Are We There Yet?

Remember those Sunday drives with the family in the bottle-green woody? Sandwiches and fruit in the picnic basket and maybe a stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home? “Are we there yet?” was the refrain, and yes, we set it to music.
So knitters – how is it going with the ‘Looking Glass’ challenge? Are we there yet?
Don’t make me set the dog on you.  See what he does to screens?

Well, here are a few glimpses of my progress – hurried knitting in between a busy weekend schedule. This is pure pleasure, this  kind of stranded knitting – both relaxing and addictive in the same breath.  

Challenge, anyone?

My BFF – you had a bad day.  You were in my thoughts and prayers.  I wob you.What I think is this:

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Everything is small stuff.

When you can’t fight or flee, Flow.

 

Ok Knitters!  Time for a challenge!  I was lurking around my favorite blogspots and found some brilliance on passingdowncrazy.  I suggest that you RUN, don’t walk, over there.  Maria is some kind of  prodigious magical knitter – and I am a devotee.  We should bow deeply when she leaves the room!  Seriously, this woman amazes me.  She is definitely in the company of hardcore knitters!

 

So, here’s the deal.  Check out THE LOOKING GLASS SWEATER, designed by Kathryn Ashley-Wright on Ewetopia Fiber Shop.  Do you love it?  Do you want it?  Do you have to knit it?  I do.  And if you can finish yours in time for Sheep and Wool on October 17th, Patty will reward you with some fiber-y deliciousness.  

But here’s the catch:  you have to beat me.  I am picking up my yarn tomorrow at YNH – I have totally scored Patty’s Cascade Venezia in Teal along with an exceptional Noro Silk Garden skein.  I’ll be knitting like the wind.  Can you catch me?  Beat me to the finish and your reward will be heavenly.  

P.S. Mrs. Patty’s Mother – are you up for the challenge?!!!

BUSY

Dear Mrs. Patty’s-Mother,
I am writing to apologize for the lack of blogging that I understand you are concerned about. I promise you, there has been knitting going on, but little documentation of the same! I’m just sending you this note to reassure you – we are all busy knitting away and will have photos soon to show you! In the meantime, thank you so much for your loyalty and please send my best to Mr. Patty’s-Father!
Yours sincerely,
Jody

P.S. I thought that you might enjoy a few flower pictures. No, I didn’t take them, my hands were busy knitting!!

Lighten Up

My friends tell me that I seem melancholy of late. They want me to “lighten up”. Hmmmm …. would you please have a look at my knitting bag and tell me where to begin! Does anyone else share this problem of overstuffing the knitting bag?  It’s a delicate web that we weave – a slippery slope – however you phrase it – getting out of the house with the RIGHT knitting projects takes meditation, takes temperance, takes decisiveness. Imagine being stuck behind a 10 mile traffic jam on route 84 only to find that you are missing the favored project or the necessary crochet hook, or, God forbid, your knitting instructions!  Talk about capricious behavior!  Think U turns and panic attacks!  Come on people, WHO leaves the house light on the fiber necessities?  Not knitters, not the hardcore ones that I hang with!  

How about that bag of mine?  To say that I love it is a gross understatement.  The first time that I laid eyes on it  - well, covet and connive are the words really that describe what happened next.  I wish that Patty would restock them – I’m sure that I could find enough projects to fill at least two more.  Maybe three.  Possibly four.

Happy packing… lighten up only to restock.

Where did all the February Ladies go?

You know who you are – don’t MAKE me do a roll call on this blog!  I am waiting to see your completed February Lady sweaters … here’s mine in Classic Elite ‘Provence’.  The jury is still out on those buttons – I have some nice vintage ones that I plan to audition.I also finished the ‘Cardigan to Love’ found on Ravelry.  The yarn is one that Patty offered last fall – it’s Zitron’s ‘Ecco’ in that yummy tomato soup color!  I loved this pattern and if you like knitting lace – you might want to consider this one.  Is everyone getting knitting fever now that the dog days of summer are past?  I’m really looking forward to working on some woolen projects that gave me the heebie-jeebies when the humidity and temperatures were so overwhelming.  Sheep and Wool is coming!  Life is good.

beautiful bags

 

‘If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft, and from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left, Sell one, and with the dole buy yarn hyacinths to feed thy soul’
-a Persian poet circa 1194

I did it. Blue Sky Alpaca ‘Royal’ (limited edition) in that shade – that deliciously indescribable shade that you see spilling from my new silk crocheted bag. For me, good yarn satisfies all cravings. It may sound like blasphemy, but I’ll take it over dark chocolate in a New York minute!
And now many kudos and much appreciation to the people that made the pattern available to Patty, so that she could make this bag for me. The Purl Bee (purlsoho.com) and Whit’s Knits Crocheted Stash Basket.

Did you see those Lantern Moon needles? I learned how to knit on circulars and vowed never to succumb to the siren sounds of imported wooden knitting needles. But I tried these when no one was looking. Helplessly hooked …

 

Where did all of these babies come from?

Suddenly there is a bumper crop of babies to knit for!  A small knit is the perfect segway into fall knitting and Yarns Needles and Hooks now has the quintessential Knitters Alamanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman where you will find projects like the ones below (Baby Sweater on Two Needles) as well as many others.  

We used Blue Sky Alpaca’s ‘Skinny Dyed’ cotton which comes in the dreamiest shades for baby, and don’t forget to check out Classic Elite’s Wool Bam Boo with its wonderful hand and drape for those tiny knits.  While you are browsing through Patty’s wonderful selection of yarns and patterns, be sure to ask her about our favorite baby blanket – the Blue Sky Alpaca ‘Eyelet’ blanket which is certain to become a beloved gift and heirloom.  Between us we have made it three times and I have a fourth on the needles.  It’s one of those highly satisfying patterns that you can intuitively knit and enjoy. 

So, finish up your baby knitting because Old Man Winter is right around the corner and you are going to want to get started on your cardigans and scarves and hats.  Didn’t you promise yourself a new shawl to wear to Sheep and Wool this October?  I thought so.  Did I mention Christmas?  It’s NEVER too early to begin your holiday gift knitting.  More on that next time.

 

This is where Jody pulls back the curtain

Greetings from OZ, or my favorite LYS, YARNS NEEDLES and HOOKS. Luckily for knitters situated in the beautiful Hudson River Valley region, we now have a yarn shop worth visiting – YNH on South Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY.  If you have been waiting for someone to deliver the goods, Patty has done just that, and then some. Check out her website; www.yarnsneedlesandhooks.com, and then come and see for yourself – no mystery, no gadgets or tinkering, just delicious fiber – and we ALL need our daily fiber.