Step Into My Thimble

Anybody else out there think the latest Vogue Knitting did a better job than usual? Sure there are some unwearables (ahem Kaffe Fassett, please think about shape for once because your colors are so awesome) but there are many many good things too.

At the moment I am making a sleeveless top out of Noro Silk Garden. It’s from Noro Vol. 8, and the pattern is Y547, both of these unfortunately don’t seem to be easy to find online or I’d show you. Here’s my progress so far:

The pattern is basically a jogged rib. It seemed like a good idea when I started it, but now I’m just envisioning it feeling like a seriously biased item, and yanking on it to straighten it out whenever I wear it. Plus, figuring out the pattern repeats isn’t easy–the instructions are a little cryptic. I am kind of thinking about ripping it out and just doing a plain ribbed top in the same dimensions. I was hoping to wear it to the conference I’m attending in Alabama next week, but I doubt I’ll finish it by then. We’re having visitors this weekend, which cuts into knitting time…

So for my knitting group meeting last night, I decided to start this. I’ve already planned several mods, which are:

• No beading/embroidery
• Instead, maybe a hand-dyed silk ribbon or button closure at the top of the neck
• Shaping
• A different yarn gauge

I’m making it out of Reynolds Saucy in color 528. It looks like it’s going to go quickly.

I also like this (just like the other Heidi) –maybe in Dale Kolibri?– and this (though I’m not sure I would ever wear it).

One way or the other I’m excited about springy knitting. Anything to avoid hours and hours spent making long sleeves, I tell you!!

The Rochester report!

Barb is a friend of Rodney’s from when he spent a semester with the Naropa Institute in Nepal. Barb and Mike live in a rural area south of Rochester that has been Mike’s family farm for a long time. There are cows! Here is one peeking at us when we visited the milking parlor.

Rodney has now visited Mike and Barb four times, and every time he goes in February or March. This is a shame because Barb has wonderful gardens. Next time we have to go in the summer. But I did get the “craft tour” which included Barb and Mike’s miniatures (both collected vintage items and things they have made themselves, like little southwestern-style furniture), and Barb’s rug-hooking, penny rugs, and quilting. Since Mike and Barb travel so much, they have a great collection of textiles from around the world on display too. Why didn’t I take more pictures??

Other things we did include a day touring around the city of Rochester and its assorted little suburbs (and of course a stop at Abbott’s Frozen Custard); a day that was supposed to be a farm tour but ended up being half spent getting our car fixed; and a day visiting some of the wineries in the Finger Lakes area. Despite the cold it was a good time for that. Nobody else was there and we got a lot of special attention from the wine-tasting staff.

I did make it to Spirit Work, and thank you to all who recommended it. It was really great! They had everything except Rowan Calmer. I bought a bunch of brand-new Manos Cotton Stria in Olive and Navy for a summer top (maybe this–you can see why I was looking for Calmer). I also found some funny restaurant-print fabric for a scrubs top for Rodney at a quilt store. And of course we bought some wine.

About Rochester, I liked the layout of the city, the fact that it’s right by a big old lake (we midwesterners need our Great Lakes you know), and the abundance of funky little neighborhoods. The flagship Wegmans was fun to visit too.

I’ve just had the best week. Rodney and I went on a little adventure across Michigan and Ontario into western New York. Even though it’s that sucky tail-end-of-winter time of year it was a really inspiring trip. I hope I can stretch out the good feelings from it for a long time!

I made Everybody’s Vest from “Hip to Knit” on my trip. You can click on this blurry pic for more details. It was a gift for my sister who I felt needed some cheering up because her family is making her nuts.

I’ll parcel out the details of the trip (there were farm animals, and some craft-supply shopping, and lots of other great stuff) over the next few days. In the meantime, check out my little brother’s precious new puppy. His name is Eddie and he is a Wheaton Terrier.

He has cute puppy toes too!

At last I give you my finished Kyoto. Oh man, I am so glad this one is done! I think I’ve complained about this pattern long enough so I won’t any more. I’m actually going to wear it to work today and see what happens… Click on it to go to the gallery and see more pictures.

The next thing on my list, which I hope will be done after my week of vacation, is Everybody’s Vest from “Hip to Knit.” It’s for my sister, and I’m making it out of yarn I recycled from a sweater that was a $3.00 thrift score, complete with original store tags! I’m planning to put the fiber content label in the vest when it’s done. So far I have about 5″ of the back finished, and I think once I get into the flow of the box stitch, it will go quickly.

That’s all for now. Have a lovely weekend!

Update: Since WordPress makes it so darn easy to have a static page on your site, I give you the Kyoto notes page. Maybe it will help.

That next week I’ll be on vacation?

This is so needed right now. The winter doldrums are making Rodney and me crazy! Plus Stanley is looking forward to a visit to the kitty resort (my parents’ house) while we’re off. And there will be much doing of laundry, and eating of delicious mom-cooked meals, both this and next weekend.

We are driving through Michigan, then on through Canada to the Rochester, NY, area to see a friend of Rodney’s who lives on a farm there for a few days next week. She’s crafty, and a world traveler, and I’m looking forward to it! If you know of yarn shops around there, by the way, please tell me about them.

I’ve been watching my web stats closely the last few days (hence the bandwidth-theft-backlash of yesterday). Although some people still google and go to content from my old MT blog, it’s gone way down since I transferred everything to WP in January. I have decided that now is the time to delete all those old files from my server space. If you notice anything unusual that’s why.

Plus, Kyoto should be done probably Friday night. I might have an update from my parents’, but then I might also be enjoying some time off from the computer…