5 sweaters, 7 knitters & 1 heat pump

May here in the Tidewater of Virginia was very mild. Actually cool some days. Ususally we've turned on the air conditioning a few times before June's heat and humidity comes rolling in. But not this year. So as the first day of real heat hit us I flipped the little switch to turn on my air. Nothing. So a call to John's Brothers on Monday morning had them coming out on Tuesday morning to tell me...we can fix what's broken for eightyeleven dollars and something else will break because your system is old old old. So, bright and early last Thursday morning when it was already 95 degrees 5 Men & their trucks pulled up to my house



and by the end of the day cool air was pouring through the vents from a brand spanking new heating and air conditioning machine that cost caused my checkbook to say "we didn't for plan this, what about that new roof we wanted!".

That night, Bailey enjoyed moving from favorite place to favorite place finding the cool spots. No picture, but imagine a long haired black dog in 100 degrees panting really really hard finally finding cool.

Friday, the Men in Trucks, showed up to hook up the heat side of the new machine.

A week later cool air is still blowing out the vents and we've had a nice break in the 101 heat. A nice balmy 85 with low humidity today.

In knitting news.....

Andrea redecorated Ewe Knit Kits to include a "Wall of WallisKnits" patterns.


Thank you Andrea!

And let me introduce you to the "Morning Knitting Group at Ewe Knit Kits".



Almost any morning of the week, you can stop by and find them knitting away, discussing the lastest pattern, yarn, their families or where to go for lunch. Stop by and join them some morning!

I've been busy knitting sweaters and shrugs.

All are Knitting Pure & Simple patterns.

A black (looks charcoal but it's very dark black) cardigan in Rowan's Calmer



And a great way to use up all of that novelty yarn we purchased 2 years ago that's still sitting in your stash A red cardigan in Berroco's Love It and Trendsetter Charm.



And 2 new patterns from KP&S that knit really fast. The Woman's Bulky Shrug
that probably took 4 hours of straight knitting to finish. I used Plymouth's Baby Grande Alpaca 2 1/2 skeins for the size 40. Didn't quite get gauge so I went up a size.

The note pinned to the front says "2 KnitIn's will be held for this shrug". I'll be holding a 5 hour "class" where we'll knit this shrug. Wed July 9th or Sat July 26th.

And look at this little tiny shrug! I'm knitting the 18mo size in Kertzer Butterfly. And I used the optional lace bottom.



The lace wt Morehouse Merino sweater is still on the needles. Very slow going there and I'm enjoying the portability.

In Ewe Knit Kits news: Bobbie just returned from TNNA. She said she shopped til she dropped and shopped some more. So in addition to the Universal and Berroco yarns we've already received, we should be getting in lots more over the summer. Mountain Colors order was big. Namaste Bags are coming in. Lots of patterns. Trendsetter had good deals.

This Saturday, June 14th, is World Wide Knit in Public Day. Ewe Knit Kits will hold our annual "Sit and Knit" so bring a chair and join us. I'll be there. And Bobbie will be sending out the email to talk about the days events (and by events I mean what's on sale) soon. I'll update the Ewe Knits Group on Ravelry when she does...because you know she doesn't tell us in advance.

And Happy 90th Birthday to my Aunt Trony! THE Aunt Trony that the "Trony" shawl is named after.

Where have I been you might ask? Scrabulous and
The SAT Question of the Day and knitting 3 sweaters, 1 scarf and planning 2 classes.

To explain...

To the Raveler who questioned my use of the term telemarker: It is the term the Client Group I supported while working for Big Bank used to differentiate groups of associates that answered incoming calls. Those that assisted customers or client groups with a problem were Customer Service Associates. Those that answered incoming calls from customers or potential customers that were responding to a mailing were Telemarkers. Why? I don't know. It was better to accept the things I could not control slide by and concentrate on my part of the projects because there were so many acronyms that I had to know and use for my job there was not much brain left for other things...except knitting!... I always saved a few cells for that.

The reason I did not respond to your question on Ravelry? By habit, I clicked on delete vs reply and I didn't remember your Ravelry name. I also do not keep up with all of the Ravelry groups and don't remember which one you used to find my blog.

As for the cute picture, that's my boy!

Have it make sense!

This is bothering me 2 hours after it happened so I must ask...am I the only one who wishes the companies who write the speil telemarkers use would proof read it?

The woman who called kept saying/telling me that I needed to "support breast cancer". Not "support breast cancer research" or "support cancer awareness" or even "donate to provide education/tests/etc for those without insurance". No. She wanted me to support breast cancer.

And she said it many times. Even after I mentioned that I didn't support breast cancer because it was a nasty thing. I was scolded because "you don't care woman are dying".

Well, yes I do care woman are dying and men too. But I support and donate to breast cancer research, I don't support breast cancer.

She hoped I would have a blessed day and hung up.

She was from "Pink Ribbon". I've not heard of them. Maybe I'll "google" them...which of course is not a verb it's a proper noun.

MS&W '08

I spent the first 30 minutes in a bit of a sensory panic. I then let go of the requirement to keep up with 3 other knitters and enjoyed my day.

Spirit-Trail Fibers 1000 yards of a beautiful merino lace wt.

Swirl Shawl by jojoland.com

handspun by jamieranibowyarn.com

Spring cleaning

I'm ready to begin fresh new still in hanks knitting BUT I had too many ufo's. Socks, swatches of possible projects, pet blanket, scarves, shawls, sweaters, just to many. Much was frogged, but I did finish a few and even started and finsihed one.

Bobbie knit a little jacket using the Knitting Pure & Simple Summer Cardigan and Purled Llama "Concha" in KnittaPalooza '08 colors that the Yarn Sellers at Ewe Knit Kits fought over. We'd actually "call" wearing it over KnittaPalooza weekend. I remember both Debbie and I planned our clothing for the weekend around it. And of course the yarn sold out before I could purchase a skein.

Finally. Terry finished dyeing batch 2 and here is my very own KP&SPLKnitta08 cardi:

Knitting Pure & Simple "Summer Cardigan" in Purled Llama "Concha" in KnittaPalooza '08 color

With some handdyed yarns you have to be careful because the color of the skeins are not identical. Bobbie knit the x-small and used 2 skeins, alternating every 2 rows or so. She had enough yarn left for a nice size shawl. So the question was...can we knit it with one skein?

Let's see: cast on size x-small, increase armholes on number short of the small, pull from center of skein to knit neckline and sleeves, use rest to knit body.


2 1/2 yards left

It's a short fun little jacket and a very fast knit! I cast on April 20th and bound off April 26th. But I did have 2 days of knitting at the Va Beach Spring Craft Show. Representing the Guild is hard knitting work.

Completed from the knitting basket

Cast on Dec 31, 2007 . Only 8 rows left to knit. Finished April 27, 2008.

Tahki "Terra" side to side vest (I'd call it a jacket) and Knittng Pure & Simple sleeveless shell. Both knit in Kertzer Butterfly.

Swatched for Morehouse Lace Wt cardigan in "butter"

Buttercup

Yeah, a lace wt cardigan.

Couldn't get gauge on either US3 or 4's. I like the results of US3's. Since it's a top down sweater I've decided to knit it on US3's and knit a smaller size, changing the armholes as needed.

And another pet cuddle for the Chesapeake Humane Society


I cut it close to with just a foot of yarn left!

And being tested by a team of test knitters: "John"

What's left in the knitting basket?
My Favorite "Summer" Shawl in EL Silky Wool
"Trony" for my Aunt Trony in Lorna's Laces "Jeans"

Going to be on the needles
KP&S Cardigan in Black Rowan Calmer
Morehouse Lace Cardigan in their lace wt yarn

Joanne sent me this link yesterday. Have you seen it?
Interweave Knits Summer Preview. Any sweater named Wallis I must knit!

Pictures from KnittaPalooza 2008

Getting caught up....

It's been a month since I last updated. Lots of knitting has occured.

I had begun the Knitting Pure & Simple "Woman's Bolero".

It's off the needles. Sorry about the blurry photo. And the color isn't the greatest. But it does fit well and I'd knit the pattern again.

Speaking of KP&S...this April I'm scheduled to teach a top down class and I'm going to follow it up with a KP&S "Shell" class. I'm knitting one of each now.

The round neck shell to match this:

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Tahki "side to side vest" from the "Terris" booklet. It's knit in 2 strands of Kertzer "Butterfly". I chose 2 different colors and it's make a great summery blend of colors. The shell, I'm using the darker of the colors. And the great part about this top....I knit it in a weekend!



The KP&S Turtle Neck shell is being knit in black Rowan "Calmer" and I've enough to knit a KP&S Cardigan to match.



On Feb 29th Ewe Knits had a "knit in" and a great sale on wool....


My purchases. 5 skeins of Tahki "Donegal Tweed" in a great yellow and a Lantern Moon basket...smallest size to match the large one that sits next to my knitting chair. I enjoyed knitting "Shrek" with the Tweed that I had to have the yellow for another cardigan.


Speaking of stash enhancement...I brought home these from KnittaPalooza

3 Bad Cats patterns. The Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere for the Driftwood Shawl and the Pink Lacey Lamb for the Fern. I've ordered the Green as in the Fern photo too. And as for the Cashmere for the Queen Anne...2 skeins are still at the store calling my name.


And from Universal Yarns....
Flax. I'm swatching with the Flax. I'm thinking curtain..or window covering, if you will, for my front upstairs window. I began using my "My Favorite Shawl" pattern on US2's though 6's and ended with some yarn over's and SKP.

KnittaPalooza '08 was so much fun. I worked from 9:30 am Thursday morning until 3:00pm Sunday afternoon (with a few hours of sleep) and it was still soooo much fun!

You can read attendee and instructors "memories" here:

Kimberlys Korner
Dawn's Dream
Knit it. Knit it good.
Annie Modiset

"Trony"

The weeks before
KnittaPalooza is always busy busy busy. Trunk shows, new yarns, new books, you name it.

And as in the previous 4 years The Purled Llama develops a color just for the event. This year in blues/tans/greens. Bobbie handed me the skein of "Dulce" (wool/nylon, 440 yds, fingering/sock wt) and said "We need a pattern" . So I swatched and swatched and came up with "Trony".



Named after my mother's sister (the 4th George daughter), my Aunt Trony. Aunt Trony's had a long career in fashion/retail, she raised 4 children and at 87 is living on her own and going strong with bridge, bingo and lots of grand and great grand children.

"Trony" the shawl, is a simple side to side light weight lacy shawl. Straight across the back, it works well for a light weight cover across the shoulders and can be wrapped around the necks as a scarf.

You can purchase at Ewe Knit Kits.

Lizzy....that's me alright Bess! ...LOL...

Last Friday I found myself at work with no customers, all stock on the shelves and straightend. I had a few minutes to do something very rare. Knit.

So there I sat with a few yards of Lorna's Laces Black Purl in sock weight, eating a few of the purple M&M"s from Beth & Gang at Lorna's for their 5th Anniversary celebration and drinking a bottled water with a purple cap.



Oh yeah, I was wearing a black sweater.

Take the Quiz here!

D, J & I spent a cloudy Sunday watching P&P, knitting and eating. 6 hours.

KP&S Bolero is on hold. Bobbie selected the colors for KnittaPalooza 2008 from The Purled Llama and I'm working on a new pattern in sock weight yarn. "Trony". A shawl/scarf. Named after an aunt. I do love the color. It will be revealed next month.

I do apologize for not getting back to moderating my comments. Thank you ladies for the well wishes on my blogaversary. I do have the moderate comments turned on. You wouldn't want to read some of the spam I received. Let's just say they're not knitting related.

What have I been doing?

Opening boxes, entering new yarn data, printing labels, putting labels on new yarns and then trying to figure out where we're going to put it at
Ewe Knit Kits. Rowan, Plymouth, Berroco, Filatura Di Crosa and a few more. And new patterns and books.

We now have the store almost seperated into animal and vegtable. On your left (as you enter) are corn, cotton, bamboo, soy. Quite a few "green" yarns. On your right, sheep, alpaca, llama, goat. We haven't moved the sock yarn or the acrylic...yet. And I guess the milk that should be here soon will go with the animal?

I'm knitting like mad to get Shrek finished before Thursday. Here he (are sweaters he or she's?) this morning with the color waaay off.

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Basic pattern from KP&S #9725 with the cables from Knitty's Mr. Greenjeans. I added cables to the cuffs, bottom, and collar. The button bands will be in 4x2 ribbing. The yarn is Takhi's Donegal Tweed and was so nice to work with. Now if you don't like "itchy" wools this is not for you, but it doesn't bother me.

Why finish by Thursday? I'll be teaching a class cleverly titled, I might add, "A Sweater Before Spring" Thursday night, 6:00-8:00. We'll be using the KP&S neckdown patterns. I'll be knitting the Woman's Bolero with Rowan's Summer Tweed color 525 a periwinkle. I can't find it in the list, it's a new color for this season. So if you're in the area for the next 4 weeks, join us.

It's my blog-aversary!

January 29, 2003......Happy 5th Anniversary to my blog! And thank you, kind readers, for sticking around through the lean blogging times.



I have not planned a contest, or yarn give away.



So celebrate with me and spend 5 hours knitting today. No interuptions. No getting up. 5 hours of knitting.

Or if 5 hours is not an option...how about 30 minutes? What ever the knitting time, enjoy!



Bailey says: Knit all you want, just give me a few carrots before you sit down because I can stand in front of the fridge all day.

April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008

Start-itis & Continu-itis

I had a major need to start new projects in the past few weeks.

A neckdown Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I'm using Tahki-StCharles Donegal Tweed. I named it Shrek the Irish Cardi. I began this cardi right before Bobbie returned from TNNA with the news that Diane Soucy of KP&S had released the Woman's version of the Child's Bolero. You can see both on the KP&S site. We're expecting the pattern this week. I promised myself I wouldn't cast on for it until Shrek was completed. And I'm trying not to pre-shop for yarn. It's hard though.

Right before Bobbie left, I heard about a new sock yarn concept by Paradise Fibers called "Flat Feet". And being a sock knitter Bobbie scouted out and found them at TNNA. We'll be receiving our shipment soon.

The yarn is pre-knit into a "blanket" (my description) or a "scarf" (Maureen's description after I said "it would make a nice scarf too" Maureen said "it's already a scarf"). You pull out a holding thread and the sock yarn unravels as you knit. It does not unravel on it's own, you do have to give it a gentle tug.



The result is a crinkled yarn (because after all you are frogging). And of course I had to cast-on. I swatched on US3's and it was much too lose for socks, but a nice fabric. Pulled out my 7" US1's & the extra 5" from my other 2 socks (see below) and cast on. The crinkled yarn seems to make this still a loose knit on 1's. I'll knit a few more inches and then block, as the directions indicate, to see what happens. So far the only downside I've found is that when I frogged I didn't have a ball to wind the yarn around until it was reknit.

So to get myself through the need to shop for yarn, I decided to join the Quant KAL held at Ewe Knits and lead by Donna yesterday. I used Crystal Palace Taos so pictures would look just like Knitty. Just imagine only 2 rows knit.

Now prior to casting on for Shrek, I had the need to knit lace and the Flared Lace Smoke Ring from HeartStrings called out from my stack of patterns. It also helped that someone pulled it out of the binders at Ewe Knits and left it on the table. So, armed with natural colored sock yarn, I cast on. It's a fun knit. A little tricky there at first, so many markers were utilized. But now I'm at the repeating of the final chart of 8 rows until it's as long as you want, so it's a nice tv project.

Speaking of TV, heard last night that Big Brother is starting in February! My favorite reality tv show! I could so be on it! Of course, I'd add to my contract that I'd have to bring my knitting.

There are other items on the needle and I have actually pulled them out and started to knit on them again.

Toe up socks. They were on Magic Loop but I just wasn't feeling it. So, off to double points. There's another sock at the same point. So just look at this twice.

And My Favorite Shawl in Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool .

So you're caught up. Of course this will change as the new yarns and patterns start to come into Ewe Knits. Did I tell you Bobbie has ordered all of the Elizabeth Zimmerman DVD's and books from Schoolhouse Press including the reprint Barbara Abbey's Lace book. I'm soooo in trouble.