 pairs in my knitting bag with me (the Monkey Socks, the Bayerische Socks and some very plain no-name ribbed socks). Barbara liked to knit her socks flat, not in the round, with a short row heel. And therefore her socks have a seam in the front. Interesting - but not for me, I hate seams, as we all know.

And here is the proof that she was really here and that this whole weekend was not a knitter's dream - well, actually it was a knitter's dream come true...

OK - gotta run to pick up Brett, the birthday boy. We - his knitting pals - will take him to brunch at Murphy's in Virginia Highland and then we'll all go to Knitch for some knitting. And then I will probably crash tonight - once all the excitement wears off.

After dropping Barbara Walker off at the airport and writing the blog entry, I picked up Brett, the birthday boy, and we went to Murphy's in Virginia Highland for brunch:

Nancy, Brett and Melissa - waiting for our table for ten people. Lou, Doug, Michael, Steve, Diana and I were also part of the little celebration. I gave Brett a picture of his birthday-present-to-be, a Rowan sweater:

It is a very old pattern (I think from the 80s), and when we looked through the magazines a while back, Brett really like it and I thought - good idea for a birthday gift. I bought Cascade Tweed (Color: Olive) at Knitch:

It is 100% Highland Wool in worsted weight. I've already swatched it, and I'll use a US size #6. There's no hurry to start the sweater since he won't be able to wear it until winter.

And I had another little surprise for Brett - I had Barbara Walker sign a birthday card for him. He met her at the AKG meeting but Brett was so busy that evening that he didn't even get one of his books signed. When I handed him the card, I told him that it was from somebody who was unable to make it to his brunch... he-he-he.

Then we headed over to Knitch for several hours of knitting:

Nancy and Melissa made a Strawberry Cake for Brett. We were a pretty rowdy bunch and at some point I truly thought we would get kicked out... I can't believe how many bloggers we had that afternoon - Melissa, Jen, Fatimah, Reagan and Rebecca. Go bloggers!

I scored some handspun from the other Melissa, which she spun from some roving Jen didn't like. And Melissa didn't like the handspun. These snobs. ;-) I was anxious to see what the handspun looks like knitted, so I started yet another multi-directional scarf right away. This pattern is perfect for handspun!

I think the scarf will be very pretty - I don't know what's wrong with these girls. ;-) I'll sure take their unwanted handspun any time. :-)

Before we left, Brett discovered a boo-boo on his afghan. He is knitting an afghan on commission and the pattern consists of several panels that he needs to sew together at the end. The panels either have a cable pattern or an Argyle pattern. Bless his heart... He had to take out the duplicate stitch on one of the Argyle panels, poor dear!

Brett is so brave - it looks very scary to me to just cut into the turquoise thread. But he is the Yarn Doctor - and this sure looks like surgery to me...

I finished the Monkey Socks while we were at Knitch:

That was such a fun pattern and I love the way the colors came out.

Friday night at WKK, I was brave and started a summer lace sweater with Patons Grace (100% Mercerized cotton). I'd been eyeing this pattern for a while and I finally decided to give it a whirl:

I was truly shocked that I knitted all that lace at the SNB group without screwing up once. Now I have to adjust the pattern to my size. Unfortunately, the pattern only comes in a size S - darnit - and I have not been a size S for at least 25 years... If I can't figure it out, I will turn it into a lace shawl and just continue in the little leaf pattern until I've used all 10 balls of yarn.

Now I feel a little blogged out now - need to get some lunch. And sleep...

Are you a knitter?

You are a masterful knitter! I don't know how you got this result, but what the hell... Enjoy your title, and try selling some of your "unvented" patterns- you may make enough for that bundle of qiviut you've been drooling over...
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I swear I did not manipulate this quiz. But I like the drawing of the lounging knitting diva. I wish I could knit in that position but my back would probably be screaming before long.

Hopefully this will be a quiet weekend. Among the things on my to-do list are translating the Boomerang heel and writing something for the next AKG newsletter. I want to ask members for feedback on future super stars, techniques, etc., and I will badger hubby for his excellent editing skills - don't warn him. :-) I also want to sleep in - haven't done that in a while and getting up at 5:30am pretty much every day is just way too early...

And I need to take pictures of Barbie and Ken (now that I washed their hair and they look much better) wearing the Barbara Walker doll clothes.

A Sunday knitting meet-up is also on the schedule, for endless stitching and bitching - YAY for that.

Oh, and before I forget - watch Pan's Labyrinth. Hubby and I saw it last night and it was awesome. For a change I didn't fall asleep. It's called an adult fairy tale but that's kind of misleading. Parts of it are very disturbing - I actually had to look away a few times. That's when knitting comes in handy - you just keep eyes on your project.

Have a great weekend - keep the rain coming, we need it here in Georgia!

That is the question when you knit socks with short row heels and toes. At the knit-in yesterday afternoon, Jen showed Phyllis and me how she knits her short row heel with the encroachment technique. Very interesting - I know that this is Jen's favorite heel but I hadn't actually seen her knitting it. It seems to be even faster than the wrapped short row heel and/or toe. But, no, this is not about speed! With me it's about expedience. If you can save some time on one project, you can knit on another project instead. :-)

So, this morning I googled the Encroachment Sock Heel and found a bunch of great links.

If you're interested, The Sherman Sock is a great basic pattern for this heel and toe technique. And, while I was googling I also found a great tutorial with pictures that demonstrates knit encroachment and purl encroachment.

I've already picked out some yarn for this new technique, but first I have to finish two other pairs that are in the works.

Hubby and I realized on Sunday that we totally forgot our stepmother/step-MIL's birthday (even tho' it is on the family calendar in the kitchen) and therefore I did some turbo knitting yesterday afternoon. Just a little something that hubby will post today with a nice card and a piece of soap:

Since my dear co-worker is leaving for New Jersey soon, I started knitting a scarf for her last Thursday. With yummy Malabrigo. Yum-m-m-m, very soft. I love their dyes. This one is called Emerald Blue and reminds me of the ocean. I figured a scarf will keep her warm on her commutes from Joisey to the Big Apple for work. Another multi-directional scarf. I sure sound addicted to that pattern, don't I. But it works so well for variegated yarns. See?

And I made some progress on the lacy summer sweater. I think I finally figured out how I can resize the pattern to fit me. :-)

I'm getting to the point where I'll bind off the sides, and I thought it might look nice if I graft the side seams together. We'll see - you know me and grafting. But maybe I need a grafting challange. The back and the sleeves will be easy because they're knitted with just the leaf pattern with an 8-row pattern repeat. And I am knitting with Addi Lace needles - LOVE LOVE LOVE those pointy tips!

Ken and Barbie were gracious enough to pose for pictures at last:

Aren't those doll clothes fabulous? I know that I will never knit any - so I'm glad I scored some from Barbara Walker. ;-)

Last but not least, I found these on the Knitting Knurse's blog which made me giggle. And now I know a knitting knurse and a yarn doctor. :-)

Your Girl Parts Are Named:

Heart Shaped Box

Your Boobies' Names Are...

Thelma and Louise

Gotta run now - duty calls. :-) I already know I'll have an extra busy week but I will try and post the Boomerang heel translation at some point as well as more knitting progress on this side of the fence.

Sorry - no knitting content this time. But also interesting - at least to me... I just saw this as one of Yahoo's headlines this morning. You can read the complete story here.

The Vatican's "Drivers' Ten Commandments," as listed in the document, are:

1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.

Driving in and around Atlanta, where most drivers are incredibly rude on the roads, makes me wonder what they get out of their driving style and almost appreciate something the Vatican comes up with. Even in Italy, where people drive insanely fast and come very close to your bumper many times, they are still courteous, even when you get an Italian gesture as a response to your driving...

My friend Melissa and I went to see The Servant of Two Masters yesterday evening. Our friend Diana (who works on the fabulous costumes of this production) had tickets for us. THANK YOU SO MUCH DIANA!!!! We had a great time!

Before the play, we sat and knitted in the shade of the theatre with a nice view of the old buildings (actually, they are pretty old for American buildings - from 1835). Coincidentally, we both had socks with us and we were just knitting away and chatting until it was time to go inside for the play.

Before the play started, the actors walked by the tables and chatted with the guests. One actress dressed as a guy (although in the final scene she wore a stunning gown) came up to Melissa and me and said, with a wonderful British accent, "Ah, the knitting guild. What are you making, my deah?" So I explained that I am knitting on a sock and showed her my Bayerische Sock. She was quite taken with the pattern:

Melissa and I got a good laugh out of this because we are both members of the Atlanta Knitting Guild.

Then we went inside and knitted some more until the play started. Of course, all around us people were watching our knitting and chatting with us. I always get a kick out of what a nice conversation starter this hobby can be.

During the intermission, I finished the "boring" socks:

It's a very basic toe-up sock with a short row toe and heel and a k2, p2 cuff. I just didn't know how much of a cuff I would get and therefore I used the toe-up pattern. My Friday knitting group made fun of me, because unlike every normal person on this planet, I counted the rows between the toe and the heel, as well as the rows for the cuff. Then I knitted the second with exactly the same number of rows. Everybody else just measures... I guess I am a tiny bit compulsive. :-)

SO - get this for funny coincidences. While I finshed the sock, the woman next to me asked me if I knew the book Chicks with Sticks. I said yes, but admitted that I hadn't read it. Well, guess what - the woman's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Lenhard, is the author, and she has a blog, which I have to go read sometime soon. Knitting is just everywhere...

And June will be over and my dear co-worker will be gone. Boo-hoo... In time - what a surprise for a change - I finished the Malabrigo scarf for her. I think it is lovely and very soft, and I hope she will like it and it'll keep her warm during the cold NY/NJ winters:

My last post was last week - what happened in the meantime? Too much work, not enough time to blog...

I am working on table decorations for the Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting in July. We have a potluck every July (and December), and the board members where asked to come up with two table decorations for the upcoming potluck, which will be raffled off at the end of the meeting. I was thinking about what to do. Since we just had Barbara Walker here last month, I decided to make a few swatches with cotton yarn, which can be used as coasters. Of course, I had to buy red, white and blue cotton (Fourth of July, hello?). I will attach them to little wooden sticks, so they can be used as flags for the table decorations, and then afterwards can be detached and used as coasters. Anyways - here is the first set of four coasters:

Do you wonder if I have nothing better to do? I do wonder sometimes. Monday night at the knitting group, the gals made fun of me. Somebody asked where I find the time to knit all the things I knit, plus having a full time job and a hubby and dogs, etc. And I forgot who said it - see I am a forgiving person :-) - that I am not really human. When I get home (they theorize), hubby plunks me into a recharger like a cell phone. Yeah - I wish. Then there is the scary thought of being a Stepford Wife. But then again, I would not be so behind with cleaning, etc. Somehow knitting is so-o-o-o much more appealing than household chores. And I go to bed early. Ask hubby - I am of no use after 10pm (ok, after 9pm really)...

I also started a new sock - with Opal Bamboo. Phyllis did not like the colors and gave me the yarn. Thank you Phyllis! I love the colors - they remind me of the jungle, and it has bamboo in it. :-)

I started a toe-up sock with the encroachment technique that Jen showed me a couple of weeks ago. I had to wing the toe because I forgot the instructions at home, but it turned out alright. The heel went much better. And yes, this is a blurry picture - I think the camera was not awake yesterday morning... But you can see how smooth and neat the short rows are:

I'll take a better picture when it's done. The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. I think it is called Bluebells.

Also on the needles since Sunday afternoon at Knitch - the so-called Haley Scarf. Haley's mom is the store manager over at Knitch and therefore Haley spends a lot of time at the store. Every time I go there, she has another little interesting project going. She knows tons about yarn and where to find it in the store, what Addi Lace needles they have in stock, etc. She's a very cute little knitting wizard, especially considering her 11 years - much more knowledge than I had at 11. You go, Haley, and become a famous knitter!

So, back to the scarf - when I was there the week before, Haley knitted up the pattern in a very rich greenish blue, and Steve - I mean Famous Steve - and I loved the pattern. It's very simple. The combination of Rowan Silk Kid Haze and some regular wool does the trick:

For the garter stitch bars, you decrease your silk kid haze stitches to just a third. (I have 62 stitches including two edge stitches.) So on the first row of the garter stitch row you knit three stitches together and on the first row of the ruching row you increase into each stitch by knit one, yarn over, knit one.

And, last but not least - I have such creative knitting friends. I need to show off something Doug brought to the SNB meeting last Friday. The Ogre Hat - we decided that Doug couldn't call it a Baby (Premie) Shrek Hat because of trademark issues. He just made the pattern up as he went. You need to write it up, Doug - but who am I to say that... I still have at least four patterns that need to make it from my brain and notes into a workable pattern. But isn't this the cutest little hat?

And, yes, this is a decadent group. We have wine and cake at some of our meetings. Sometimes we have wine and cheese, and sometimes we have wine and hummus, and sometimes wine and ... Enough already... it's too early to think about booze - haven't had coffee yet.

As mentioned previously, a great event is coming up for Atlanta knitters. July 15 - Stitch N' Pitch with the Braves and the Pirates! Here are some more details - get your ticket if you don't have one yet!

Special tickets are marked down from $20 to $13 for great seats in a section in the shade for an afternoon of baseball, knitting and great company... oh and don’t forget, there will be fantastic goody bags.

To order these wonderful tickets, call 404-577-9100 or see Diana Baber or Susan Big at the next Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting on July 5th.

You can also purchase tickets at the following shops:
All That Yarn - Snellville - 770-736-6400
Knitch - Atlanta - 404-745-9276 (Knitch has only 9 seats left on the luxury bus!)
Nease’s Needlework - Decatur - 404-377-6875
Magical Threads - Dahlonega - 706-867-8918

Or you can buy them directly from the Braves.

By the way - Pittsburgh sold over 1000 tickets and we in Atlanta are not even at 500 total for the whole event! As the Yarn Harlot says... we need to REPRESENT!

See you there - I spoiled myself with a seat on the Knitch luxury bus. ;-)

Today is the kick-off of the Mystery Lace 3 Knit-A-Long:

Join us for Mystery Stole 3! Starting June 29, I will post the first in a series of clues. Follow the clues (directions) and you'll have a finished lace stole at the end of the knitalong. This year's stole is not recommended for beginning lace knitters, but if you are comfortable with lace techniques and reading charts, you should be just fine. I will close the group to new members on July 6, so be sure to sign up soon!

This year's stole will be made up of seven clues, being posted each Friday, starting June 29. The one exception I am planning on will be the Friday after the new Harry Potter book comes out. I will post July 20 (the book launch is July 21), and then wait 2 weeks so people can read the book and catch up on the Mystery Stole.

This is a blurb from the Yahoo! Group page - the designer and organizer of this Knit-A-Long is Melanie. You can still sign up, until July 6. I made the button to kinda emphasize my dedication to this project. Not that I need another - I already have two lace shawls started and marinating in their projects bags...

My friend Diana told me about this KAL last week. She said that a lot of the participants are German and it might be fun for me to read their posts. This is the biggest KAL I have ever participated in - as of this morning, 3425 lace knitters were signed up. Wowie-zowie - I am still in shock. I have read only a tiny fraction of the 3460 messages that have been posted since the Yahoo group opened on June 7 (in addition to the rules and special notices, of course). It is one of the busiest groups I have ever subscribed to.

So, I swatched last night. I am going to use some burgundy red merino lace weight which I bought some time ago at Main Street Yarns in Watkinsville. It is one hank of 1300 yards. Should be enough. Hubby was a dear and balled the big hank yesterday. I was a bit worried that he would have a tough time with the delicate thread on the swift and that the ball winder would tuck too much and it might be a big disaster for him. But no, trust me, that man is good with yarn. When I got home I found a perfectly wound ball - ready for my swatch. The swatch chart was easy and I am happy with the outcome. I am using Addi Lace needles - US #4 (3.5 mm).

I just downloaded the first clue - four pages, three charts. I am so excited. The stole calls for beads, but I won't because I couldn't find any beads in my stash that matched the color of the yarn (yes, I also have a bead stash...). I am going to be brave and start at the SNB group tonight... At least I'll try - if I can't get it to work, I will retreat to something easy, like a garter stitch scarf. :-)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND - maybe I'll see you at the Lucky Duck Sale at Knitch Sunday afternoon!