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.

And Then There Were Three...

I had all these big plans for a blog post right on the first anniversary of my blog.  Then work happened, and life happened, and here I am a couple of weeks late with a lot to catch up on.

First, the Rhinebeck update.  It. Was. Awesome.

Even though the weather did not cooperate quite as well as it did last year, I had a wonderful time.  The week had started out--well, let's just say, not as good as I had hoped.  I took the whole week off because the second week of October is my favorite week of the whole year.  And the first day, I promptly sprained my ankle. 

Yes, this is a photo of my big, fat, grotesquely-swollen foot. And in case you were wondering, no I do not normally have cankles, and yes, the diameter of my ankle is usually much smaller than the diameter of my foot.

So I spent the week with my foot on ice and elevated, and basically working on my computer from home and doing teleconferences for most of my time off.  So Friday when I headed out to make the drive to Rhinebeck, it was my first day back on my feet, so to speak, and I was a little worried the ankle might not make it through 2 grueling days of shopping festival activities.

I started Saturday nice and early, arriving at the gates just a little after 8am.  I met several very nice people as we waited for the 9am start time, and I spent some time planning strategy with Ann, a nurse from Rochester, and Theresa, from Manhattan.  We debated whether Sanguine Gryphon or The Fold would have the longer line, and we decided to hit up SG.  When they finally gave up and let us in, it was like the running of the bulls, and we were glad we hit up SG first. 45 minutes in line, and we were among the first 30 people in line.  I actually ran into my line buddies from SG all the rest of the day, and it was so much fun admiring everyone's special finds.  My favorite comment--when one person showed me her fabulous purchase of a cashmere-merino blend and I asked what she planned to make--"Who cares?  It's cashmere.  Did you feel how soft it is?"  Yes, a woman after my own heart. 

This year, I got smart(er) and put together a list of patterns I had been wanting to make and their yarn requirements and I fulfilled most of them even thought I planned to only buy for 2 or 3.  But I got some really great stuff and I love it all even though it completely violates my de-stashing rule. I stayed all day Sat. leaving close to five, and spent half the day Sunday as well, and I have the credit card bills to prove it. For most festivals, I like having some company, but honestly, I really enjoy doing Rhinebeck alone.  I think it is because, as one of my co-workers said, this is where I go to be with others of my kind.  It is so much fun to meet like-minded folks and just enjoy the yarniness of it all.

Since this was an anniversary of sorts for me, I also sat down at the beginning of my week off and tried to decide what my final project of the year would be.  I had such plans when I started this all.  There was going to be one-sock week, sweater month, bi-weekly knee-socks, and I just didn't get to it all.  But when I really thought about what that one project I wanted to see to completion more than all the others, one quickly floated to the top.  Something that has been lingering, taunting me, for a long time.  So for my final project, I present the completed third sock, of the purple airplane socks pair.


At long last there are two (or is it three...?)


If you will recall, the first sock was accidentally left behind on the very same airplane where the second sock was completed and it broke my heart that the airline would not even look for it.  I bought some replacement yarn right after to make sure it was close in dye lot to the original, but I didn't have the heart to tackle the third sock.  At long last, this week it was put to use.  I also finished up the edgings on my Helena cardigan, and just for good measure, I threw in an easy pair in the Germany colorway just to nicely round things out.  Year-end total: 36 projects completed + 4 skeins gifted, sold, or otherwise disposed of = 40 skeins no longer in my stash.

So now, all that is remaining is a goal for the upcoming year.  I found myself shopping for mainly heavier-gauge yarns this year, so I am going to declare this the year of the sweater.  My goal it to complete at least six sweaters and six lace projects for the year.  I already have the first one on the needles.

So in the spirit of bringing in things I love, I need to send out something I don't love.  I am offering up a skein of Sandnes Garn Lanett in pale blue.  I bought this when I was trying to match the color of some self-striping yarn for a sweater, then later found something much better and no longer had the receipt to return it.  If you are interested in this skein, leave me a comment with a suggestion for my next sweater or lace project.  I will send the skein to the person whose suggestion I like best.  Okay, I will randomly pick from anyone who leaves a comment by next week then contact you by email for your mailing address.  Check out my stash on Ravelry if you want to see a pic (Ravelry user Kapitry).

Bye for now.

Rhinebeck is coming!

Here we are in the first week of October.  As the weather turns colder, and the leaves start to change color and fall, I can think only one thought: Rhinebeck is coming!  The NYSW festival has quickly become one of the highlights of my fall, and I am giddy with anticipation just thinking about it.  I am hoping the weather is anywhere near as perfect as it was last year, as the drive through the Hudson River Valley was almost as enjoyable as the festival itself.

Two weeks until Rhinebeck also marks another milestone for me--in two weeks it will be one year since I started this blog.  My original goal was to use up one skein of yarn per week.  I think it is fair to say, I have failed miserably.  I have kept a running list of projects completed and it is not pretty.  With 2 weeks remaining in my little personal challenge, I have used up 32 (100 g) skeins of yarn, given away 3, and sold 1, bringing the "out" total to 36 of 52.  However, during the same time period, I managed to accumulate 48 new skeins.  I do not feel good about myself.

This weekend, I set a goal to fully update my stash in Ravelry.  This was mainly to give myself a reality check to help keep me in check at Rhinebeck.  I have 157 yarns in my stash!  Not skeins, yarns.  So to console myself, I did what any sane person would do.  I searched and searched on Ravelry until I found people with more yarn that I have.  And there are lots of them.  Isn't it funny that somehow just knowing you are not alone helps? I really, truly, do feel better.

I had decided that if I did not meet my goals (and it is doubtful I will use up 16 skeins in the two weeks remaining) I would not allow myself to shop at Rhinebeck.  But the truth is, I enjoy it too much.  I will balance out my spending, and try not to go too crazy, but going through my stash I realize, I have most of it just because it is beautiful and I love it.  Don't get me wrong--I have my fair share of impulse purchases.  Then there is the cheap yarn I stocked up on when I first started knitting socks and thought of them as more utilitarian and less little works of art (what was I thinking!).  And I do like to keep some more utilitarian yarns on hand for children's socks. So I will spend some time purging my stash of the things I do not love--think of it as knitting feng shui--and try to meet at least my October goal.

I already have some ideas for my next year-long goal now that I have been re-inspired by my stash.  So to celebrate fall, I am planning a give-away for next week.  Stay posted...

Food porn

Going through photos of my recent travels, I realized there was a theme.  And that theme is food.  When I got off the airplane in Frankfurt a week ago, the first sight that greeted me was the familiar sandwich shop stocking up for breakfast.

I sat and watched them make sandwiches for the breakfast crowd.  Yes, I did say breakfast.  And these are not egg and sausage sandwiches.  Turkey, salami, cucumber, tomato, cheese, a slice of hard boiled egg, and just a little bit of European butter, which tastes more like cheese, on fabulous bread.  My favorite is the pumpkin seed wheat bread.  I am not much of a sandwich person except when I am in Europe.  This is my favorite breakfast--or snack--on the go when I am in this part of the world.  I buy a couple when I get off the plane or jump on a train, and I am happy.

And of course, no visit to Germany is complete without a visit to the local Bratwurst stand.  This on is the in Bremen city center plaza, and I must confess I stop by at least once per trip and buy a brat with hot mustard from these ladies for a simple dinner.

I also have to post some gratuitous pics of a wonderful bakery we visited in Montreal.  The Atwater market is one of the oldest in the city, and it has an assortment of gourmet delights that is hard to match.  So when I am lucky enough to be in that city, I try to stop by on my way out of town.  On this most recent trip, I brought a friend, and after a cheese and veggie buying spree, we stopped by the Atwater bakery.  Have you ever seen such artful desserts?  Each one is sheer perfection.

Even the vegetables are displayed artfully.

This is my kind of city!  Even the local ice cream shop seems a little classier than at home. 

Okay, now I promise to get back to the knitting.

International yarn shopping

I cannot believe September has nearly come and gone.  I had a lot of travel lined up for September, so I figured this would mean a scad of knitting time.  When I got a good start on my asymmetrical cables in early August, I figured I would easily meet goal.  Instead, there I was, well into the Labor day weekend, and still not finished with the second sock.  My travels this month have taken me to LA, San Diego, San Francsico, then Germany and Switzerland.  My first week was pretty swamped with work, work, and more work.  But my second week, in San Francisco, I found myself with a free afternoon so I visited my two favorite spots: Napa Valley, and A Verb for Keeping Warm, not necesarily in that order.

I discovered AVFKW when I downloaded the marvellous sock pattern "Sin Miedo" which featured AVFKW's sock yarn, Creating.  About six months ago, I found the Berkeley store and bought up a couple of skeins, one of which I used for my AC socks.  I decided to swing by and see if something else sang to me.  While I was sorely tempted by some Habu silk and some Shibui silk superwash, I decided to save myself (and my credit card) for NYSW, which is coming up in a few weeks.  I did splurge on some olive oils and a wonderful wasabi mustard in Napa, so all in all, a successful afternoon.  I also managed, during my week in SanFran to finish my second AC sock. This gave me a chance to start another project that has been sitting for a while--a pair of flip flop socks for my 15-year-old niece, Taylor.  Sock one was finished somewhere over the Atlantic, and I even got a good start on the second sock.  I have had this skein of Fortissima Mexiko, purchased last winter in a Berlin department store, in my computer bag for ages, and it was great to finally use it up.  The pattern is based on "Cable my big toe", but the truth is, I looked at the picture, glanced at the instructions, and recreated it from memory as best I could.  I am hoping the proportions of the big toe vs. the four little toes is correct.  It seems to fit me, so hopefully I improvised well enough.



Even though there is only one in the shot,
trust me, there are two

The next part of my travels tool me to Switzerland via Frankfurt.  Now, I have been puzzling about something for quite some time.  All of my favorite yarn brands--Lang, ONline, Lana Grossa, Zitron--are German.  Yet, I have never found a good yarn store in Germany though I know they exist.  Since yarn tourism--that is finding a LYS wherever I am and shopping for unique finds--is my favorite travel pasttime, I did some research in the mere 20 hours I had between trips and mapped out a walking tour of yarn stores in downtown Frankfurt.  So I set out from my hotel with five shops on my list, a free morning, and a handful of Google maps.

First on my list was Lana, which I found with little difficulty.  This is a great shop, though very tiny, and the owner, Katia Lejeune, is a real kick.  Every spare inch of space is utilized, and Katia is always wearing something fabulous that she knitted herself.  She had the largest selection I have ever seen of Noro sock yarns, but sadly, no Zitron Unisono (I am hunting for a colorway I could not find for sale in the states) or Lang Jawoll Aktion.

A shopping plaza just up the street from Lana

My beautiful new cashmere

I left with two beautiful skeins of Lang premium cashmere as a consolation prize, but I did not have that feeling of satisfaction that you get when you find something truly wonderful.  Katia had a beautiful tank top made of the same yarn hanging in her window, and I bought enough for a very nice scarf in dark grey.  My next stop was Wolle Rodel.  This seemed to be more of a chain store, and most of the yarns were Rodel's own brand.  Very nice utilitarian yarns, but nothing spoke to me so I left emptyhanded, and still feeling a little underwhelmed.  I got lost on my way to store number 3, and the GPS in my cell phone was not funtioning, so I finally gave up and strolled through beautiful downtown Frankfurt while finding my way slowing back to my hotel.  It was an unbelievably beautful fall day, and I enjoyed the sights of the city as I made my way to the train station to catch a train to Basel.

 

I hopped my train, but sadly, rather than knitting, I had to spend my time finishing my talk for the next day.  I I hate it when procrastination cuts into my knitting time :)  Sadly, my busy work schedule did not allow for any shopping in Switzerland. 

Three days and most of the second sock later, I made my way to Bremen in northern Germany.  I had about 2 free hours Friday afternoon, so I decided to set out for one last chance at shopping.  Now, I have been visiting Bremen for 2-3 times per year for the past 5 years, but I had never yet found a good yarn store.  In truth, it may have had something to do with the fact that I plugged 'wool' rather than 'wolle' into google.  But this time, with help for a website I recently discovered, Plantpurl.com, I found a list of yarn stores in the area, and one was listed a mere 1.8 km from the town center.

My new favorite store in Bremen!

The main cathedral, or Dom, in the city center of Bremen

It was a beautiful fall day, and as I set out away from the beaten path, I discovered part of the city I had never seen before.  It was bright and vibrant, full of shops, restaurants and museums, and tucked in a little corner was Wolle + Mode.  And there I finally found the treasures I had been seeking.  The first was some Regia yarn from their world color series, in the colors of the German flag.  Could there be a more perfect souvenir from Germany?  Then sitting on the shelf above it was Camino Alpaca by Bremont.  I fell in love with this yarn at first sight, but I loved it even more when the shop owner explained to me that Bremont was a combination of the names Bremen and (something I did not quite understand), and that the yarn was produced a mere hour or so from Bremen.  I got even more excited when I check Ravelry and found that the only knitters listing Bremont in their stashes or projects purchased it in Germany, Austria, Norway or Finland. 

I feel like the first person to bring it across the Atlantic (though I know I could never make such a claim).  I was so entranced with Bremont that I also bought some Sara de Luxe, a gorgeous alpaca, silk, and cashmere blend.  Of course I had to pick up a couple of skeins of Lang sock yarn for good measure as well, even if it was not my beloved Aktion.  My good shopping buzz was almost spoiled when my credit card would not go through--many of the smaller shops have machines that will only accept European Union chip cards--but I scraped through my wallet and pooled every last Euro I had, and it was just enough to cover my yarn purchase.  The sweet owner of the shop even insisted on giving me four Euro back so I would have tram fare back to the hotel.  All in all, the most perfect tourist yarn shopping experience ever.

I spend the next hour making my way slowly to downtown, enjoying the sights along the way, and marvelling that after five years I had finally discovered a new part of Bremen.

The flip flop socks were finished shortly into my flight home the next day, so I eagerly started September project 3.  A new pair of STR socks, that I decided to improvise in a leaf-lace pattern in honor of fall.  But more on that later.

Oops, I did it again

So, how did I spend my August?  I continued work on my Asymmetrical cables socks, and I had a business trip to Montreal.  Montreal is one of my favorite cities.  It is beautiful, clean, has a fantastic shopping, and even better food.  It has a very European feel, with all the conveniences of North America. 

I brought a friend with me on the trip, and we had a great time sampling the local cuisine and taking in all the sights.  On our last night, as we were walking through Old Town window shopping, I glanced in a window and saw some really great pieces of art.  It turns out we had happened upon M Galerie d'arte, a wonderful amalgam of gift shop and art gallery.  The owner, Marie, rents out half of the space on a weekly basis to local artists who display their work, then she allows them to sell their work without taking a commission.  The exhibits change once a week, so there is a constant influx of wonderful work by local artists.

I loved what I was seeing, so Marie was kind enough to open up the gallery for me and let me walk around a bit.  As it turns out, the exhibit was set to open the following evening.  I absolutely fell in love with a set of four mixed-media works by Michele McSween.  They are called Origenes, Passage, Evolution, and Esperances, and they are absolutely perfect for the wall above my bed :)  I was so enthralled with them, that Marie called the artist to see if she might be willing to sell before the exhibit opened.  Much to my surprise, she agreed, so I left that night with four beautiful pieces of art having made a much larger impulse purchase than I ever planned on.

I swore before not to buy any more art (my walls are getting full!), but these were too great to pass up.  And, of course, what I like best is that they are one of a kind.  So please go to Michele's website and check out her incredible work.  And if you are ever in Montreal, please check out M Galerie d'arte!