knot another hat

adventures in owning a hip and knitworthy yarn store

5.31.2006

Picture Day!

Today was picture day at Campbell's school, which she refused to partake in. Luckily, I snapped this great shot of her before she left, just in case we don't get any from school.

So this is the reason I have had very little knitting to showcase:

We move tomorrow. I can. not. wait. I am ready to have this whole thing over. Plus, I'm really looking forward to getting into our new place, and tired of living in disarray for the last month while we packed up all our crap. Again. To another non-permanant place. Oh well. Waddayagonna do in this over-inflated little town? Here is the sad part of leaving:
This is the view from our bed, and therefore the one we wake up to every morning. Not bad, eh? (That's Mt. Adams and the Columbia River, btw.) And I can't really say we get to wake up to that all winter long, when it's too cloudy to see the mountain. But we can always see the river, which is beautiful no matter what.

So, on to knitting. Here are Nancy and Debbie at last night's sock class:
And here is Judy and Yvonne (who teaches classes here at KAH):
And last but not least, my knitting. I have actually made a lot of progress on the Lotus Tank in the last few days (in my denial of having actual store work), and am very close to finishing up. I'm excited about this one - the pattern has been perfectly lovely, and I've tried on the WIP and I think (knock on wood) that it will fit just fine. And I got the most slammin' red heels the other day, which I will hopefully showcase with the finished Tank very soon.
So that's all for now. The 2nd Koigu sock is getting close as well, so it must be time to start some more socks! And I do plan on getting started on that Leaf Sweater in the Seta - don't give up on that! But - after the move.

5.26.2006

Thanks Supa Dupa Secret Pal!

Yesterday I got the cutest little handmade book in the mail! And this quote is inside the front cover:

That is happiness; to be dissolved into something great. - Willa Cather

So perfect - thank you Supa Dupa Secret Pal!

On the knitting front: not much to report. My evenings are consumed with packing, and my days in the store are consumed with product uploads to the new website (hopefully to go live in the next few weeks!). So very little knitting is going on. I am almost done with the last lace repeat on the Bamboo Tank, thankfully. Then it will be plain knitting in a race to the finish line.

That's all for now - I promise pictures next time!

5.21.2006

Éireann go Brách!

Your Inner European is Irish!



Sprited and boisterous!
You drink everyone under the table.

I've always known this. I knew this long before I found out that my ancestors hail from County Cork. It's just that before I found out, I thought I was a wannabe. Now I know it's in my genes.

5.19.2006

Thank you thank you thank you!

Hey Supa Dupa Secret Pal!!!

Thank you so much for this!


And how timely it is - I'll need some pampering after dealing all day with this:


Ask me how many times I bound off, took it out, and bound off again. Go ahead, ask.

Five. Being that these were toe-up socks, a loose bindoff is key to, oh, say, getting the sock over my foot.

1) bound-off: too tight. 2) tried to be "consciously" looser: too tight. 3) went up 2 needle sizes and bound off: too tight. 4) did Cat Bordhi's suggestion for a looser bind off by picking up a stitch between each stitch and binding it off: lettuce-leaf-edge too loose.

Then I screamed a bit, cried, ate a cookie, contemplated living with the lettuce edge, decided it would bug the crap out of me, and took it out again.

5) combined regular bind-off with picking up an extra "tweener" stitch every 3 stitches: and viola.

I can live with it. Now on to #2.

And THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my supa dupa secret pal for making my day! :)

5.18.2006

Blog blog blog

So here it is, Secret Pal time, and I am falling lax in my blogging duties.

I'm sorry.

I have minimal excuses. Bookwork at the store. An impending household move (and therefore the requisite packing). Let's see....what else...oh. Nothing else, I guess.


Here are my Mother's Day socks, all packaged and ready. I made cute little labels after being inspired by Alison's Sockapalooza labels.

And I have been knitting (a bit). The progress on the Bamboo tank is minimal and therefore will not be shown. I do have a great pair of toe-up (my first time) Koigu socks to show,

and to show off someone else's knitting, here is a beautiful pair of Activ Effekt socks that Yvonne knit up for the store:


Thanks Yvonne!

So I think I have a few ideas for my two secret pals (one skein and sp8). And I'm toying with the idea of the crocheted bathmat as a one skein (or cone, as it may be) gift. Though let the record reflect my weak crochet skills and lack of love for Peaches & Cream cotton. But I'll still think about it. . . (maybe it's more that I would like to receive one of those bathmats?? hmm)

Here's a shot from the store balcony - it's been crazy windy here so the kites are out in force on the river. I know they're hard to see - sorry. It's a nice distraction when things slow down around here. :)

5.12.2006

A taste of sunshine

First: To everyone who expressed their concern and well-wishes about my father-in-law, I sincerely thank you. It was nice to hear from strangers and friends that there were people thinking good thoughts for us. He is seeming to slowly make progress, though there will be much more time in ICU and atleast 6 months recovery, presuming all continues to go well. Thank you, everyone.



It's going to be another beautiful (if windy) day here, and by Monday it will be close to 90. But we all know it's just a teaser, because it always gets cold again at the end of May/beginning of June. Just in time to rain and ruin the cherry crop. But here are pics from the store balcony this morning, to relish for the moment, anyway.



A new project: I have started the Lotus Lace tank that is on the cover of the current Knits. It is knit in SWTC Bamboo, which I carry, so voila! A new store model. One that will fit me, I might add. Hopefully.

I have been contacted by my Secret Pals for both SP8 and One Skein, and am having so much fun! I'm so glad I finally caved and joined the "swap" subworld. :)



Other small tidbits: New sock yarn from The Fiber Denn, procured from the wonderful Etsy (left); and...









I am changing colors on the Seta sweater, from purple to green (more to my taste, in actuality) (right).

That's all for now.

5.09.2006

Retreat, mobius, Cat, socks, toilets and more...

I'm back!

This past weekend I went to the TNNA Retailer's Retreat in Denver and it was great! I met 35 or so other retailers from around the country and spent two days in class with none other than Cat Bordhi. Let me tell you - that woman is amazing. And a genius. She taught us the magic of the mobius, and I am in awe that her brain came up with a way to knit this mysterious mathematical abstraction. If you have not discovered the beauty of the mobius, I highly encourage you to grab up one of her books now. A mobius, if you didn't know, is a shape with only one surface and one edge. Chew on that for a while!

Cat patiently demonstrating mobius concepts to a bunch of people who by their nature are giving her a hard time. Below are my new friends Brigitte from Wooly Lamb in Chicago and Doni from Sip & Knit in Maitland, FL.

Knitting my mobius bag, pocket in progress, to be felted (in Cascade Pastaza).

And just in case you were curious (and come on, you know you were), here is the toilet in my hotel room.
Now look at that picture again and tell me where you are supposed to flush that thing?????

Oh, duh, by the sink, stupid. Everyone knows that.

And last but not least, here are the three pairs of socks that I finished on the trip.

I am hesitatingly putting these up, even though they are gifts for Mother's Day, and Mother's Day is not quite here. But I feel pretty confident that the intended recipients don't look at my blog, so...here they are. The purple pair are the Fritzy's socks I blogged about before; the pastel green/blue pair are my own slip-stitch design, and the bright striped pair are Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Fun & Stripes. That brings me to 10 pairs of socks since I started knitting socks in January. Hmph!

5.03.2006

No news is ___ news

I don't know how to fill in the blank above. I don't exactly have good news, but nor is it bad. I apologize for not posting for so long after such a heavy message. I thought if I waited long enough I would be able to post that all was well and Keith was on his way to a full recovery. But his condition is very, very serious still, and we are still hanging on to some kind of crazy roller coaster that none of us wanted to ride.

But I did finish the socks Melponeme suggested I make for him, and they are modeled here (oops - pic coming soon) by his son, my husband. I did them out of Austermann Step, because I thought the Aloe and Jojoba in the yarn would help the healing along. It will be quite a while before he will be able to wear them, but we have told him they are finished and waiting for him, and we think he understands even if he can't respond right now.

And since I did a lot of anxious sitting over the last 10 days, I also finished 2 more Mother's Day socks (out of a total six needed), bringing me to the halfway point (and also marking 4 1/2 socks in 7 days - a personal record). I never actually posted about this, but I planned to make 3 pairs of socks for Mother's Day gifts. I'd show you pics, but I don't know if there are any lurkers out there who are the intended recipients, so I can't risk it.

In other news, if all is stable with Keith I will be heading to the TNNA Retailer's Retreat in Denver this weekend. I have been very excited about this trip, but with the current situation I'm not so jazzed. I know it will be a great event, but I will be distracted and worried that whenever the phone rings it will be bad news.

SP8 Questionnaire Extraordinaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Oh boy. I love all flavors of sock yarn. I don't use a ton of novelty stuff, but that doesn't mean I don't necessarily like it. About the only thing I never use is good 'ole acrylic.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a couple Ashland Sky clear needle storage bags that work really well.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have only been knitting for about 3 years, but I've covered a lot of ground in that time. I have a yarn store now, and I would consider myself to be an advanced knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

No, but I should! Does etsy do wishlists? I'll have to check that out.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Lavender, straight up.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Oh my. 10 lbs since Christmas? I'd say I have a sweet tooth. Chocolate always does the trick.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I used to be a serious scrapbooker, but since I started knitting I haven't done jack in that department. I pretty much knit knit knit. And I don't spin, yet.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I love just about all kinds of music. I have extremely ecclectic tastes, and especially love indie stuff. I love listening to KXCI online, which is an independent radio station out of Tucson. Oh, and yes to MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I've always had a very stand-offish relationship with color. I don't think I have a favorite, and choosing colors is always more of an instinctive thing than a deliberate thing for me. But, I have been in a green place for quite a while now...

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am married and have an almost-3-yr-old daughter. We have one long-haired cat,
Elsie.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Sorry to be a cliche, but I HATE ponchos. Can't stand 'em. I do wear scarves, and only wear hats when I'm out in the snow or really inclement weather.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Sweaters and socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Socks and sweaters. And one lace shawl.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Love 'em.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

addi Turbos, baby.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Both.

17. How did you learn to knit?

My mother-in-law forced me to learn when I was pregnant and on bedrest and had nowhere to run and hide. :) I say that very tongue-in-cheek, because she obviously saw some kind of potential in me that I never would have known was there. And now? It's my life and career, and I couldn't love her more for it.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

A baby blanket out of cheap yarn started almost exactly one year ago.

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, hands down. And then maybe Halloween, for the great decor and
parties.

20. Is there anything that you collect?

No, I'm really trying to simplify my life right now. (Oh, you mean besides yarn? I do collect yarn. But that's how I ended up with a yarn store. So.)

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I get Vogue and Knits here in the store. I always, always love knitting books. I don't have the One Skein book yet, and it looks fun. Also, The Sweater Workshop is on my list, Folk Socks, ummm, maybe I do need an Amazon wishlist.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I haven't tried steeking yet...but I'm not sure if I'm emotionally ready for it. Oh - instarsia. Haven't mastered that yet.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

You know, I wasn't until about 4 months ago: what the hell was wrong with me? I love knitting socks. My foot is 9" long, and 8" around.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

09/12.