Sweaters

Alright. This have been done for some time. Clasps from Nordic Fiber Arts in NH found at nordicfibersrts.com.

The second sweater is a hand knit Norwegian sweater I found at goodwill two days after I returned from the Nordic Knitting Conference.

Ready for Fall!

A Traveler's Dilemma

So, I went to Seattle and was gone for four days. I took a carry-on and an admittedly large purse. I packed travelled with three options in footwear, two knitting projects, four knitting books, exercise clothes, and gifts. It wasn't a completely pared down existence.

When I flew home, I knew I was going to be in trouble, and a bit of strategy was necessary. First of all, I flew out with quite a few of my double pointed needles, and I really, really wanted to return with all of them. I prepared for the eventuality of security seizing them by placing the metal ones in a padded envelope, weighing it at the Post Office, and traveling with enough stamps to mail them to myself from Seattle. But at the conclusion of the conference, my needles weren't neatly packed in their holder. I had several sets dispersed through my bags, stuck in samples, mittens, and other projects. It might look a little weirder to the scanner operator.

Secondly, I may have bought some yarn. Just a few balls here and there. Daily. Some was even given to me, and I really didn't want to look ungracious, so, I took it. May have found some, too, and you know what they say about "found" yarn. Then, there were the pamphlets and instructional handouts. And calendars. In any case, I was traveling home with more than I left with.

Once I reached the airport, I found a nook and put down my carry-on, purse, and two bags of yarn. My last purchase had been 1 gallon ziplocks. I opened the suitcase and put on my biggest/thickest/densest clothes, and started the clothing Tetris game. Every bit of space was utilized, and balls of yarn were squished into ziplocks. And... it all fit! I was thrilled!  Then, I hoisted the backpack, staggering under the weight, and practiced a face which looked like it was as light as s feather. In retrospect, I'm not really sure what that means.  I guess I tried to look happy and clueless -- perhaps not the best angle to approach security.  I tried not to grunt when I hoisted my purse, and headed to security an hour early. There was no way the carry-on would fit into an overhead compartment, but I wasn't going to be the one to bring that up.

I queued and de-shoed and waited, inching forward through the "we see you nude" cameras,  until I heard those decisive words, "will you step over here, ma'am?"

It was the backpack.  I smiled and assured the lady that I had been to a knitting conference, and she probably will have never seen so much yarn in her life.  She was very polite as she unzipped the backpack and promptly got both zippers gummed up in yarn.  I gently released it, and she began the searching process.  "Did I have tweezers in there?" No.  Really, I had tweezers and dpns in my purse, but I have no idea what she was looking for in the suitcase, unless it was more needles.  Evidently, she didn't know either as several minutes later, I was free to go, but, of course, the fun had just begun.  Now we needed to fit everything back in.

She strained and pulled.  I pushed and zipped, but I was hampered somewhat by uncontrollable laughter.  She offered to sit on the case; I pushed and laughed.  She finally called a brawny guy over and all three of us finished it off.

Hats off to you, LL Bean, for your strong zippers and fabric.  I half expected it to explode with the force of yarn in the plane's cargo hold, and be delivered to me in a plastic bag, but, somehow, it held it together.

This is the final product, minus all my clothes and toiletries.  That is, this is all the extra stuff I got on the trip for the most part.

And Fall is Ablaze

It will take just one really good sneeze by Mother Nature to make it all go away, but in the meantime, I'm loving this crisp, Fall days!

Nordic Knitting Conference

It is Sunday night, October 7, 2012, and I am sitting in the Seattle-Tacoma airport waiting for a flight home. The fourth biennial Nordic Knitting Conference has just ended, and my brain is mush.

It all started Thursday morning, at 4am, when I got up and slipped out to the Indi airport. I checked in and boarded with multiple double pointed needles (thank goodness they made it through!), a project in progress, and fun knitted goods to wear, as well as other goodies.

I flew through Houston and made it on time to Seattle where my friend Karin picked me up, as well as knitting/spinning teacher Carol Rhoades. We boogie to downtown to Carol's hotel, went to the nearby Weaving Works shop, where we ran into some of the other teachers, then went back to the hotel for dinner. What a delight! I got to meet Mary Scott Huff, Evelyn Clark, Pat Brunner, Mary Germain, Sandy DeMaster, and Annemor Sundbø! And, the food wasn't bad, either. For the conference the next day, local teacher Susana Hansson joined the others as well.

The Nordic Museum in Ballard, WA

Classes began Friday morning, early, immediately after the yarn went for sale from two vendors on the main floor and the gift shop with their newly imported yarn from a scrumptious Swedish mill.  Let's just say I was distracted there little while...

After I collected myself, and my new yarn, I boogied over to the Sunset Community Center for my first class, Latvian Mittens á la Irma, taught by Mary Germain and Sandy De Master.  What a delightful class!  These two ladies are knitters and spinners extraordinaire from Wisconsin.  They spoke of their history of knitting, and especially their friendship with an older Latvian mitten knitter in Milwaukee. Their handouts were excellent, and we went on to make a miniature pair of Latvian mittens.

That night, we had a lovely wine and cheese in the main lobby of the museum, and had fun talking with teachers and students and lots of freebies were given away.  

Saturday was Danish Traveling Stitches taught by Carol Rhoades, an excellent teacher, knitter, and spinner.  She is known for her work and editorial work for Spin-Off Magazine, and her multiple translations of books from Swedish and Norwegian to English.  I ended up with a nice wrist warmer, and plans for bigger things.

I also had a lovely surprise of seeing a dear high school friend, Anne, whom I had gotten out of touch with.  She lived in walking distance from the museum!  She came and collected me, and we walked to her house where she regaled me with stories and filled me up with warm potato soup and brownies!  Good stuff!

Saturday night was the banquet where Annemor spoke.  What an incredible story!  I think I will have to comment on it in another post, just so I can get this one published, but she is such a lovely women, so humorous and knowledgable, and just saved thousands of knitted goods in Norway from being shredded, then studied and wrote about what she learned.

Sunday was an all-day Norwegian Design class with Annemor.  Tickled the tired brain.  She really was a hoot as she shared the basics of a Norwegian mitten, insights on the symbols and designs, and a lot of funny stories.  

Lastly, what trip to Seattle is ever complete without a visit to Archie McPhee's?  You know how a picture is worth a thousand words?  I think this one counts.

Color Theory

A different form of color theory.

I think I've been waiting for the buttons to come to post this, but I can wait no longer.  Last week I stopped at Goodwill on my way home from the homeless shelter where I volunteer.  I looooove Goodwill!  Yes, it smells, but I wash what I buy from there.  What I really think I like is the opportunity to try on such a varied selection of clothes -- strange colors and styles that span a great number of years.  No other store has such a selection!

When I go in, I try to choose clothes according to a particular element I think might be flattering:  color or embellishment, for instance.  Often the clothes I pull go far beyond what I would normally wear.  Maybe the label is one that I have a bias against.  I pull them anyways, and take far too many clothes to the dressing room.  I try them on very quickly, though, and reject the vast lot.  What I am left with, however, is a nice, eclectic selection of, well, usually sweaters.

That Wednesday was no different, except in that I got a beautiful, handknit sweater for my efforts! Look at these lovely cables and the fun shaping!



It really is gorgeous:  made of tweedy, 100% wool.  It may even be Rowan yarn!





Why did the poor maker give it to good will?  Well, maybe she didn't.  Maybe it was her recipient.  In which case, this is karma that I found this!  Or, maybe she was disgusted with her zipper.

The zipper really was put on poorly.  A big lip was left over at the top.  It rose and fell in yucky hills down the length of itself.  Finally, the zipper itself was a thick, ugly, industrial plastic one.



It didn't take me long to rip it out.  I had considered installing another one, or doing a similar fastener.  When I removed the zipper, though, the two front facings curled inward.  Quite interestingly, the border was knit with about 4 stitches of stockinette, and then the very outside stitches are 4 stitches of twisted stockinette.  Does this combo ensure a nice folding line?  Has anyone heard of this before?



Because of the natural folding in, I grabbed a lighter weight yarn of similar coloring, and tacked down the facing.  Then, I searched awhile on line to find a gold-toned Norwegian style hook and eye clasp.  I bought five from the Nordic Fiber Arts, after having a nice chat with Debbie first.  Now, I await my package to finish it up, just in time for cooler weather.

With a cherry on top

To my American readers, I hope you all had a lovely Labor Day! My husband took the kids out for ice cream one night this weekend. It is not my particular weakness, so I made a yarn one instead.

This is a hat I made for my friend's baby, Percy, who is just as sweet as this suggests.

It says it all...

Yesterday

Yesterday was very exciting, as I received two contracts via email from Interweave Press and returned them along with finished projects.  It's one of the reasons why the summer was so busy -- charting and knitting and writing one of my five patterns.

Anyway, the item will hopefully be acceptable and will be published in the Jan/Feb Piecework's special Knitting Traditions magazine. Happily, this blog and the post of Sámi mittens helped secure the article.

Today's goal:  finish knitting project #5, and proof (for the last time!! Please!!) project #4.1 and #4.2.  Wouldn't that be amazing?  Then, I can get on to things I want to do.

It's not that I didn't want to do those projects; it's just that having to do them, and do them perfectly, sucked the life out of them.

M * T H is a four-letter word

In the middle of our going out of town, having guests, doing softball, baseball, swimming and various other summer employments, we had an unwelcome visitor.  It came from the unknown, and carried a sense of evil with it. How do I know this? Biblical truth. John 10:10 says, "the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." Well, then, he's a messenger of Satan. This fellow destroys, as can be seen in another verse. Matthew 6:19 - 21

Do not lay up for yourselve treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treaure is, there your heart will be also. Mt. 6:19-21

A good lesson hard learned.

I walked into my bedroom about the time when the kids were getting to bed, and noticed a little flutter above and beyond me.  I zeroed in.  A moth!

I quickly squished it and bustled through to get the item I came for.

About five minutes later I was getting in the kitchen and it struck me.  Was this encounter an exception?  A fly-by-night chance?  Really, shouldn't I go back in and investigate? My eldest son was lounging on a chair in my bedroom when I re-entered, head held high.  Oh, Lord!  There was another one on the curtain!  I curtly told my son to go to bed, squished offender #2, and headed downstairs to the hubby.
He was in the process of preparing to leave for a weeklong trip, and I'm so glad he was not already gone!  I appealed to him, and he entered the now-quadroned off area armed with huge ziplocs.  One by one, we emptied my works-in-progress basket, until we saw one more moth.  I mourned over project after project, as Chris squished the bags that held them, sucked out air and sealed the bags.  Is it a lucky thing I have processed no food this summer?  All bags immediately went into our almost empty chest freezer. Thank you, Yarn Harlot, for having gathered jewels in the darkness for us knitters.  You have gone through your own moth trials and I have learned from them!

I still haven't had the courage to face up to the project which probably started it all. I have narrowed it down to one sweater/hat combo, or an clothed antique doll. Chris thought if I went to the ziploc bag in question in the freezer, there might be a little Han Solo moth, wings frozen, moth open, uttering the silent, "NO!"

He can stay there awhile longer, if there's a snowball's chance he would ever unfreeze.

Fireworks in Bemidji

... And a Woolen Mill

I had saved a rough draft of this a month ago.  In my effort to catch up from the summer, I post it now.

Monday, the two younger kids and I flew to Bemidji, Minnesota. Hours before we arrived, a storm blew through with straight winds and knocked down a LOT of trees, took out the electricity, and consequently, the water. We're by a lake, so we swim to bathe and haul buckets of water up to the house to flush the toilets. We cook on the gas stove and go to sleep when it's dark.

Except for today! Today is the fourth of July, American Independence Day. We came to town to get a few things (medicine for chiggers), and another storm blew up. It was a solid wall of black, arriving so quickly from the West.

We jumped in the truck making calls and texts to those at home (the resident meteorologist), and, when the tornado sirens went off, made a stop at the Bemidji Woolen Mill.

What a hoot! When my friend mentioned it, i had no idea it was a real woolen mill! They had a complete operation which took raw wool, washed and combed it, and turned it into batting. Throughout the store they had woven examples of their goods -- blankets, jackets and hats, but they also had worsted weight yarn that had been industrially spun off-site. I had such interest that as the storm waned, One lady took me on the behind-the-scenes tour while my daughter cowered in fright from the storm.  By this time, however, it had blown over.

What fun! I had never seen these big woolen machines before!

raw wool

beautiful, washed wool

one of the big carding machines

They washed, carded and made wool batting with the wool, but they also had a complete sewing of knitted goods section.  The only part that made me sad was that all the sewing machines used for making the sweaters, blankets and hats only used acrylic pre-knitted fabric! There were some gorgeous designs they were working with, but despite being in a woolen mill, all the product of that area was acrylic.

a gorgeous baby blanket -- all in acrylic!  What irony!

sewing area.  all for acrylic.  sigh.

some of their finished, woven wool fabric

This finished fabric, as well as their hats, blankets, etc. are available for sale on their website, as well as just purchasing a length of woven wool.  Very intriguing!

All's Fair

...in Love and Knitting

The summer isn't officially gone -- in fact it is supposed to get up to 90F today -- but the kids are back in school, and, for all intents and purposes, it is Fall.  For me, that means a return to the disciplines that slowly fell off throughout the summer.  One of those disciplines is blogging.

Today I catch up with information on the State Fair.

the famous midway

Mom makes a new friend

Indiana's State Fair is, in fact, the sixth oldest in the States.  Founded in 1851, it culminated in 2011 when I won Sweepstakes in Knitting and Crochet.  Well, maybe that culmination was just for me.  Yeah.  Pretty sure that's what it was.

This year, I entered 8 or 9 pieces, all in various knitting categories.  I won four blue ribbons and two honorary mention ribbons.  My mom was with me when I viewed the judged pieces, though, and knows how disappointed I was, NOT because I won those prizes, but because my darlings, my best knitted piece, got no recognition whatsoever.

I wandered from glass case to glass case looking for my mittens, wondering if they were hard to find because they had won something or other.  Finally, I located them, shoved to the back of the display case, covered in their own entry tag with no happy ribbon.  I think they were crying.  One thing that bucked me up a bit, though, is that while I stood there I noticed two more ladies at that case looking at  displays.  One lady was focusing in her camera and taking pictures -- of my mittens.  Very gratifying that at least someone else thought they were interesting.

Mom and I also attended a very interesting presentation by Shelly Miller Leer of ModHomeEc on upholstery.  She teaches classes in Indi and writes for the newspaper.  In her presentation she took us through converting an electrical spool into a really cute and mod ottoman.  I have two chairs that need recovering, and she gave me a bit of hope that it is possible, and a bit of knowledge as to how to tackle them.

the upholstery talk

Well, this Monday was fair pick-up, and I gathered my chicks together once more.  The lady was so kind who led me around from glass case to glass case collecting the knitted goods.  We started out getting Mr. Grumpy Pants.  She laughed as she pulled them out, with their honorary red/white/blue ribbon.  "Look at these," I said, regarding my next pick-up, my white baby lace layette, "they didn't earn anything.  Don't you think they're pretty?" I demanded.  Well, of course, she did.  I must have done some other complaining, because by the time we collected the fourth ribbon she said, "Another one?  I really don't think you have much to complain about! ...Another one?  ...Another one?"  Oops.  Maybe I didn't, but as a mother bear to my mittens, I did feel a mite bit protective of them.

I glanced at the judges notes as I left.  Some made me furious.  Two of the criticisms I completely agree with.  The last one I opened pacified my heart.  It seems my Estonian Lace scarf made tops in the knitted goods, but lost for Sweepstakes to a nicely crocheted afghan.  On the way out of the grounds, one of the State Fair Cows wanted to experience the beauty that is Prince George's shawl: 

this picture says it all

Thanks, Indiana State Fair, for another good show, and another reason to hit the needles hard for next year!

School pictures today

For a certain someone!

On our way to Bemidji

So, we were gone from home, on our way to O'Hare when my daughter suddenly realized SHE HAD NO SHOES ON.

How does one do that?! It's not that she had slipped them off in the car, or even that she had taken them off and thrown them in the back. Or, that she had even packed any. She. Had. No. Shoes.

Now, on one hand, this does free one up a bit on that start and stop again line for airport security. Stop and take your shoes off? Stow them in a bin? Shuffle forward and, after the magic doorway find a bench and get them back on? Ha! She could laugh in the face of such inconveniences, knowing she had both saved three minutes AND picked up a myriad of shared social diseases.

We ended up stopping at Merrillville and getting a pair of shoes. Maybe this was her plan after all.

Now, we are in Minneapolis, greeting Snoopy, who is greeting us. Up in Bemidji, they have had a big storm and have no power.

Sunday post

I'm absolutely thrilled! Not only is it Canada Day, but my long-awaited copy of Samisk Husflid i Finnmark by Anny Haugen arrived today!

Yes, it's Sunday, but my son asked if we got the mail from the mailbox yesterday. I put four letters in there, and -- lo, and behold! A book was in there for me!

Finally, happy Canada Day, everyone!

First email of the day

What a thrill to open up my emails this morning and have the first one be from HEIDI FOSSNES!  Oh, my goodness!  Her Norwegian coffee table book on mittens is absolutely breath taking.

Now, if one weren't a knitter, one might snigger at that last sentence, but it is absolutely true.  She has examined the mitten collection at the Norwegian Folkemuseum, charted and photographed historical mittens from all of Norway's counties, and the colors and styles are mind boggling.

I have been continuing my research on Sámi mittens, i.e. mittens from Lapland, and saw a "new" book on a website and wrote to inquire about it.  She responded.  I wrote back thanking her, and asking a few more questions on the book.  I hope to get it.

*Update:  I did buy the Norwegian national costume book that includes Sámi outfits from the north and northeastern areas of Norway.  It, likewise, is beautiful.  It looks a bit more dated in terms of the pictures; that is to say, the quality and poise of the pictures in her newer books is superior.  Nevertheless, it is well worth the investment.

Ms. Fossnes has continued to be kind and gracious in answering my questions.  She is an outstanding expert in her field, but still willing to help the little people just starting on this journey!

Done with the second mitten!

Sort of. Okay, I still have to do the thumbs, but I'm so happy to present:

Latvian Mittens #53 from the book of the same title by Lizbeth Upitis

I know I'm a knitter when...

... I walk across our wood floor and something sticks to my heel.

Okay, that's not the surprising thing.  But when it drops off with a soft *plink* and I think, "Oh!  Stitch marker!" -- I'm right.

How Many Days Before...

How Many Days Before...

...my husband realizes we have three bags of Llama roving in our big freezer
(and nothing else)?

Three days and counting...

First Mitten Down

I am ridiculously pleased with my first Latvian mitten (#53 in Liz Upitis' book Latvian Mittens)! Because I went down to a size 000 needle, which is knitting at 12 stitches to the inch, it feels like I've been working on this forever. Maybe, I have. But, it's (halfway) done (almost; after I do the thumb).



Isn't it gorgeous? I so love the fabric this has created. It makes me pause and go, "Ah!" when I insert my hand.

The crown of satisfaction was the tip of the mitten. There were no instructions on how to finish it off -- just a chart that ends. But at the end of the chart, I had twelve stitches -- three white at the front and back, and a black/white/black at each side. Now, usually in a mitten, I Kitchener stitch the front stitches to the back stitches. This did not prove to be that easy, because the sides were odd numbered and the colors reflected this.

Instead, I opted to Kitchener the three front stitches to the back in white, then turn and knit the side stitches each one more row. Then, I kitchenered the sides together maintaining their black/white/black combination. That is, I Kitchenered in color work! That's a first for me.

I love the resulting look: