Sisterhood of the Traveling Ball of Yarn

So, a couple of  months ago I decided to try my hand at organizing a knitting meetup. Now don't get me wrong there is no shortage of knitting meetups in my area. There is a Hampden Knitting Meetup, Towson Knitting Meetup, and every LYS (local yarn store) has it's own knitting social gathering but the yarn shops are too far for me and I also feel bad if I go and I don't purchase any of their yarn. The other meetups are like little gangs. I went to one knitting meetup I shall not name names but I was had just started knitting and they called my WIP (work in progress) a dish rag, mind you it was a baby blanket. They also had some choice words about my red heart yarn. I have preference when it comes to yarn like any other knitter but I don't judge what yarns someone choose to use...ugh! There is an acceptable way to be a yarn snob.  Let me give you the ways 1. Oogle yarns in store or online occasionally talking to the yarn and snuggling the yarn 2. Waiting for sales like a hungry lioness ready to pounce and feed your stash. 3. Sending love ones pictures and names of your favorite brands for gift ideas. 4. Using commercial yarns to practice a project before using your new beloved one. 5. Introducing your new yarn to friends as if it was a brand new  baby. Notice none of those include belittling others about their yarn. Yeah, don't do that, not cool.

So for various reason I decided to get some knitters together for a good ole' fashion stitch and bitch.  I have some knitting friends from my previous employment, who decided to try on knitting after seeing me knit during a company outing. At first it was me plus one other person, then it was two others, three others, then four!! We had quite a presence at work.  We were called the "Knitting Gang" and then the "Knitting Bitches" which then got censored to the "Knitches." A term I think we have grown quite fond of actually. It edges us up a little a bit against the grandma connotation that everyone thinks of when thinking of knitting.

I'm sure this is how everyone at work saw us. 

On the contrary, we are much more like the following picture...all shits with minimal giggles. Rebels who don't follow the rules and hopes to change the systematic oppression of those who choose to knit. We aim shake up society's perception of cool, hip, and meaningful. Ok, none of that is actually true but I do think we are a really cool group who don't care what other people think. Prior to my present attempt at creating a gathering we all really haven't been together for two years. Some of us went on to different jobs, moved to different areas, and really just been caught up with our own lives.

I looked at few venue ideas Panrea Bread, Denny's, and the local arts and crafts store but I wasn't really feeling that setting. My sister recommended reserving a room at the library. They had space and time with a multiple of branches and locations to choose from so, I decided to go try that option. I sent out e-invites, purchased some sandwiches and drinks...what else could you need for a fun knitting meetup? We had a good time there was a lot of catching up and some knitting. We made plans for the next knitting meetup and even decided on doing a KAL. We shall see how that goes... All in all it was pretty successful. The second meetup was more people, we welcomed 3 more crafters to the group including a crocheter. This time a lot more knitting and crocheting took place and we also brought desserts to snack on, I highly recommend sweets for your meetups. I don't know what took me so long to organize a meet up but so far I am having a blast and will continue to host one for as long as I can.

We do have a little sisterhood going on, almost like a Kate Jacobs novel.We shall see what adventures and misadventures our sisterhood will encounter. Stay tuned till next time.

Knitch001 out! 

-Paige

Baby Fever

Image found Randeepk Tumbler

So, this year it seems like there has been a severe epidemic going around and that is Baby Fever. I myself caught the fever around mid July. This April as a result of baby fever I came home from the hospital with a bouncing, happy,  and healthy baby boy. But it wasn't just me, it was two of my co-workers, one of my best friends, my sister, and my cousin. Not to mention celebrity royalty Beyonce.
So many things to knit I don't know where to start and I am seriously behind. I made my newborn son a baby blue blanket with lace and cables shown below. It was a quick knit with worsted weight yarn. I absolutely love the finish product I hope to make him a sweater before the end of fall (Fingers crossed).

  I have to knit at least 3 more baby blankets and I haven't even casted on a single stitch. I am looking for quick cute blanket patterns. Maybe garter stitch, maybe stripes...I don't know here are some blankets that stood out to me.

 Maybe I would be better off making some hats and baby booties. Do people actually keep up with their baby blankets. I made five baby blankets for my little girl, who knows where they are today. I imagine them floating in the wind lonely and depressed being run over by cars and kicked by people passing by. I plan to preserve Cj's blanket by putting it up and not using it. My daughter pooped and threw up on hers.
My grandmother crochet all of her grandchildren a baby blanket and we had ours for a very long time. Regardless of the condition the blanket, the intention and thought never deteriorated it was an expression of love which is very few and far between when it comes to my grandmother.  That being said I guess the lace, the cable, and the style don't really matter. It's the love you put into creating it. That is what makes them beautiful and that is what makes them stay imprinted on your memory long after they are gone.

It's been said that true love has a habit of coming back

There's been a tear in subspace and I have been sucked into a temporal paradox, someone please call Captain Janeway and B'lenna. It would appear as if I am writing to you from the distant future, year 2017 when last we spoke it was 2015. How could this be?
One possibility is that I have been disgracefully neglecting my blog while I charted unknown knitting adventures. I don't think Captain Janeway ever missed a log, I should be ashamed. Another possibility is that I was held captive by a nomadic knitting society with no access to the internet so I was forced to recount my experience to a mere mouse with whom I shared a cell--something tells me those accounts will go unseen and unheard. The last and most fantastic possibility is that just like the tragically long movie interstellar all of my posts and messages takes years to get to you as I have fell through a wormhole in landed in a  whole different time frame in outer space.

What really happened?!?!?

Well...a little bit of all that happened actually the last year and a half seemed to have gone by at warp speed. But, as they say true love has a habit of coming back and knitting and writing have been as true a love as any. So, I have returned from my solo adventure, my captivity, and my wormhole only to pickup exactly where I left off.

In my travels I have come across beautiful luxurious yarns like Blue Heron's Cerulean Sky Rayon Metallic Yarn: 85% Rayon and 15% Metallic.  The feel of this yarn is like silk and the drape is incredible if I ever have an opportunity to knit with this yarn again I would definitely make some sort of garment like an elegant tank top.

What I ended up making with this yarn is a shawl link here: Holden Shawl. I am not sure if I picked the right pattern for this yarn. I will let you be the judge. I found this pattern online and I thought the simplicity of it would allow the yarn to stand out until I ran out of before the end of the pattern...oops. See the picture below a few rows of the scalloped lace pattern are missing.

I tackled the pattern again with a different yarn. Bonita Oasis, which is 50% wool and 50% acrylic. The coloring is beautiful the drape is kind of stiff. Below our pictures of the yarn and the shawl. I desperately need to block the yarn because of curling on the picot edging but I am super lazy when it comes to blocking and weaving in ends so, that may or may not happen another year and a half from now. 

I have so much more to share with you! But alas it must wait until next time I want to tell you about my adventures in organizing a meetup, the baby fever pandemic, KAL's, and designing mishaps. Miss you already! 

Peace, fleeace, and yarn ball grease, 

-Paige 

Impulse Buying

A couple of months ago I went to this lovely yarn store called The Yarn Spot. Now, I was actually in the neighborhood to take an exam. I got so nervous/anxious about the test that I googled a LYS and found one 2 miles away. The Yarn Spot was spacious and filled with luxurious yarn. I think I walked around the store three times looking as the same yarn. I fell in love with the hand dyed yarns that priced anywhere to $35-$50 per skein. The Yarn Spot also had these beautiful knitting bags for...get ready $225-$300 dollars!!! Now I can splurge on yarn and knitting accessories as much as the next girl or guy but that is just too much. Anyhow, I ogled them none the less. 

I ended up getting two skiens of  Baby Alpaca Grande Yarn about $16 dollars a skein (picture shown above). It's still kind of pricey but it was soooo soft and it was just about the cheapest thing in the store. This yarn is currently the pride of my yarn stash and I have no idea what to do with it. A slouchy hat, maybe. A warm cowl, perhaps. I believe I have somewhere between 150 yards to 175 yards which doesn't leave much option for projects. I bought the yarn out of sheer love and adoration, no project or practical application in mind. I will keep you guys posted as these little guys wait for me to conquer my indecision.  Oh and P.S. the anxiety crisis was averted and I passed the exam. 

Cables & Supernatural, How Do I Love Thee?

     

        This weekend I binged on Netflix and Cables until my fingers cramped; it was wonderful!  There's something about cables that just adds an elegant sophistication to any piece your working on and there's something about those damn Winchester boys, that make Supernatural so irresistible.
        Besides being beautiful and elegant cables are out of this world easy. I'm currently working on a cabled blanket/afghan/throw. I will call is a "blafgow"  for now because I have no idea what the difference is between those three. I am in love with the outcome, I plan to use this in my living room draped across my couch for cuddling and watching movies on chilly winter nights or for strategically covering  red wine stains on the couch (wink,wink). I'm just saying when you stitchin and bitchin while sippin those things happening.

        I digress, cables are super easy and I just learned there is a way to cable without a cable needle! In the past I've been know to cable with pens, pen caps,  pencils, double pointed needles and bobby pins, anything I could get my hands on to avoid spending $3.49 it costs to buy a real cable needle. When I finally overcame my frugal-ness and managed to make the luxury purchase, I found the cable needle to be just a finicky as my pens, pen caps, and pencils. So this technique should alleviate those woes.    

My current WIP (Work In Progress) Braided Seedy Cables Blanket
Official Pattern: HERE
My Modified Version: to come

            But first thing, first if you don't know how to cable at all. I want to give you a quick run down. So, cable knit is simply knitting out of order. I know you are probably thinking  "WHAT?!?! What you talking about, Willis? How could I possible knit out of order, that's blasphemy, that's SUPERNATURAL." My response is NIEN!!!! I'ts possible so listen up. You simply use your makeshift cable needle or an actual needle if you are a fancy pants and slip the allotted sticthes onto it. You will then you will either place that needle in the front or  in back of your project depending on the pattern you are using. You will then work the allotted stitches on your primary needle. Once done, you grab your needle and knit all the stitches held on that needle. Then, voila you continue knitting as regular. you can dance around, celebrate, and drink wine to the fact that you have just done your first cable! For all of my visual learners check out KnitPicks Youtube Tutorial below for in depth step by step instructions. Everything you know and could possible want to know about cables is in this video. 

             For those of your ready to go to EXPERT Knitter level 1,000 here is LionBrand's How to cable without a Cable Needle video. Now, I've watched both videos but have  yet to venture to EXPERT Knitter 1,000. I will be trying this technique on a trial swatch to see if it works for me. I will let you know about the outcome on a future post. I challenge you to try cables if you haven't already and if you want to go a step further or avoid the cable needle all together try the needle free technique, below. 

Here is a simple pattern to try your new skills on Cable-licious Ear Warmers  

Enjoy!!

It's Not You, It's Me

       So, I'm afraid that I may have to break up with a project. First, let me say, it is totally not my style to just leave a project. I am a "till cast off do we part" type of knitter, meaning I stick with one project till it's done. But my current project, Emmanuelle and I,  we've been going through some hard times. In the beginning things were so simple, we were happy and the future looked bright. Things were moving fast but it felt right.
       Then one day, things changed. I started to enjoy our time together less and less. I found myself looking at other project. Then, I actually started casting on and working other projects right in front of my Emmanuelle. First, it was a pair of finger less mittens now, it's a full size afghan.
       I hate to string this project along but, I don't see how we can pick-up where we left off. (HONESTLY, I have no idea where to pick up in the pattern because I got so confused and frustrated trying to make sense out of the instructions and charts.)  The intarsia charts, the decreasing rows, and especially the collar shaping was not connecting with me at all. I sought out help to no avail.
        I guess, as long as it remains on my circular needles there is hope. But for now I am forced to hibernate this project due to irreconcilable differences. Has anyone else had to break up with a project? Leave me a comment below.

                                              Emmanuelle during the happier days.

Once Upon a Time

I thought it would be nice to share the story of how I began to knit. So, put on your comfy slippers, grab some hot cocoa, and get ready for the true and unedited version of how I became the knitter that I am. Now, let us begin.

     Once Upon a Time... at the tender age of 23, I went to my local library to find some free ways to entertain my time. As I perused the library's' selection I encountered a woman, militantly training three students to wield dangerously sharp needles and hooks through yarn. This woman was a veteran her needle swordsmanship were beyond anything I had ever seen before. I immediately asked for entry into her strenuous training program.
     After, a through interview and a $10 tuition fee I was enrolled as student and her as my Sensei. Under the supervision of my Sensei, LiN-Da (Linda) I learned to wield one needle haphazardly, then two needles. The training only lasted a couple of weeks but I practiced relentlessly. Once my training was completed I not only handled two needles, I handled four dangerously sharp needles and a garrote haphazardly (well is wasn't technically a garrote but it sure looked like one). I surpassed all of my fellow students Ally, 6 and Scott, 9 and Lacey, 11 so I had to move on and leave them behind.
     I was alone in my journey because Ally, Scott, and Lacey were too young for a stitch and bitch with wine, and my Sensei charged $10 an hour for her time. I ventured the world with my new found skill as a lone wolf. Yet, I credit my knowledge, skill, discipline, and stealth to my Sensei, LiN-Da who showed me the art of knitting all those years ago.

                                                          The End

P.S.:
Some people have come to the conclusion that I am some sort of Knitting Ninja--and that is ridiculous there is no such thing...

or is there!?!?!?!