Fab Contest!

Blogger and designer Alison is having a contest, and the prize is a skein of Blue Sky Alpaca's brand-new yarn, Suri Merino!!!

Go here to enter. It's not even a hard contest! You just have to leave a comment letting her know at what age you learned to knit.

See, I'm looking out for you! Go win some yarn.

Now, with more knitting!

Hello! Long time no post. My mom came to visit, so I was too busy sightseeing, shopping and gabbing to knit OR post! We had a ball. We even saw The Color Purple, which is playing in Chicago! I give it a two-thumbs up.

So after my mom's visit I was back to working on my Eyelet Cardigan. See, I've made some progress!


I love this pattern. The extremely well-written pattern and soft yarn has made this project smooth sailing. I just made my first-ever button band! Unfortunately, I can't put on the other one until I figure out the button placement. Figuring out the button placement will require...buttons. Not sure when I can pick those up, so the project may be on hold.

Speaking of buttons, Tender Buttons just closed up shop. Their building, which housed a number of boutiques, is going to be demolished so something else can get built there. I am hoping they will reopen eventually, but they say they have not found a location yet. To think I've lived here for two years (in the same neighborhood no less) and have NEVER gone there...hopefully I will get a second chance!

I've started on another project...for my new nephew! I haven't seen him in person yet, but boy, is he cute! Even though it's not sweater weather I was so excited to knit for him, so I'm making a 6-9 month size sweater.



This is the Hooded Striped Top from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book. It's going to be sooo cute. I'm using the Baby Cashmerino and it knits up very easily and smoothly. You kinda have to watch the plies but it's still excellent.

I have bunches of other baby projects on deck, and some other project ideas. Lots of fun knitting to come!

More Progress

Just the sleeves & trim to go now:


Two Fronts! Woot!
Also, re: the magazines. I think I should keep Interweave, since I have found many beautiful items in it I'd like to wear (thanks for the reality check, Amelia!). But I will keep an open mind toward VK and consider subscribing (even though it may mean wallpapering my apartment in knitting magazines).

Laters, knitters!

Weekend

I finally, FINALLY started the Eyelet Cardi from Blue Sky Alpacas! Monica and Gay helped motivate me to get this on the needles. It's a terrific pattern - the stitch pattern is really only two rows, and the Blue Sky Dyed Cotton is chunky enough to keep the project moving. I started and nearly finished the back on Saturday.




Free Stuff!
Last Thursday's KIP was so fun! I saw Mary for the first time in I don't know how long, welcomed a new person to the group (hi Molly!), and hung out with the usual suspects. It must have been my lucky day, because Mary gave me an extra copy of Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing!! I had been eyeing this book, and it did not disappoint - it has TONS of well-designed, useful, and gift-worthy projects. Thank you Mary (and Carolyn)! It was so nice of you to think of me. And, Teresa was destashing as well - she brought a bunch of yarn and magazines to share. I scored these two Interweave back issues - there are some beautiful patterns in each, mainly nice warm pullovers. Excellent, excellent!!

Speaking of knitting magazines - I just bought the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, and was surprised to read that their editor is stepping down...but then I was excited to learn that the new editor will be Adina Klein! I've seen her on Knitty Gritty, and read her articles in Knit.1, and I really like her style. So now I have a crisis: do I subscribe to VK? And if so, do I dump Interweave? I kind of hate to, since Eunny will be the new editor, but two knitting mags seems like overkill since I never get rid of old issues. Decisions, decisions.

Hope you all have had a great weekend!

San Francisco

Downtown

Redwoods at Muir Woods

Bread Pudding at Tartine
S.F. was terrif. Really fun. Not sure if I've ever mentioned it, but my little brother lives there. Being a sister never gets old...it was so nice to see him every day during our visit. The trip was full of great food, time with close friends, yarn, baseball, wine tasting, etc. etc. You can cram a lot into four days - it was busy but still relaxing.

Artfibers was a blast. It was totally overwhelming to have so many choices in fiber, texture, and design. They will create a custom pattern for a very reasonable price, based on the yarn you choose, your gauge (or a standard one), and your exact measurements. I went there thinking, "I need a cardigan"; I should have gone in thinking, "If I could design the perfect cardigan, what would it look/feel like?" I think I made a good choice, but you could create a whole wardrobe using their yarns and a series of custom designs. I chose a yarn called Shizen - a 75% silk, 25% mohair blend with a sorta scrunchy texture. Here's a closeup where you can (hopefully) see the colors/shading. I believe this is color 12.


Artfibers Shizen
I was so lucky to get a chance to visit Artfibers. If you go, give yourself a good chunk of time to really take it all in.

Anyway, I should go. We've got houseguests! But I really wanted to tell you about my trip. I'll be more chatty later - promise!