Plugging Away

I took a week off of homework to just *be*. Okay, that isn't true - you know I have to keep busy.

I am feeling back to my old self again. Yay! I so appreciate the times I feel normal because I have been to the harder, more challenging side of life recently. Maybe the trip to Hawaii coming up is helping too!

Sweet Amy(I didn't call her this because her latest post is on Trophy Cupcake) made me a very cheery gift! I love it! My iPhone cover is perfect. The colors are cheery and who wouldn't want one of these?



Here is my homework progress. Before I go through each one I must point out that each one has its own set of challenges. What do I mean by challenges? Read on and you will understand!

Here is the V-neck pullover. I love this - the fit is great and the yarn is comfy. I am very pleased with how well the V turned out!



The learning/challenge part is this yarn grew in length. I talked about it a couple entries ago. If using Berroco Ultra Alpaca you must make a large swatch, a very large swatch. So my challenge is 1)It is too long and I want to cut some length off. Right now it is a tad bit long for my taste in a finished garment(even without the ribbing).

The "ribbing" is 2X2, as is much of the design. To continue the 2X2 ribbing below the cable, I want to cut off about 8 cm. Even though this project should be complete, I want to check with Jean first before I snip.

I'm nervous about snipping because I have never done it but I'm sure I can figure it out - I'm just nervous about snipping the cable part. I'm sure I'll get over it once I get going.

The second challenge with this is I will have to graft this 2X2 ribbing to the sleeves and bottom. I can't just cast off - they all have a provisional cast-on. Now if I would have known that grafting this 2X2 rib would have been such a headache because it will be 1/2 a stitch off if I were to take the provisional cast-off off and start knitting down. I have to actually graft the ribbing on. Had I known this(or thought about it more completely) I would have done an invisible cast-ON to begin with. Long and short of it, I will learn a lot about all the things one must consider in a custom design. The good thing in dragging my feet is Melinda has some wonderful posts on how she grafted her ribbing which I will refer to when I get there.

Next challenge. Round-Neck Cardigan. Here are the blocked front and back pieces.



This isn't so much a challenge, technically. I take that back. At the side seams I have some YO's before the selvedge stitch. I cannot sew this up using the method Jean has shown us. She needs to show me how to seam with the Yarn Over next to the selvedge. Good excuse to not have this sewn up..

Honesly, basically, I am sick of knitting this pattern. I have one sleeve about 1/2 way done and one full sleeve left to do. It is killing me. It is almost like I need the coordinating pink Pepto Bismol to combat my nausea with this project. It is really pretty but...for some reason I am really ready for this to be DONE! [I know. It is sport weight yarn. Takes WAY longer - see next project]

V-Neck Cardigan. I cast-on for the back yesterday. I took my drawing out and had to modify the ease. Because the pattern repeat is 12 stitches in a worsted weight yarn, in order for the pattern to fit my front/back measurements I had to decrease my ease by 1cm. I had to re-draw the sleeve cap because the armhole was being decreased by the 1cm.

This is what I did yesterday. I cast-on about noon and was done with the back up to the armhole by dinnertime. Yes. I am taking the approach for the next projects - bigger needles and bigger yarn. I can whip this out in a flash.



As is the trend with ALL my projects...I always have some small *problem* with each and every one of them.

What is my problem on this? Well...its a bit of a long and circuitous explanation. When I started this class, I did a provisional cast on crocheting stitches ON to a needle. Most students crochet a chain and then knit into the bump on the chain. I couldn't ever *see* this bump so I learned this alternate method(before this class).

When you do it the way I do it, it is a bit different and there are different rules than if you knit into the bump on the crochet chain. So the last couple projects I learned how to read the crochet(a needed skill for the crochet project, don't you think?) because some of the instructions she gives us assumes you do the provisional the way she does. Well I purled into the bump as I was knitting onto the chain. This is wrong I realize. I just thought that when I do my first pattern row I'll be on the right side and can start my pattern.

As I was knitting away SOMEHOW(I blame it on Chase who was bugging me) and provisional cast-on started coming off!!! Yikes! I didn't realize it right away but when I did, it was not pretty.

So, when I put the "live" stitches on the needles, it looks very funky and some don't seem "live". I'm going to need help with this. I can't sweat it too much because I'm not starting over.

See, the more bone-headed you are, the more you learn!

While I was taking my week off from homework I took a book and learned something on my own. I took 2-at-a-Time Socks and learned how to do this. First I started with two circular needles(since this is how I knit socks before) rather than the one 40 inch she recommends. I quickly learned why using a 40 inch is better. You don't confused at which direction, what end, you are on. With a single 40 inch needle, there is only one direction you can go.

I thank Rebecca for getting me to try this. Melinda and I were talking about this at lunch the other day. She related a story about a time she knit some mittens and they came out different sizes purely because of how her guage was changing. I frequently have this problem and knitting two socks at time will help ensure they come out the same size!



I have also been doing some spinning in little 15 minute spurts. I have about 14oz of some BFL I bought at Madrona. Ellen and I are spinning some yarn up so we can both make the Wool Peddler Shawl from Folk Shawls. Slowly but surely I'm getting my spinning done. I have done about 4.5 ounces so far.

I just keep plugging away!

An Anniversary of Sorts and Sundara's Season's Club is Open

I just got an email from Sundara that the next round of her "Season's" Yarn Club is now open.

Go HERE if you want to join the color fun!

If you sign up, let me know what season you signed up for!

Greg and I have an Anniversary of sorts today.

I met the most wonderful man in the world on this day 8 years ago.

He is my absolute soul mate. I have never had someone outside my birth family love me as much as he does. He has taught me how a man should love and treat a woman.

He spoils me. He will go to doctor appointments with me if I am too scared to go by myself, he comforts me when I can't sleep, he makes me dinner and does the grocery shopping, he loves and cares for *my* boys like I do, he is thoughtful, loving, an absolute hugging monster like I am.

We laugh everyday. We can always find something to laugh about(in fact laughing everyday was in our marriage vows). We laugh about how giddy in love we can be, we laugh because we can both be silly and kid-like.

He has never shown resentment, he does not anger easily, he loves my family and friends like I do. He even sweeps, mops, cleans the bathroom and does laundry if I don't get to it first!

Every morning he makes me my cappuccino and brings it to me as I get ready for work. If it is the weekend, he still makes my coffee and brings it to wherever I am in the house.

I send his parents thank-you notes for raising such a giving, caring, loving, gentle and thoughtful man. I love him so very much and I reflect today, giving thanks to my God for bring us together.

April Fools Day always has special meaning to me because it is the day I met the man that is perfect for me. In all my prayers and thoughts about the perfect man when I was single, I never imagined love could be this comfortable, this fun and this fulfilling.

I love you Greg. I never want to ever be without you.

Acquiring New Art and Supplies

Can you believe on Friday afternoon this is what our backyard looked like? Weird to have snow in March...in SEATTLE!



I have been acquiring Art and Art Supplies in large quantities recently.

Some of this is due to Retail Therapy sessions with my laptop and some due to impending retirement.

Yes, I am retiring in June. Yes, I am young to be retiring. Although it is very exciting to ponder what it will be like to wake up and NOT have to be at work at 6am it is a bit unsettling in a way, too. (Catholic guilt, once again!)

My friend Amy suggested that we call it "Acquiring ART"!

Here are some recent stash enhancements, I mean Art acquisitions.

This is from Shelley from Butternut Woolens. I met Shelley at Madrona and she is a very sweet woman. I bought some Rabbit's Foot Angora Blend Sock Yarn in Foxglove. YUM



One pound of Targhee in Quitobaquito:



I got sucked into wanting to knit the Moroccan Days, Arabian Nights Shawl from the Woolen Rabbit. This shawl requires 5,000 beads. Anyone up for the challenge????? Maybe a summer project???

I can't get a good photo of the yarn. It is absolutely beautiful though. Check it out on the Woolen Rabbit website as well as on Ravelry.

I'm also anticipating the receipt of a purchase I made via a connection on Ravelry. I bought some Rowan Magpie in the Float colorway. This is a discontinued yarn but if you are a Starmore fan you'll recognize it. I have some in the stash in a Coffee color and now I'll have something very different. It is making its way from the UK and should be here next week. I'll show it to you when it arrives.

I love knitting socks and I will cast-on for another pair as soon as I post this. I can never get the kitchener stitch in my head. No matter how many times I do it, I can't, for the life of me, remember it. So I purchased this cute Kitchener Dogtag from the Bellweather.

The Bellweather blog, Ask the Bellweather, has some fantastic information on spinning. Go there if you want to know something about technique!

I can put this in my sock bag and never have to worry about remembering how to do Kitchener. It is cute too!



I purchased my first Bosworth Featherweight Spindle from the Bellweather. It is .38 oz made in walnut. She's a nice little spindle. I quickly tried some optim with her. I had some issues spinning Optim with another lightweight spindle I have but the Bosworth works great. No wonder people say these are great spindles.



So that is it for now. No homework progress photos to show because....there has been NO homework progress this week. This has been a self-care week.

As my last post indicated...I've not been myself for awhile. So I decided I needed a week of just doing what I wanted to do. No homework, no *should* do knitting, no guilt(yeah, right - you know that is a lifelong goal).

I finished my Vesper Socks in Neopolitan. So cute!





I also made progress on Brighton from the latest Knitty.

This is in Euroflax sportweight in Eggplant. The handles are Grayson E in Black. I have knit about 9 inches so far so I have about 4 more inches before I start the bottom of the bag.



I need to go and do some picking up of all the projects I have strewn in my bedroom and office. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Tell me about your recent Art Acquisitions!

Part Irish?

I belong to both the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club and Sundara's Season's club.

I have loved this year's BMFA's yarn and patterns. I am actually caught up with the socks so far. Well, so far only two have been sent out. I did the first one and the second one came out just last week. So I'm still on schedule with the Rockin Sock Club 2008.

If you are not aware of Sundara's Season's club you should take a look. With this "club" you get to choose a season. This way you are more likely to get color choices you want/love. Each one I have received has been...something I love. She is planning to renew this club so if you get a chance to get in, I would highly recommend it. What I like about this club is 1) You are likely to get colors you love because of the choice of season and 2) You get a variety of types of yarn. It isn't just sock yarn.

Why do I bring up both these clubs?

This month for both clubs...I received these:



On the left is Sundara's sock yarn in Sour Apple and the right is BMFA's Lucky. The BMFA yarn is actually darker than shown in the photo.

These Irish inspired yarns made me think of my dad. I always think of my dad on St. Patrick's Day. He always said he was Irish Catholic. My maiden name is Ooka(japanese, hello?!). He said it was really O'Oka with a big grin. He loved St. Patrick's Day! In fact one of my sisters is named Patricia - would have been Patrick if she had been a boy. What a funny man.

I really miss my dad. He was big on hugs. I miss his big hugs! He died 17 years ago(hard to believe)! I was just 24 years old.

This brings me to WHY I HAVE NOT BEEN POSTING.

My true nature is happy, fun, positive, supportive. I believe I have a patient spirit that is nurturing, loving and kind, overall. I don't feel I have been this in the past few months.

I'm going through another bout of healing from the losses I have experienced in my life as well as a mini mid-life crisis of sorts(impending retirement in June). I miss my mom and dad, as well as my sister Deb. I go through this periodically from time to time but it never lasts this long.

Depression is a funny thing. I know when I am depressed when I just want to hole up in my master bedroom chair with my knitting projects strewn about, spinning wheel and roving here and there, my Netflix DVD's, my laptop(so I can fall into the Ravelry black hole - another thing that takes time away from blog posts) with Chase and Beanie hanging out with me. This holing up is not my true nature either.

I usually love hanging out with my friends and family. I look forward to every other Monday night hanging out with the fellow Feral Knitters, Thursday night at Village Yarn and Tea where I meet up with my knit buds, have tea and chat it up. I make myself do these things because they make me feel better. I need connections with people.

Most people probably don't notice or wouldn't think I am depressed. Sure, I experience a lot of happiness but underneath is this underlying grief.

I know it is temporary. I'll be glad when the veil lifts. It seems to be lifting more and more. I think spring weather, blooming flowers and sunshine will help, too!

I have learned and observed some interesting things in the past few months. Friends have come to my assistance(those that know) with notes of encouragement, e-mails of concern and just plain love and kindness.

I have also had some interesting experiences. I've had an experience or two where I decided to forge into the area of vulnerability and spoke the word "depressed" and it seemed to pass like it was not even spoken. I know it says more about the other person but it is surprising and interesting all the same to not receive an acknowledgement or hear a word of concern or caring. I understand we all have our issues, have our challenges and sometimes we just don't have it within ourselves to be supportive. I get that. I have compassion for others and where they may be at the time. It is the give and take of relationships.

I love my life. I am grateful for my family, my friends and for the passions I have in life. One thing I love about our fiber community is how we can connect over a passion we have in common yet the connections we make are so much deeper...they aren't just about knitting.

Thanks everyone who has sent me notes, listened to me and just cared about me and my experiences.

Each note, each email, each expression of kindness and caring has been a huge gift to me!

FOUND!

I found my notebook! I am so happy...yet somewhat embarrassed about it.

I have been sick since Thursday with this darned flu that has been going around. I was feeling pretty puny for a few days. I got to a point where I didn't even want to knit! I know, seems impossible!

What does a knitter do when they can't concentrate on a pattern?

They spin.

I could not find my orafice hook. I knew I had it at Madrona. I looked in my Little Vicki bag and there was my notebook. Makes sense doesn't it? Last time I had my notebook was in my class with Judith...with my travel wheel.

Yes, spinning is such a relaxing thing to do. I could do it even if I felt like I could do nothing else. You know the A-types. Can't NOT do *something* while battling a cold/flu.

I finished up my very first attempt at navajo ply. Don't look too close. It is underspun in some places. I tried really hard not to over ply. It is going to take some practice but it turned out ok.



Anyway....more on Madrona.

I attended a lunch reunion for student's that have taken Janine Bajus' colorwork class. It was so cool to see what some folks had done/worked on. One student's work, Kim Magden, had done something amazing. Wow. Here she is with her "swatch".



Closeup of the swatch:

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

I had the opportunity to take two classes with Judith Mackenzie McCuin. Spinning a fine lace - I learned so much in the first 15 minutes. I got some really great tips and tricks to spin a very fine yarn. I was amazed at what I could produce and how fine I could get just by adjusting a few things on my wheel. So darn cool. She is amazing.

I also took her Spinning for Socks class. This class was so worth it. I learned a lot and can not wait to practice what I learned. She made us take 4 or 5 samples of some really outrageous colors and had us spin them together. What resulted most times was an amazing yarn - not outrageous at all! I have a lot to learn about spinning! Judith is very generous with her materials. I have so much to play with! :)



The next two photos are just some random photos I think are pretty darn cool. Why?

I just love these kinds of events, where you can be with your people! People come and just hang out - there are always folks hanging out in the rotunda.



I was amazed at how people line up for the Saturday night dinner which highlighted Judith Mackenzie McCuin as the speaker. It is like a stampede to get into the room so you can get a good table!



I do have homework to report on...just no photos. I am moving right along on the round neck cardigan. The back is completely done, the right front is done and I'm moving right along on the left front. Still no sleeves done yet. I have not yet cast-on for the V-neck cardigan. Boy...I have 3 full weekends before the next class. What I have left to do: Knit fronts/back/sleeves up to bustline/sleeve cap for the v-neck cardigan. Finish blocking and put together the v-neck pullover. Finish knitting the round neck cardigan and put the sweater together, knit a swatch for a vertical button band, document my projects including drawing a 1/4 scale of my patterns in a notebook along with a photo of the item as well as document all calculations. That is a lot of homework to do in the time I have left!

I know I would have an easier time meeting my homework deadlines if I did not do any other knitting. That is just *not me*. I must do other knitting. It is like keeping me sane while doing my homework. It is the same activity but it is a relief from homework. Seem insane? Well...so be it! :o)

I did finish my BMFA socks though. The toe is a little bunchy but I can live with it. Can you believe I finished a pair before the next shipment of the sock club arrived? Unbelievable!

One other thing I had to start. I am making the Spring Blossom Shawl for my mother-in-law for Christmas. I am hoping to actually start this early enough to get this done in 9 months! I am using Toots LeBlanc fingering merino/angora. So yummy to work with!! I have to make myself leave this alone because it is so addicting to work on.



I also made progress on my mindless sock knitting.



I knit the second sock using Knit Picks Harmony circular needles in 2.0 mm. You know what? I really like these needles. They seem to put less stress on my hands and wrists. I don't know if it is because the wood is gentler on me than my addi's. Dunno. Just like 'em.

LOST

I do watch LOST and is it getting good!

The title more refers to how I'm feeling at the moment. (Thankfully, "this too shall pass")

I load my photos of Madrona to do more posting about it. I look for my very important notebook that has all my notes I took in my classes as well as various contact information.

I was supposed to send one woman the link to Ruth's site so she could download the Kauni cardigan. Can't do it now.

I have photos of Janine's colorwork class attendee reunion. Some folks brought swatches of their original colorwork which was so inspiring. One woman's work was phenomenal. I was going to mail her when I posted on it...along with her name. Now I can't.

Can't find the blasted notebook.

I have searched ALL OVER THE HOUSE. Where in the hell is this damn thing??

It is LOST.

I want to practice what I learned in Judith Mackenzie McCuin's two classes - spinning a fine yarn and her spinning for sock class. Can't.

This is how I feel in general. I feel so disorganized. I feel like....like....

SO NOT PUT TOGETHER. (I can't even use improper american english!)

I think my Nihon projects exemplify how I feel about my life. They are all over the place. Some pieces finished, some not and some not even started.

I feel like I have all these pieces of me scattered all about. I feel spread thin here, there and everywhere. I'm tired. Exhausted really.

Had a rather big blowout with the sweetest husband in the world. He gains his energy by being with people. I gain mine by being alone. He thinks that I'll feel better if we invite people over for dinner or get out and about. (Remember he is retired also). I tell him I need to be ALONE. I don't want people over, I don't want to go on a walk, I don't want to be bothered. Remember I work all week - I am with people all freaking day long! He *got* it and I've been hibernating in *my* room all weekend. So lovely. Oh, just what I needed. No phone calls, just me, my knitting and Chase and Beanie. I did what I wanted when I wanted, I ate when I wanted, I took a nap if I needed. This was good because I don't feel quite so cranky!

I think part of it is the aging process quite honestly. My body doesn't do the things it used to so so regularly. Hormones are going a tad bit awry. Things I could count on like clockwork...count 28 days on the calendar and Aunt Flo would visit. This doesn't happen anymore. She visits *about* every 28 days but she basically visits when she wants. Also the allergies have kicked up in a big way which contributes to my fatigue and crankiness.

On to real knitting content(you are probably thinking thank god! finally!)

So here is my nihon homework:

Last week in class we learned the pick up for the v-neck. Some folks had one center stitch at the v-point, some had two. I had two.



Jean commented on this yarn. It is Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Personally I love working with this yarn. The interesting thing is I did my swatch, did all my calculations and knit to all my carefully calculated measurements. When I was ready to block my pieces, they seemed so long. I thought "I checked my calculations many times, how could this be?". Well Jean said that with this yarn you need to do a larger than normal swatch. Then when you block it, you need to hang it over a hanger - this will give you a truer guage. So...this sweater will be longer than I planned. It is ok. This is going to be a very cozy sweater!

The round neck cardigan. I am making progress on the back.

Right front - not quite done - need to calculate and knit the short rows for the shoulder slope:

>

Here is a closeup of one of the patterns in the sweater. You can see the stitch markers that always cheer me up made by my friend Amy. Amy gave me the special cupcake with the flowers the day I was moderating Charity night at Madrona. This was a good luck charm! What a sweetheart! Thanks Amy!



Jean gave me a good suggestion about my button band for the cardigan. Use this pattern for the button band. Since there are holes in the pattern via a yarn over, I could just use this pattern and have built in button holes. See here:

Wouldn't little pearl buttons look cute?

On to my next Nihon homework - it is a V-neck cardigan. I finally decided on a simple pattern for it. This is knit out of Rowan Cotton Jeans - color Blue Jeans.



I have also been sock knitting. My inspiration is Ruth's mom. She knits one sock per day! Yes, one full sock per day. Once she finishes her one sock, she can then do her "fun knitting". Sounds like us Nihon Vogue'ers. No fun knitting until homework is done, NOT!

So I worked on my Serendipity socks. The next BMFA sock club installment is to ship soon so I wanted to get these completed. I finished the first sock with the toe designed for the pattern...it is a star toe. I'm not sure I'm going to like it. I'll block it first before I decide whether I want to change it. It is very wide and you can really see it from the side view of the sock. The toe from the front looks cute but not sure if it will feel bunchy when wearing in a shoe.





Then..I also need completely mindless knitting so I decided I can knit socks just in my plain old sock pattern(in my head). Now I can have something to do in meetings or when I'm in line at the store.

Socks that fit me I do on 2.0mm, cast on 64 stitches and just do plain old stockinette with my newly learned short row heel ala Priscilla Gibson Roberts. This sock is done in Julia's Vesper Sock Yarn. I have quite a few skeins in the stash. This is a very old colorway..neopolitan.



I know the sock looks kind of funny. I had knit the toe but realized the sock was just a tad bit too short so I frogged it. Note: I do a lot of frogging and not just on Nihon homework!

This was a very bad week for me so...I have added three more Vesper sock yarn skeins to the stash which have yet to arrive at their new home.

I also bought some Yarntini. Yes!! My big personal accomplishment this week. I actually have some Yarntini in hand. Do you know how long it has taken me to get my hands on some of this? Probably 2 years. I just happened to be on-line at the right time and the planets aligned just for me. I bought it at Sonny and Shear.

Here is Home, Hope, and Fig&Plum. So excited.



As I said, it has been a tough couple weeks. Our budget system is up and running but there have been some challenges. My co-worker and friend Jamie always tells me to go to my "happy yarn place".

That is what I did. Sock yarn is a good thing. You can never have too much sock yarn, right?

Madrona 2008 Part 1 & Nihon Homework

Wow. Time flies!

Has it really been a week since Madrona was over?

Ruth and I went down to Tacoma the afternoon of February 13, 2008. When we arrived I saw many familiar faces. It is so nice to walk into a hotel and see many people I knew. We checked into our respective hotel rooms. Ruth had some knitting she wanted to get done.

I met for the first time Jen Black, from Connecticut. She is a member of a group that I am also a member of, Fiber Traditions. She needed a place to stay just for Wednesday night so she shared the room with me, Ellen Gowey and Michale Crooks. We met and decided to head over to the Museum of Glass. To get the museum we walked over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.



Most of the exhibits were closed but it was nice to get to know Jen better. I felt like I have known her all my life.

That night Jen, Deb, Karla, Ellen, Ruth and I went to Paddy Coyne's for dinner. That was really delicious! I remember Sandy raving about this place and it is very good.

From this point on, the whole Madrona experience becomes somewhat of a blur!

I met so many wonderful people it is a bit mind boggling.

I didn't sleep well a number of nights before Thursday. I knew I was going to be emcee/moderator at the Thursday night, Charity night. I was very nervous about it.

Despite my mortal fear of Thursday night, I had class all day with Janel Laidman. The class was Spinning a Painted Skein. It was an excellent class! I learned so much and am looking forward to practicing what I learned(you know..in all my spare time)!

This photo is of her holding up the fractal stripe sample which was highlighted in Spin-Off magazine.



After class I went straight to the room to continue to practice my speech for that evening. Melinda came into the room and we talked until it was time to go down to the room where the evening's event was going to happen. She was also going to speak a bit about Shetland. It was nice to have a speaking buddy to share my nerves with.

This is what I saw when I entered the room. I became even more nervous!



The people on the panel that night are fabulous people. I felt honored to be able to share the stage with these folks. The evening was Charity Night but it was also about Global Connections and how we can use the power of the internet to benefit the greater good of our communities.

I spoke about how many of the people on the panel became connected via the internet..how I met Melinda last year in line at Madrona. Via her blog, Purlwise, I was able to see a design by Ruth Sorensen. I couldn't get a hold of Kauni yarn at that time so I emailed her and Ruth sent me the yarn. Then another reader, Margaret, in Manhattan, saw the Kauni Cardigan and had to knit it. Then Stephanie(yes, that Stephanie) saw Margaret knitting it at a yarn store event and she had to knit it. We all know how the Kauni Cardigan spread through the internet like wildfire once Stephanie posted about it! I connected with Ruth and asked her if she would like to experience an American knitting conference, Madrona Fiber Arts, and she decided that she would like to make her first visit to the US. Then I got to thinking....she is a fabulous designer so maybe she could actually teach at Madrona. Then I hooked Ruth up with Suzanne Pedersen and that is how Ruth got here!

Ruth Sorensen talked a bit about how the internet has changed her life.

The highlighted charities for the night were Doctors without Borders presented by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

The Mother's Day Project - Anne Landre. This woman is a dear. I felt a connection with her right away(she was good at calming my nerves, just by her peaceful face and kind smile). During her presentation the tears just flowed and I almost could not stop them. Seeing the names of soldiers that have died in the Iraq war, all embroidered on fabric, just hit me hard.

The Shetland Textile Working Museum in the Shetland Islands - Melinda Mullins and Mary Adams. Joyce James was also involved but she did not present that night. They have taken up the cause of the Museum to preserve the origins, history and traditions of Fair Isle Knitting for future generations after visiting the Shetland Islands.

Caring for Kids - Diane Formoso started this local group more than 15 years ago when, as a school bus driver, she saw so many children in need. It has blossomed to provide clothing and many essentials to young children in need.

After the Charity event, the folks that had their Kauni Cardigan on came up for a group photo. Here we are:



I have much more to write about but I have to get to my Nihon Homework so I will continue the Madrona post later.

Now a quick note about Nihon Homeowork....well...

I am a bit behind(what else is new?). Yesterday I had a setback. I had started the back of the round neck cardigan. All was going well.



Notice the seed stitch on the sides? I wanted to make things easier on myself with regard to sewing up the sides. I figured if I did seed stitch, it would be easy to match up the pattern for sewing.

So while I was watching Season 2 of 24, I realized the sides were not going to look how I wanted them. The seed stitch was going to be so glaringly different than the rest of the sweater patterning. I sat. I thought. I watched Jack Bauer. He is so brave...so I decided...hmmmnnn..maybe I could be brave in my knitting.

I could fit half of the leafy pattern repeat on the sides in place of the seed stitch and NO I was not going to rip out the whole thing.

I decided to rip out just the section that needed re-doing. Luckily I had just enough stitches for 1/2 of the pattern repeat. I have done this kind of fixing before. As all things related to Nihon, it took much longer than I had anticipated.

Warning: The next photo is not for the those affected by gory photos....



Now I am knitting back up in the new and improved pattern.



Now it is all better...looks a lot better, don't you think?



I have to knit all day today. Time is running out.

Next week is a big one at work. Beginning tomorrow I will be building our production budget database, filling it up with all kinds of good budget data. I'll have a number of late nights(hopefully not too many). I just hope all goes smoothly.

Ruth also just has a few more days here. I wish the "big" week at work was not coinciding with Ruth leaving. Even though she is staying with me and the boys, I probably won't see much of her!

Wish me luck!

Ruth Sorensen is Here!

I have a break from my busy time here at the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat. I thought I would take some time to tell you a bit about my time with Ruth Sorensen.

I picked Ruth up on Monday February 11 at the airport - we agreed to meet at baggage claim. She had to navigate through passport control and I did not anticipate it would take so long. I was getting worried. After all, what would I do if she was not on this plane? How would I find her? No need to worry. She finally got through Passport Control an hour and 15 minutes after her plane landed.

I agreed to wear my Kauni Cardigan so she could recognize me. We met and it was so lovely to finally meet her in person.

While Ruth was retrieving her bags I was standing around waiting when I get a tap on the shoulder. I turn around and this woman asks me if I am going to Madrona. I said "how did you know?". She pointed to my sweater. I asked her how she knew! She said "oh blogs and all that!". She too was going to Madrona. She had just returned from Vienna, was going home to Paulsbo and then she was heading off to Madrona! How cool is that!! Another connection made, to another knitter, just based on our love of knitting. How wonderful.

Ruth is an absolute dear, dear woman. She is easy going, funny and very nice. I am lucky to get to know her better! Even after being up for close to 24 hours she was completely charming!

Here is a photo of some of her lovely hand knit items, of her own design.



Some of her hats...

She made these adorable pins...



Greg took her sightseeing on Tuesday. I had to work so Greg played tour guide. He took her to the Ballard Locks and the Pike Place Market. Then the ladies of Village Yarn and Tea took us out to dinner.



From left to Right: Ellen, Ruth, Kari, Victoria, Deb

Wednesday we hung out a bit at home before heading down to Tacoma.

Here she is hanging out with Chase(he is a very good doggie ambassador).



This next photo is kind of funny. Here is Ruth taking a picture of this huge prawns we ate. She was amazed at how large they were. She joked that everything in America is big. So she had to take a photo of these HUGE prawns.



I have so much more to "talk about". Madrona has been a whirlwind of activity. I am going to take this morning to relax before I go help out with Ruth's hat class this afternoon. I will post again soon....

Relapse Week(but Kauni is done!)

I must tell you something that cracked me up on my last post about losing my brain. Yarnsnob makes me laugh. In an e-mail she said something about being "crackers". I just love English terms and humor. Why? I don't know. I just love thinking "I'm crackers". Anyone else love English terms and humor? Or is that humour!?

Naomi here. Remember me? The recovering perfectionist?

Uh. yeah. Sometimes the best laid plans....go awry! Ok, I know. Personal growth does not happen over night. You get conscious of an *issue*. You realize you have some personal work to do. That is the first step. Then you forge ahead with your new intentions. At least that is how it works for me.

My current issue. Working on not having the need to have everything *perfect*.

I KNOW life is to be enjoyed and cherished. I do take time out of every day to ponder on the things I am grateful for. Yet I have this crazy need to have things perfect. When guests come over...no dust bunnies should be seen by human eyes. There should be no dust on tables, window sills, on ledges of frames, etc. There should be clean towels in the bathroom. (My monthly knit buds know one time there were NO towels in the bathroom! I was mortified but they never came out of the bathroom saying..hey gnome, where are the towels?). Basically the house should be spotless. I'm trying to let this go and actually NOT purposefully clean before guests come over - I'm trying really hard to let this kind of thing go.

So with regard to knitting this week...I did not fare so well in the letting go department. I had started the Serendipity socks for the first 2008 installment of the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club. I did the short row heels with the W&T method as specified in the pattern. I thought, I do not like the way the W&T looks but I continued on. I wanted to let it go. It wasn't perfect or up to my eagle eye standards but I just coached myself. Just keep going. It WILL be ok.

I kept thinking about it. I thought about it some more. What did I do? Can you say relapse?

I frogged it. I have always wanted to do Priscilla Gibson-Roberts short row heel version. I have the book Simple Socks Plain and Fancy but I could never quite understand the instructions. Luckily my friend Melinda has a very nice tutorial on this method on her website. I followed her photos along with the book and I was successful at this method. In fact for me, it is much easier to read the stitches and see what I am doing with this method than with the W&T method.

Doesn't this technique look good? I like it.

How else did I relapse in my non perfectionist knitting? Well....

I finished the Kauni Cardigan. YAY! Here she is blocking on the wooly board.

I have a lot to say about this project. I apologize for being verbose but I have a lot to say about this fun project.



This photo shows how I used my clover blocking pins(which I LOVE!) to straighten the bottom cast-on edge which was still curling during blocking. I just stuck these pins along the edge to keep it straight and it worked very nicely. No more curling.

I picked up for the neckline. I love the Nihon Vogue technique for picking up. I used to hate picking up for a neckline before Nihon Vogue....trying to count and figure out how many stitches to pick up 2 for every 3 stitches, blah blah blah. Now it is easy and straight forward for a round-neck. You should try it. You might never struggle with neckline picking up again(sounds a bit like an infomercial doesn't it? Can you hear Billy Banks of Oxyclean saying "You will never struggle with picking up neckline stitches again. Just use Nihon Vogue!").

When you pick up, just pick up one stitch for every stitch. No more figuring out 2 for every 3. Count how many stitches you now have on the needles. You do want to at least get close that you have the same number of stitches from shoulder seam to center front on right front and left front.

So you count the total number of picked up stitches. On the next row(pattern row) decrease 10%. That is it. I have done it on all my vest and crewneck projects and now on the Kauni Cardigan. Works like a dream(I must have commercials on the brain - like the sleep aid Lunesta commercial..Lunesta, works like a dream. Yarnsnob, maybe I truly am crackers!).

Here is the perfectionist relapse part. I did the neckline 3 times. The first frogging I did was because of the color combination choice I used to do the ribbing. First I did deep purple against the lime green. I got almost completely done and the color difference was just too stark compared to the rest of the sweater. Then I tried the color it is now. I like it but....when I was done and tried it on, I saw an area where the pattern did not look exactly the same on the left front neckline decrease and the right front neckline decrease...you can easily see because of the pattern of the squares. So I took it out again and what you see in the photo is the "third time is the charm".

Now for the cast-off edges. I did the invisible cast-off for the sleeves which is a method I learned in the Nihon Vogue class. Why did I do this? I want these edges to have some give/stretch to them. So I used this handy dandy bind-off. You bind off similar to kitchener(using a tapestry neeedle or bodkin). Some folks have asked if I can tell you how to do this. I'm not sure I can. I will have to ask Jean.

I did the regular knit cast-off for the neckline and the button bands because I want these edges to remain firm and NOT stretch.

The buttonhole technique I used was Kevin Ames version of EZ's One-Row Buttonhole. His technique is detailed out in Sweaters from Camp. I'm not in love with the results of this technique. So I guess I am letting go *just a tad* because I left them as is. I'm thinking I should have taken Jean's Buttonhole class at Madrona! The buttonholes are just *ok* to me.


I'd love to hear anyone that has a good buttonhole technique for two color fair isle. I looked in all my books and most techniques are pretty standard.

Here is the finished sweater with all the buttons. I used buttons I picked up at Beppa Buttons...the place that opens only 2x a year. I love this sale but after the first time I went I have not been back because I spent a lot of $$ on buttons. I like the idea of not using all the same button(all vintage). No two buttons are the same..the only button I am not sure about is the button at the top. I liked it because the outline was like the outline the squares in the pattern, except it is a circle.

I can't wait to wear this! It is just so cheeful and fun!