Knitting – Page 4

December 15, 2013December 2, 2013

Swatch: Harriets’ Yarns and Pagewood Farms

I needed some needles to stitch up the Diamond Lace Mitts so I went online to find a yarn store in the Palm Springs area. There was not a lot to choose from and the one called “Harriets’ Yarns” in Palm Desert was an obvious choice–my bff is named Harriet. On the map it looks like Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert are close together, yet when you are driving down Ramon Avenue and then Bob Hope Drive and then Country Club Drive, stopping at all of the lights, it feels a lot further. At last we found it in a large shopping area. (Just noticed the apostrophe seems to be misplaced or there is more than one Harriet!)

77-780 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, CA

The shop offers a good selection of quality tools and some interesting pattern books I had not ever seen (hardly happens!). I picked up a fun book for my small friend Claire called, “Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf” that helps to teach young people how to knit. I drooled over Botanical Knits also by Alana Dakos.

Pagewood Farms "Garden Party" wool in color Sante Fe. — Pagewood Farms “Garden Party” wool in color Sante Fe.

Then I found this beautiful hand spun wool by Pagewood Farm called Garden Party. The color is called Sante Fe, yet reminds me of the colors of the sea. I have a good friend who has a group of friends that call themselves the mermaids and this particular yarn looks like something a hip and chic mermaid would wear. I bought the large skein and some size 19 needles. I found a pattern on Pagewood Farms website and knit it up quickly. I hope she likes it.

December 6, 2013December 1, 2013

Swatch: Diamond Lace Mitts in NZ Wool

I was given a skein of “Cocoon Amethyst” by Rare Yarns of New Zealand when I was in Dunedin in September. (Remember the lovely ladies of Twisted Stitch?) I left New Zealand without a pattern, so recently, as I looked at the gaps on my Christmas gift list, I logged onto Ravelry website and found a pretty project for my young friend Grace Julie. It is called “Diamond Lace Mitts” and can be found in a Rare Yarns publication and only requires one skein. I could not find the book, so I emailed Rare Yarns and they sent me the pattern–complimentary.

These mitts are relatively easy and fast to knit. I made these up in two evenings of knitting while lounging with the family immersed in Thanksgiving holiday conversation. I sewed them in about 20 minutes on the plane trip home using my Auntie’s small hands as my model. I like how they turned out and they will keep Gracie’s wrists and hands warm during her German winter. The yarn is delightful to work with and quite strong and the overall effect is very pretty.

I really like Rare Yarns, yet there is only one yarn shop in Maryland (USA) that sells their wool. So I guess I will need to stock up when I am in New Zealand in February.

November 8, 2013November 5, 2013

Swatch: Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits

In the “tradition” of Interweave’s other theme publications, Jane Austen Knits, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, this magazine presents designs inspired by the popular television program Downton Abbey. The cover promises “27 inspired knitting projects for upstairs, downstairs & the troops.” The story lines in Downton Abbey cover the time period from the sinking of the Titanic, through the Great War (WWI) and the roaring twenties, so the knitting projects run the thin line between retro and costume.

I enjoyed the articles on life in Highclere Castle, marrying an English lord, and knitting for the troops more than the knitting designs. I was surprised by the knitwear for “downstairs.” The projects for the servants hold more modern appeal to me as a knitter and potentially for my wardrobe.

These magazines are expensive at $14.99 US/CAN and are more easily justified if you think of them as a booklet that you will keep for ideas and inspiration. I have not made a project from any of these specialty publications so I can only hope that they hold the same standard of pattern accuracy as other Interweave publications.

This magazine will disappear from the news stands about the time Season 4 begins to play on PBS in the United States: January 5, 2014.

November 4, 2013November 2, 2013

Travel is Life

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, this month. I have several longer travel-writing projects I want to pursue and I am challenged with carving out the time needed to complete these and get them to publication. I am excited about this challenge. I completed a 50,000+ word novel in 2011 while I was living in St Heliers, Auckland and it helped me discover myself as a writer. I wrote the first draft to a mystery novel called Death by Sand and Gravel. Over time I discovered that I make a better travel writer than mistress of mysteries, so I am using November to recommit to a more disciplined approach to my writing life.

November is National Novel Writing Month.

The reward will be a couple of long essays that I can independently publish through On Your Radar Media Company and many, many blog posts. There are other rewards. To write “The Hip and Chic Knitter’s Guide to Norway,” I will also knit a pretty-in-pink project that I purchased in Bergen. This will involve some pattern translation challenges and may involve interviewing other knitters who regularly translate patterns from other languages into English. This child’s sweater will also be a Christmas gift for a friend’s daughter. (Sorry to remind you that Christmas is coming.)

Thinking through how I am going to translate this pattern–asking my friend Susie in Sweden to help me and coordinate with her friends in Stavanger–got me to thinking about how travel is no longer a time set aside with strict bookends. At one time it felt like my “self” on adventures abroad was somehow different that the duller, more cautious Julie who lived a work-a-day life in NorCal. At some point, my travels and the friends I made on my adventures became so numerous that they could not be easily contained in a 2 week time slot called “vacation.” The transition was complete when I redesigned my life to be less about earning a paycheck and more about living a full life. I now have as many or more friends living abroad and I see my travel adventures as bright colored threads woven into my life tapestry, not a separate scarf only donned at the airport. Nor are my work threads the beige neutral threads in my life; they are full of vibrant color too.

October 30, 2013October 28, 2013

World of Wearable Art is WOW!

English speakers have a couple of dozen superlatives at our disposal to express complete amazement: stupendous, boffo, awesome to name a few. As I watched the World of Wearable Art show unfold, I just kept saying “Wow!”

Inspiring fashion in the lobby to set the mood.

The level of creativity and inventiveness made such a deep impression on me in the few examples I had seen in museums that I timed my visit to New Zealand around the 2 weeks of the show. You have to plan as the tickets go on sale in January and many of the evenings sell out quickly. My friend UK Sarah was willing to go with me and make a girls weekend in Wellington on the strength of my enthusiasm, and then she saw a few of the previous entries on display in Rotorua and she became a convert.

Fortunately we had friends with a flat near downtown so we did not have to find lodging. We could walk to the TSB Bank Arena in Queens Wharf, even with our heels and fancy dress. You do not have to dress up, but it can be part of the fun. It is an audience who will admire your effort. I received several compliments on my wrap while standing in the inevitable line to the ladies restroom. (The restroom is a must stop before the show–no intermission!)

The stage is set so each creation can come out from a centerpiece and progress out on to one of five runways. The fashion entries rotate around in a choreography to music so there is always so much to look at and enjoy. Dancers and, in one set, circus performers, add to the visual stimulation. There is so much to delight the eyes, the biggest challenge is figuring out a strategy for focusing attention to avoid missing any of it.

Since photos are not permitted during the performance... another creation from a prior show — Since photos are not permitted during the performance… another creation from a prior show

UK Sarah and American Julie at World of Wearable Art 2013

We bought the “premium plus” ticket for the 25th anniversary show. This ensures the quality of the seats and includes the program. It is $25NZ if you buy it separately and greatly enhances the after-show experience as each design is featured in photos. It also helps to explain the sections or themes for the show. At the end of the performance they announce the winners of each section and overall winners.

Anticipation can sweeten the experience of an event and it can lead to disappointment. The World of Wearable Art was satisfying in every way and worth the effort.

The stage appears smaller in my photo than it did during the performance. We sat in the first row of seats behind the dinner seating.

October 2, 2013October 1, 2013

Swatch: Fashionable Possum

I was planning to do a yarn crawl in Dunedin. I researched several yarn shops in advance. On my first day in Dunedin I had a little bit of time, so I went to the first couple of wool shoppes on my list. The first was unfortunately typical of New Zealand. Here I am in the land of the best wool in the world and the yarn and patterns are all targeted to Grandma. It is shocking how the fashion knitting craze has completely evaded NZ thus far.

The name of the next shop held some promise: Seriously Twisted! I walked up to the Octogon and found the shop. At first I thought it was only ready made knit wear, albeit of good quality. Then I spotted Janene Weir working on a project in the rear of the shop. She was weaving what looked like luxurious fur into a crocheted scarf. It was lovely. I quickly learned that the shop owner and knit wear designer Linzi Irving created a way to take the pesky possum and treat the fur to make it look remarkably like mink.

Possum were introduced in NZ by some demented person years ago and now threatens native bird and bush species. You can feel good about wearing this fur as you are doing something for the environment. It is a hollow fibre so it holds the heat and provides warmth. It can be combined with merino wool for the warmest gloves I’ve ever owned. Or used as a fur trim as Linzi does.

At first I was focused on the beautiful scarves, and then Janene showed me a beautiful wrap. I tried it on and it was so light, and soft, I did not want to take it off. After wearing it around the shop to look at their lovely NZ yarn selection, and other sweaters, I realized that it was the perfect topper for my World of Wearable Art outfit.

Linzi arrived about now and the three of us had a fun conversation about the status of knitwear design in NZ, the World of Wearable Art, my blog, and a dozen other topics. It is amazing how knitting can foster kindred spirits. I left the shop quite pleased with my purchases and happy to have made two new Kiwi friends.

P.S. I did find a couple more yarn stores and they were all like the first–too much acrylic! and too many designs from 1980.

Linzi Irving original designs at Seriously Twisted

September 18, 2013September 17, 2013

Swatch: Debbie Bliss Tweed Sweater

Debbie Bliss cover sweater in black tweed wool

I always travel with a knitting project for those long hours on the plane or delays in the airport. I started a new project for my New York adventure: the cover sweater on Debbie Bliss magazine (Fall/Winter 2013).

I want to join San Francisco Tweed on a ride this fall and I do not have a thing to wear! As they describe their members on the website, “We at SF Tweed constitute a rare breed of cyclist — ladies and gents who refuse to endure anymore spandex! For us there is nothing better than a spin through our fair streets in the finest most dapper attire.” I love that they are more interested in socializing and enjoying the ride than exercise.

Debbie Bliss’ Peplum Jacket is straightforward knitting so it makes a good travel project. Babetta, my yarn maven, steered me away from the Debbie Bliss yarn called for as it was very stiff and scratchy. I only knit in yarn that feels good, so I dove into elsebeth lavold’s Tweedy Wool in black. The flecks of color that make up the tweed do not show up in this photo. So far it has been a joy to knit. It will be my project in New Zealand too. I will look for buttons on my yarn crawls in Dunedin and Auckland.