Verb

There are some places that just nourish your soul, and AVFKW is quickly becoming one of those places for me. 

I "discovered" this shop shortly after a pattern was published in Twist Collective using one of their yarns.  It is located in the north part of Oakland, CA, so far north in fact, I would actually consider it Berkeley, and I try to stop by whenever I am in town on business, which is quite a lot lately.

The simple reason is, I always find something there to inspire me.  Aside from her own yarns, from which I had made several great pairs of socks, Kristine carries a great assortment of unique yarns (this is where I first dicovered Pluck MCN Primo and Fiberspates Scrumptious, after all) but also a great assortment of fabrics and new techniques from her travels.

Case in point, I was in here the first week of August after a trip to my favorite customer in South San Francisco (yeah, the summer of no travel thing is really not working out as I had hoped). A while back I got it into my head to make the Crane Creek jacket from a yarn a bit lighter than what the pattern calls for (both are fairly scratchy natural wools). I had a flash of crafting brilliance and decided what this jacket needed was a spot of color and softness, and that what I should do is hold two strands together--one of the neutral colored wool I had already purchased and one of, say, raw silk. So I headed out to Verb to look at some Habu Tsumugi silk I had seen on my last trip.

Kristine, the owner of AVFKW, consulting with a customer on a dress design

I found my silk and more, finally settling on a denim blue to complement my brown wool (though once I start knitting I fear it may obscured the diamond textured pattern a little).

I also could not resist some of Kristine's signature Creating in this great geen and purple colorway, plus the matching green and purple colorways.

But the truly inspiring piece of the day was some wonderful fabric recently arrived from India discovered during Kristine's recent travels. Apparenlty, this is made by local artisans in India who first take the length of fabric and create a design by knotting thread in a certain direction or randomly. The fabric is then dyed, dried, and the yarn removed, leaving a star-like pattern where the thread was removed and in some cases shirring as though the fabric were smocked.  I fell in love with this yardage, and then with these scarves, but I could not think of a single practicle thing I could make from it, so I resisted, thinking I would be back in 2 weeks and if I still wanted it I could come back then and get it.

Well, I did go back to the bay area 2 weeks later this time traveling with a colleague, and despite my best efforts, I was not able to find the time to drive across the bay to Verb. I had been madly debating all week--tea stained fabric or purple scarf?--but alas, since I could not make it to the shop, I feared it would be neither. I was bitterly disappointed since I also wanted some more Creating in the Octavia colorway when I I realized I was just being silly. I just picked up the phone and gave them a credit card number, and a week later the gorgeous purple scarf was mine.  The workmanship truly is amazing, and I am already plotting my Octavia sweater with alternating purple/green ribbing border. Or perhaps a baby blanket? Right after Crank Creek...

Summer recap

At long last, the repair work on my house is finished.  Or rather, I should say was finished this summer.  I moved back in the weekend of July 4, and I still don't have things completely straightened out, but at least I have a kitchen! Someday I am going to be one of those people whose home is company ready in 10 minutes or less, but for now, I think it may be a while before I have things back together.

I had planned to take the entire summer as a travel-free time and just get back in the swing of things, but work and life always intervene.  First, a short trip to Quebec City.  It is only a 6 hour drive--and a beautiful one at that--so when an opportunity for a work trip arose, I grabbed a friend and we made the drive.

I never did find a yarn store in close proximity, but I did plenty of other shopping. I managed to return with some pewter jewelry, a Canadian leaf Christmas ornament, and some artwork.

 

We also made it to Chute Montmorency, a waterfall higher than Niagara, but with less water volume, though I delined to climb to the top. In reality, we were in a hurry to get back for a concert that night, but I will admit, the climb looked a little bit daunting.

Fil

What was I doing again? It has been so long I can't remember.

The spring went by in a blur--four trips in four weeks that really kept me on my toes. First conference in Vancouver, then a quick trip to Mexico City, followed by a foray to San Francisco to visit my favorite customers, and finally an international sales meeting in Berlin.




The olypic torch on the Vancouver waterfront at the convention center

There is a ton to catch up on, including the end of my flood construction, but first a little story about Mexico.

Way back in 1989, I visited Mexico City at the start of a work-study program and had the time of my life doing a whirlwind tour in 2 days with some fellow students.  This is the first time I have been back since then, and I had shared some of those great memories with our local rep.

This is Octavio, our Mexican sales rep and my guide and chauffer during the trip.

I had told Octavio about my earlier trip, and a particular restaurant we had visited that I had loved, so during the second day of my visit, we finished work early and Octavio surprised me with an impromptu tour of the zocalo and a visit to the Casa de los Azulejos for my favorite enchiladas suizas and fresh guacamole.

Palacio de las bellas artes, Mexico City



Casa de los azulejos

 Octavio is one of nine children, and is so named because he is the eighth.  He's a great guy, and very sharp.  Over lunch, I was asking about his family, and he mentioned one of his sisters had been an archeologist, but had retired from the field and decided to start her own business.  And what type of business might you ask? Turns out, she opened a yarn store. I must have started involuntarily drooling at that point, because Octavio paused his story and asked "Wait--you wouldn't want to go see it, would you?"  I gave the most emphatic 'yes' that I could muster with a mouth full of enchiladas, and off we went.

After a short drive through downtown, we arrived at Fil to visit Octavio's sister Rosio. I knew right away I was going to like this place :)

Octavio confessed that his wife, mother, and mother-in-law were avid knitters, and he asked if I had a basement full of baskets filled with yarn that I never intended to use.  Technically, I do not have a basement, but the rest is pretty accurate. Bottom line: Octavio gets me.

Fil is a light and colorful little shop, and I had the time of my life. Rosio had some wonderful custom cabinets for yarn storage built for her by another brother, and I was drooling over those as much as the yarn selection.

Rosio was kind and incredibly knowledgable, so when I asked if by chance she had some locally sourced yarns she would recommend, she pointed me to some real gems. 

I discovered Estambre del Bosque, a little free-trade company located near Aguascalientes, and a wonderful new linen/viscose blend called Natura Marina.  The natural colors were beautiful, and it had a drape like many very expensive linens I have found.  The best part? A little under $3 USD per skein!  I am not kidding.  I could not find yardage listed anywhere, and I cannot even find the yarn on line, but I am guessing it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 yds/50g.  I bought all she had of a light silver color, and am hoping against hope that is enough for a summer tee or sweater. Just in case it is not, I also picked up three more skeins of a darker gray and will resort to stripes if needed.

My other gem was Omega Nilo, a cotton/silk/linen blend that had the same texture as some Riveting I was eyeing not too long ago.  I don't want to make any of you jealous, but let's just say I left with sweater quantities of 2 yarns and spent less that $50 USD. Best. Yarn. Shopping. Day. Ever.

Rosio also gifted me with a small skein of some local handknit. We were changing subjects quickly and I am the first to admit my Spanish is a bit rusty, so I didn't quite catch whether she spun it or it was spun and dyed by one of her patrons, but it is handspun from some local raw wool.  It has some great character, so I will have to find something cool to make from it.

I was so entranced with my Estambre del Bosque, I left it in my suitcase for my back-to-back SanFran and Berlin trips (I only had one day in between DF and SF, and left straight for Berlin from SFO, so one less thing to unpack was welcome) and cast on the Radian Yoke sweater the second I finally finished my second Grace socks. 

After Berlin, I had to put it down for a couple of weeks while I attempted to put my house back together, but I picked it up again last week and am racing to the finish so I can start my Olympics project.  I was concerned about having enough, but I am past the waist increases and am only about 1/3 of the way through skein 4 (I have six total, plus three of the dark), so I think I am going to be fine as I have only vents, hems, and sleeves remaining.

Next up, the aftermath of the flood, and I seem to be craving wool.

Long Time Gone

The last few months have been crazy, crazy, and as a result, it has been a very long time since I posted.  So here is the five minute catch-up:

Went to Colombia in February.  Got to work with these awesome people.

They took me salsa dancing (yes, I salsa dance, but only in the Carribean) and to hear Mariachis

And to a lunch literally on the river where these guys serenaded us.

Then on a quick trip to see Cartagena de Indes, where we saw cool stuff like this...

And this...

Along with some medieval implements of torture:

In March, my house flooded. A utility worker opened the wrong combination of valves, which resulted in large quantities of canal water flooding our lobby and several units, including mine.  All my stuff got wet (the downstairs stuff, at least)...

so now my walls look like this...

and I have no kitchen, because all my cabinets and appliances got wet. 

We are mid-renovation now, and I have been trying to balance travel to exotic places like Nashville, Woods Hole, and Durham with selecting new cabinets, countertops, appliances and flooring, all while having no kitchen or living room, and all the downstairs stuff piled in the upstairs while I sort through the wet stuff.

It was all going fairly well, until I remembered I had signed up for a sock swap and had to get something mailed by the end of April.  Sadly, I remembered this mid-April, decided I would try and do a quick, project that I narrowed down to these three yarn choices:



In the end, I chose neither and did something else entirely, but I did send one of these along as a swap goodie.

I love how the final socks turned out, and I think my partner will love them, but I did finish three days late :(   So for the first time, I am a bad swapper and I hope my partner is not too upset.

I ended up liking the swap socks so much, I decided to make a pair for myself while I still had the pattern memorized.

In the meantime, I will get back to the fabulously colorful thigh-high stockings I started for my niece, foolishly choosing a singles yarn in a light fingering weight, which means my row gauge is much smaller than I am used to, so there are many more rounds and it is taking forever.

She asked for the wildest colors I could find and the tallest knee-socks I could knit, so we will see how it all comes out.

I should also probably get back to my camino alpaca lace knee-highs at some point as well.  They came out quite wide following the pattern, so they don't reach the knees or stay up even on my wide calves. I am procrastinating picking out the lace so I can change the overall number of increases.

I will pause now for a small moment of sadness since this weekend is MD sheep and wool, and it is the first one I have missed in several years, but with my renovation nightmare plus conference earlier than usual, there was just no way to make it work.  Hopefully I will be back next year.

That's all for now, folks. At least until I upload my swap sock photos. 

Rocky Road

At long last, I have finished my Rocky Coast Cardigan!  According to my ravelry project page, I started this Oct 24, and it should have been done long ago.  When I started, it all seemed so simple. I had a full bag of yarn--which I usually consider to be sweater quantity--that was perfect for the sweater and that I had picked up on clearance at my LYS. Nothing better than knitting from stash and getting the yarn at a 65% discount, right?  I could knit through a skein in about an hour, so I figured working on it an hour a night, it would be done in 10 days.  Easy peasy, right?

Well, my first mistake was assuming that since I was using a heavier yarn and larger needles than the pattern was called for, my gauge would be wider than the pattern and I would need fewer yards than the pattern calls for.  In reality, I made gauge even with the heavier yarn and bigger needle so I had to either find more yarn (Rowan alapca silk aran, which has been discontinued since I purchased the yarn) or abort the project.  Sadly, I had done just enough to know that I loved the sweater and loved the yarn, so I put my Rocky Coast on hold while I hunted down more yarn.

 
I managed to purchase three more skeins, but I suspected that was not nearly enough, so patiently stalked Ravelry until I found 8 more. However, the owner of the 8 would not sell fewer than the whole lot of 8, which I suspected was too much.  I swallowed hard and bought all 8 for fear that I would never find enough elsewhere to finish my cardi. So now I had 21 skeins from 3 different dye lots and I paid more than double for the the last 8 than I had paid for my original 10 plus the three additional.  Since I have had the sad experience of seeing a distinct line between the new and old dye lots in projects before, I had to be a little creative in how I alternated the skeins. 

In the end, it went like this: bodice down to sleeve divide done from 5 of my original 10 skeins.  From the sleeve divide, alternate original dye lot and the lot of 8 every 2 rows, with bottom ribbing coming from the lot of 8.  This left me with 2 full skeins of the original 10, which was not enough for 2 sleeves.  So on the sleeves, I resumed alternating every 2 rows between the original lot and the lot of 8. Finally, the continuous ribbing that runs up the sides and around the neck was done from the lot of three, and it did take all three. 

All this switching of yarns every couple of rows slowed me down, as did the fact that this project was a little too large to take on an airplane.  And I traveled a lot in Nov. and Dec. (San Fran, Washington, D.C., Utah, Germany, N. Caronlina, then back to San Fran).  I figured with 2 weeks off at Christmas, I would have plenty of time to knit all day and finish this up.  I slept instead (see my previous post). Towards the end, I was only knitting a row a day, but at long last, it is done.

Final stats: 19 skeins consumed, 2 skeins left in stash. 10 skeins out of my stash, but 2 back in.  But it is done, the ends are woven in, and other than feeling a little wide on my shoulders, it fits. That may be how the fit is designed from what I am seeing on line, so if I wear the right tee-shirt under it, it is the perfect warm and cozy cardi for those cold New England evenings.  I have not blocked yet, but I do love it, and at least in the lighting in my house, I cannot tell there are 3 different dye lots involved. Here is a pre-blocking pic, and if I can take it off long enough, I will block it and post an update.

With all the good finishing mojo I am feeling, I also finished up one of my longtime UFOs--the little (blue) burgandy sweater!  I have been slowly attacking the seams for a few weeks now, and I added the neck ribbing this afternoon while I had my #9 needles out from the RCC.  That means 1 of 6 sweaters completed towards the annual goal, and 1 of 4 UFOs completed towards my new years knitting resolutions.

I am craving a fast and easy project next.  I am debating between starting the Umaro afgan, or a quick pair of plain socks. Umaro should fly pretty quickly if I use 2 strands of Cascade EcoWool and size 15 needles, so I am leaning heavily that way.  Plus it would mean 2 big skeins out of stash :) Although there is the slim chance I may need one more...Maybe I can finish during tomorrow's season finale of my new obsession, "Downton Abbey".

I also still have my lace stockings from the teal Camino Alpaca on the needles.  I can't seem to get a lace kneesock out of 400 yards, which confounds me to no end, so I am deliberating trying to buy more vs. altering the pattern vs. (gasp!) ripping out the first sock and finding a new pattern.  Since I bought this in Germany and have not found it sold in the US yet, I am leaning toward the latter.  I am also considering just accepting they are mid-to-high calf socks that are not quite knee socks.  Perhaps they could be worn with a long garter?? While I deliberate this, I will try to whip out a quick Umaro.

On Resolutions and UFOS...

I have always loved the new year and the symbolic fresh start that comes with it.  For me, the holidays brought some big changes, in the form of a new roommate.

This is Tess, short for Tessa (originally Tesla, but I was afraid that was a little too geeky for someone who works with really big magnets).  I met her over Thanksgiving when my sister brought her to dinner.  Let me explain--my sister works for a dog rescue fostering dogs that have been given up and retraining them for adoption.  Tess stole my heart right away, so I adopted her Christmas Day. 

The truth of the matter is, I have been feeling a sort of unease of late.  I get this way from time to time; not exactly restless, but like I have become a little too complacent and am in need of something to shake things up.  I have found that when I feel dissatisfied, I am driven to make changes that can results in great growth or a change in my life path.  It was this same sense of unease that drove me to return to school for my graduate degree some years ago, then later to leave my friends and family to move across the country for a low-paying but challenging job over a high-paying job that would have kept me in my comfort zone.  And honestly, I consider those two decisions as the two single best things I have ever done.  So I am hoping that sharing my life and home with Tess will be the start of something very positive in my life.

That said, it is not without its challenges, not the least of which is scheduling.  Tess likes to walk.  A lot.  Several times a day.  This is not so much compatible with a workaholic who travels frequently.  I took off two weeks at Christmas for us to settle in and get used to each other, and I am happy to say both of us did a lot of walking and a lot of napping during that time.  It helped that we had a streak of very nice weather, with little or no snow and atypically high temperatures for New England in January.  Next to walking, Tess's favorite thing is looking at the ducks on the river.  Every day she rushes to this spot, and I practically have to drag her away.

I am embarrassed to say I have not walked outside this much since I moved here, and I have loved reconnecting with the area.  I have also found my "backyard" to be rife with inspiration.  If I were putting together a "what inspires me" page in my design notebook, here are some of the images I would include:

The ice forms these delicate little sculptures on the trees along the river bank that look like finely-blown strings of glass pearls.  They don't show up as well as I had hoped in my photos, but hopefully you get the idea.

 And of course the wonderful reminders that we are a mill town first and foremost.

I actually live in a refurbished mill building that was originally built in 1830 and housed a very large cotton spinning and weaving factory.

There are reminders of the industrial age everywhere, and I have always found this to be a source of inspiration for my knitting.

I don't know if you can read the print on the side of  the building, but it says "Knit Fabrics: We take PRIDE in our product". So that is going to be my motto for the year--taking pride in my knit fabrics.  That said, I was asked recently in the form of a questionnaire for a swap what my knitting resolutions were for the year.

 

Back in October, I decided my second blog year goal was to knit six sweaters, but my personal New Year's knitting resolution is to tie up some loose ends in the form of some UFOs.  And I don't mean that in a generic, "I am going to finally finish all my projects" kind of way.  I have four particular UFOs in various states of completion that have been on my mind of late, and my goal is to tie up these loose ends once and for all.  Here they are (in no particular order):

1. The Little Blue Sweater, or in my case, the little burgandy sweater.  I started this, embarrassingly enough, in 2008 on a trip to Hong Kong.  The front, back, and sleeves have been done forever.  Status: stuck in seaming.  Reason: You see, I hate seaming.  I hate seaming lace more than I hate seaming.  And I hate seaming set-in sleeves above all else. Seaming set-in sleeves made of lace?  Forget about it.  Goal:  January, to have it stitched up and neckband added. 
2. Lace Cardigan #10, from Vogue Knitting Spring 2007.  All the knitting was done in 2 weeks.  This was the project on which I discovered the joy of airplane knitting, and all but sleeves were done in 2 cross-country flights.  Status:  You guessed it--stuck in seaming.  Reason:  See #1 above.  Sad, I know as I have seamed many a project before and since without this type of time lag. Goal: Let's just say by spring.  That gives me a nice, wide, 3-month window.
3. Lily of the Valley Opera Gloves.  I fell head over heels for this pattern, and celebrated my love with an indulgent purchase of a luxury silk-cashmere lace-weight for the project. Status: Middle of glove one.  Reason:  I discovered two very important things.  One, I hate bobbles. Two, cashmere lace weight breaks very easily.  You see, I knit lots of socks. Most of my socks are made of wool. Wool is strong. I pull the wool really tight at the end of each needle to avoid ladders. That poor cashmere never had a chance.  After 3 breaks in 5 rows, I put them down in frustration, with a vision of starting over and using knupps instead of bobbles. Goal: I am going to give myself a lot of lattitude with this one.  Let's say by Dec 31 2012...
4. Map of the World sweater.  Ah, this one is a true blast from the past.  I ordered the kit complete with Reynolds Saucy cotton back in the early 90's when I was primarily a crocheter who knitted occasionally.  It was my first intarsia project, and what a doozy!  (Though I have to say, I am quite pleased with the work my teen-aged self did on it) The colors are reminiscent of what I wore in the 80's (teal, hot pink and orange!), and it is an over-sized, drop-shoulder design with no shaping whatsoever.  But, hey, it is a map of the world, and how cool is that!  Status:  North and south America, Australia, most of the Pacific, and half of Africa completed.  Russia and China still looming.  Bits and pieces of Europe scattered about.  Reason: I was flaky back then and never stayed loyal to a project for long.  Goal:  Sometime after the Rocky Coast Cardigan and in all likelihood before I get around to seaming set-in sleeves made of lace.  Not needed for any particular season because let's face it--I am not going to wear this thing in public!  It is more about making a personal statement (to myself, natch) about finishing long-standing UFOs.  And I want to be able to say I knit a map of the world, because really, how cool is that!   

 Bye for now.

Seatmates!

With all the travel in Oct-Nov-Dec, I have had a hard time finding the energy to post.  I have had some interesting travel and knitting experiences, though.

I actually had to rush back from Rhinebeck to catch a flight to Atlanta.  I left just after noon, and only stopped briefly to admire the beautiful fall foilage along the ride home.  I quickly swung by my house and swapped out suitcases, then headed straight to the airport to catch a flight to Atlanta.  My seatmate was a very interesting woman who had just published a book on sales management.  We actually started talking when I took out my knitting--this is always a great conversation starter--and chatted all the way until we picked up our respective luggage and parted ways at the taxi stand.

I had been seated next to another book author in September, and both promised to send me copies of their books, though I have not received either yet.  Honestly, if I were to choose one thing that I love most about travel, it would be this: the interesting people you meet along the way that you would never come in contact with otherwise.  I was recounting this story on ravelry, and got a reply back from another author, who had recently returned from her own book tour.  During the course of her tour, she had offered up books to her seatmates on various flights, so we decided to become virtual seatmates.  We began corresponding, and she offered to send me a copy of her book, which arrived a couple of weeks ago.  It is a beautiful meditation on knitting and service and how the two fit together, and I am enjoying it very much.  Thank you virtual seatmate!

Another interesting experience was talking with the flight attendants on a short commuter flight in November.  We had a lively discussion of knitware and they told me they loved to purchase hand-knit items from a friend of one of their colleages.  Their favorite item by far was what they called "circle scarves" which I believe is an infinity cowl.  They tell me there is a waiting list a mile long for these, so I may have to try knitting up a couple.  Perhaps that will be my knitted gift of the year since everyone I know already has socks.