Friday, July 30, 2004

A few pictures from today's visit to ThreadBear, where I met Jillian (a very Knitty designer) and Carla (hi, ladies!):

This is how you'll find Matt at any particular moment of time . . .

. . . surrounded by the shelves he's been putting together non-stop for about a week.

And here's Brown Sheep land . . .

. . . which the boys fondly refer to as "Nebraska". 

The Koigu is in the process of being inventoried, before being tagged and shelved.

It's much more stunning in person.  Walking through the aisles is like walking down beautiful garden paths.

But not in my yard.  My garden is overgrown with weeds.  I haven't been spending too much time out there, because (everybody say it with me, now) . . .

. . . I'd rather be knitting!

Sarah

Monday evening, July 26, 2004

Got two loads of laundry done so I could get dressed and spend some time at ThreadBear, and so Son Number Two could have a clean uniform for his game tonight -- the last game of his I'll see this summer, since my classes conflict with his last two games. 

Here's what the store looked like when I left today:

It's getting there!  Anyone who knows their numbers is welcome to help out. 

Maybe I'll see you there tomorrow . . .

Sarah

Monday morning, July 26, 2004

I'm way, WAY behind on laundry, so that's first on the agenda for today.

I'll try to get caught up on e-mail and comments soon, when I have more time and brain power. 

My weekend on the patio morphed into a Saturday by a lake, where we learned that Sarah gets a headache when she drinks frozen Margaritas out of a tub (the Margaritas were in the tub -- Sarah was in a lawn chair).

When I get a couple of loads of laundry done (enough to have something to wear), I hope to run back over here:

Rob and Matt would like to open ThreadBear on Sunday, August 1, but there's still a TON of work to be done before then.  This photo is from Friday and shows the mountain of boxes, which extends the entire length of the room.  They've been assembling shelving, laying out a floor plan, sorting boxes, entering inventory into their new computer system, and putting price labels on everything in sight.

In knitting news, I finished Phase Three of my Secret Knitting and started Phase Four, and I'm a couple of hours away from re-finishing the Basketweave Vee.  Maybe I'll make some more progress on it while I wait for the laundry to be done. 

In the mean time, I'll be hanging around in my p.j.s, so don't expect me to answer the door if you come over!

Sarah

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Oooh.  I thought I had just skipped one day of blogging, but I appear to have skipped two.  Sorry!

Please join me in welcoming purlgirl to the TKGA Knit-along!

Remember this?  Another gift from my sweet little kitten ("Here, Mom, you can add this to your list of things to do!"):

I performed a little brain surgery . . .

. . . and the patient came through extraordinarily well:

Doctor, the operation was a success!

Oh, and there's this:

The third time WAS a charm!

Does anyone besides me have trouble figuring out which way to sew buttons on?  Or is that, "on which way to sew buttons?"  No, that can't be right.  Anyway, I'm talking about whether to have the thread go horizontally or vertically.  I chose to sew horizontally, to match the lines of the ribbed border:

What would you have done?

Our summer activities are dying down -- just three more evening baseball games to attend and a few more days of golf, and then we can get down to the business of having nothing to do.  My patio umbrella has been repaired, I have a backlog of magazines and a pile of library books, and there's a big ol' tub of frozen Margaritas in the freezer.  I'll be out on the patio this weekend.  Please do not disturb!

Sarah

Monday, July 19, 2004

Karen asked how the Grand Opening at the new location of The Yarn Garden went this weekend.

Here's a photo I took in June of the main Lawrence Avenue entrance:

See Purl the shop dog at the door?

And here's Kim at the back door:

You wanna know what I got?

I finally came home with the yummy Garnstudio Angora Tweed that I've been fondling for months and months (30% angora, 70% merino).  I passed on it when it was full price, and I passed on it when it went on sale for 25% off, but this weekend it was marked "buy one get one", which my summer-fried brain figured to be a whopping 50% off, and I couldn't pass on that. 

I had also been eyeing the Plymouth Sunsette (60% rayon, 40% acrylic) because of it's beautiful rich red color, so that hopped in my basket ("buy two get one"), along with Vogue Knitting's Scarves Two (25% off), which I'd been coveting, and a 4.0 mm crochet hook (full price!) to replace the one I busted (frightening to think that I wore out a crochet hook, but there you have it).

As if all that weren't enough, I also won a door prize with a ticket that one of my knitting friends handed me (she pouted after I won).  My prize?  The hardcover book New Directions in Knitting.  Cool!

Oh, and there were lots of other people there, and they bought lots of other things that were on sale.  And there were snacks, which is always a good thing. 

I'm off to have one now, as a matter of fact.

Sarah

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Here's what I remember: 

During my Seamless Sweater class last Thursday night, one of my students asked me if it would be okay if she started weaving in the yarn tails even though she was still knitting her sweater.  "Absolutely," I said.  She had noticed that I hadn't woven in any yarn tails on my Basketweave Vee, even though I had one piece completely knit.  "That's because given my recent knitting history, I'm assuming I'll have to tear my knitting out at some point, and I don't want to have to un-weave all those little ends," I said.  I was thinking I might have to narrow the shoulders a little more.

Here's what I did:

I finished knitting the second half of the Basketweave Vee last night and used the three needle bind off to attach the shoulders.  First thing this morning, I sewed the side seams and added the neck and armhole borders, and this afternoon I wove in all the ends. 

Here's what I don't understand:

Why did I wait until TONIGHT to try on my sweater?

It fits, which is a huge plus.  And the side seams can stay, which is good, because the Berroco Luxe was kind of a pain to sew with. 

But the shoulders need to be narrowed a little more (of course), and now I'm going to have to un-weave all those little ends, in addition to taking out the neck and armhole borders. 

Horse-pucky.

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Let's not forget my incredible repair from last week, however.  I can do SOME things right.  MaryB asked for details of the repair, so I'll try to oblige, although I didn't take any photos along the way, so you'll have to picture lots of curly brown loops and tails in various configurations. 

The first thing I did was to capture the live stitches from the last unbroken row on a double pointed needle.  I picked out a few stitches on the left and the right of the hole so the broken yarn tails on either side would be long enough to work with.  I brought in a new piece of yarn (after retrieving it from the person I had given the leftovers to!), and worked garter stitch on those live stitches until I reached the original height of the purse.  I then wove the broken yarn tails on the left and right of the hole into the sides of the newly knitted piece, and then secured them onto the back of the fabric.  The top edge, fortunately, was a bound off row, and I was able to undo a large portion of it, bring in a new piece of yarn, and bind off across most of the top of the purse so it looked smooth and continuous.  The last step was to sew in a lining to hide all the messy yarn tails (thank goodness!).

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And now for some photos.  I haven't been posting very many photos this month, so I present the following for your viewing pleasure:

ThreadBear in Lansing has a brand new floor, which is absolutely gorgeous. 

Son Number Two kicked off his shoes, got a huge running start, and tried to see how far he could slide.  The answer?  Pretty darn far.

Kid tested, mother/knitter approved!

Sarah

Thursday, July 15, 2004

I stopped by the new ThreadBear location today.  What a great space!  There's still a lot of work to be done before the yarn can move in.  Matt is working his tail off painting the walls in the main area, and will be helping with the installation of the flooring throughout the weekend, but could use some help with the following if anyone local is interested in lending a hand:

• Washing the front windows
• Mopping the floor in the front foyer
• Steam cleaning the carpet in the storage area and the office area
• Cleaning the two bathrooms
• Painting the walls in the storage area and the office area (including the bathrooms)  

If you e-mail me or call me, I can provide you with Matt's cell phone-# so you can coordinate times and supplies with him.  Your help would be GREATLY appreciated!

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Remember this?

Way back in early February, just moments away from finishing "Your Basic Bag" from Sally Melville's book The Knit Stitch, I discovered that my beloved cat had munched her way through the knitted fabric.  Five months later, I finally pulled the bag back out of the depths of my yarn closet (where I had flung it in a fit of anger), and worked a little magic.

Voila!

Can you see the repair?  Probably not from that distance.  Here's a close-up:

And now for some interactive blogging.  Ready?  Move your mouse so the arrow is over the button in this photo.  Move the arrow about a third of the way toward the left side of the photo.  Now move it up to the top edge of the purse.  That's where the repair is.

Not bad, eh?

Good thing there was a lining added afterwards, because the back side of that repair doesn't look nearly as nice.

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The Yarn Garden in Charlotte (Michigan) is having a Grand Opening in their new location (111 W. Lawrence Avenue) this weekend -- Saturday, July 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, July 18 from noon to 5 p.m.  There will be refreshments, giveaways, and door prizes, and select yarns will be "buy 2 get 1 free". 

Maybe I'll see you there!

Sarah

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

It was the iced tea.  I can tell because, in the light of day, I can see the stains on the balls of white yarn for the Basketweave Vee. 

Sigh.

I successfully washed some of the tea out of a white t-shirt, onto which I had dribbled a day or two earlier, so I'm forging ahead with the wet, stained yarn. 

The first half of the Vee is unharmed:

You can't see the stitch pattern very well in this photo, but it looks very basketweave-y.  And have I mentioned yet that I think this is my first v-neck?  Can you believe I've never knit a v-neck before?  Oh, wait, I just checked my archives, and 3xChic was a v-neck.  So this is my second one.  Weird.

The second half of the Vee (the tea-Vee) is looking a little splotchy.  And it's kind of damp.  I won't be working on it in public because I don't want to gross anyone out, but I plan on finishing this sweater quickly so I can see how it washes up.  Once again, keep your fingers crossed for me.

(note to self:  practice drinking iced tea without spilling it)

Does anyone know where I hid Phase Two of my Secret Knitting?  I want to take it button shopping tomorrow but I can't find it . . .

Sarah

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

I'm home early from tonight's knit-in, because when I reached into my knitting bag to get a new ball of yarn for the Basketweave Vee (which is coming along very nicely, thank you very much!), I discovered that everything in my bag was wet.  Yarn, needle cases, notes . . . you name it, it was wet.

I vaguely remember dumping a bit of iced tea in my bag last night when I bent over to pick it up, but I thought it was just a drop or two.

Fortunately, it was herbal tea (peppermint), so I don't think the damage will be permanent.  It doesn't smell like peppermint though . . .

And that's pretty much how my whole day went. 

Hell, let's face it . . . it's been a crummy week.

What?  It's only Tuesday?

expletive deleted

Sarah

Monday, July 12, 2004

I just bound off the last stitch of the Neckdown Summer Cardigan. 

(pause while the choir belts out the Hallelujah Chorus) 

I'll weave in the ends tomorrow, and maybe do some button shopping, depending on how the day goes.  You're gonna have to wait to see the finished product.

I finished knitting (and purling) the front (or back) of the Basketweave Vee up to the armholes at Son Number Two's baseball game tonight.  It looks like a big white square right now.  I hope to do some calculations tomorrow morning for the armhole and v-neck shaping.  The top half should knit up quickly, since most of the stitches will be decreased away.

On second thought, I may have enough yarn to add short sleeves like I put on the Basketweave Tee.  But then I would have to call this sweater the Basketweave TeeVee.

Oh, come on -- you had to see that one coming from a mile away.

Sarah

Sunday, July 11, 2004

I took four knitting projects with me to Chicago and worked on three, but concentrated on just one:

You thought I'd have the Neckdown Summer Cardigan done by now, didn't you?  But no.  It's still being ornery. 

See that sleeve?  The one that's finished?  That's the second version, and was knit in the car on the way home, completely replacing the first version which was knit during two evenings in the hotel.  It seems that the rate of decrease suggested by the pattern (every other row) was too rapid for the length of sleeve I wanted.  The optional rate of decrease (every third row) worked perfectly, but I needed to knit the sleeve twice in order to figure that out. 

See those front bands?  See how they cause the bottom front of the sweater to hang longer than the back?  They've already been removed, and are being picked up at the rate of two stitches for every three rows, rather than the three stitches for every four rows suggested by the pattern.

Sleeve #2 is also currently in progress.  If I get it right the first time, that will be the only piece of the sweater to be knit just once.  Most of the sweater will have been knit three times.

I am definitely getting my money's worth out of this yarn!

Sarah

Monday, July 5, 2004

My mother-in-law just drove away, and I think that just about does it for visitors to the Peasley household for a while.  Oh, wait.  I take that back.  The weekly knit-in is here tomorrow night.  I guess I'll spend the day tomorrow attacking the giant pile of laundry and cleaning the house, which really isn't in bad shape, amazingly enough.  All right -- the first floor, where people will be allowed to go, isn't in bad shape.  The upstairs is still a disaster area from the closet remodeling project.  I should have put everything back together by now, but I'd rather be knitting.

My Neckdown Summer Cardigan tried to play a little trick on me Friday in the movie theater while we watched Spiderman 2.  It thought it would be fun to let a stitch drop and see if I noticed.  Well, I DID notice, about four rows later (back home in the light of day), and rather than tear back those four rows I just picked that silly little dropped stitch up and forced a tight little column of stitches all the way back up to the needle.  I think the cardigan was just bummed out because I hadn't taken any photos of it lately, so here's one to appease the sweater gods:

I probably could have finished the body (at least) over the long weekend if I hadn't cast on for this:

That's three out of eight pieces needed for Randomly Slanted from the Spring 2000 issue of Knitter's Magazine (#58).  Here's a close-up of the yarn and the stitch pattern:

I showed you one of the two yarns before.  It's Alpine Cotton (100% combed cotton), hand dyed in variegated purples by Nancy McRay of Woven Art in East Lansing.  You haven't seen the "solid" purple bumpy yarn that she custom dyed as a complement.  It was in one of those three bags I teased you with a few weeks ago.  It's called Curly Q (70% combed cotton, 30% carded cotton).  Together they knit up beautifully.  SO soft.  So soft, in fact, that I was afraid the sweater wouldn't hold its shape, but if I sew them together firmly and work the crocheted edging firmly, there shouldn't be a problem.  That's one of the tricks Margaret Radcliffe taught us when she was here a few months ago.

I know I said I'd probably start three new things over the weekend, and that's only one.  Here's another:

The Berroco Luxe I bought on sale at Yarn for Ewe a while back has declared it's intention to become a Basketweave Vee.  Yes, that's right.  A Vee.  Close cousin to the Basketweave Tee, this one will be sleeveless, and will sport a v-neck.  And yes, it will also be a free pattern, if it works out as planned.  So far it's putting up a good fight -- that's the second start you see there.  Gauge issues again.

Sorry, I didn't get a third new project on the needles, but I did finish Phase Two of the Secret Knitting, so I'm free to begin Phase Three, which I'll probably do after I post this entry.

We leave for Chicago Wednesday afternoon.  The kids and I are stowing away in the rental car for my husband's latest business trip.  We'll stay through Sunday, and will only have to pay for Saturday night in the hotel.  Oh, and possibly that extra day with the rental car.  Museums and the aquarium are on the agenda, as are Niketown and the Lego store. 

And perhaps I'll get a little knitting done.

Sarah

Thursday, July 1, 2004

No photos, because I've been focusing on two projects -- Phase Two of the Secret (and therefore photo-less) Knitting, and the Neckdown Summer Cardigan, which you've seen often enough already, and probably in it's current version, which is below the armholes and headed toward the hem.  Yup, it looks just like the photo at the end of my June 13th entry, only shorter.  Maybe I should stop and do the sleeves, just to add some variety.

I'm tempted to start umpteen new projects, but I'm trying to be good (it won't last -- I'm willing to bet I have three new things started before the weekend is over). 

My month "off" is officially over -- I started a new Seamless Sweater class at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte this evening with twelve (twelve!) students.  Fun!

In the mail today was an envelope from Interweave Press, containing my order from their "hurt" book sale.  One of the two back issues of Interweave Knits I had ordered had sold out before my order was processed, but the other back issue arrived along with the Herb Tea Book I added so I wouldn't be spending more on shipping than on magazines.

Fortunately, the back issue I received was the one I really wanted -- Fall 1997.  The brief description on their order site mentioned an article in this issue by Beth Brown-Reinsel on top down Arans.  I'll be taking that class from her in August, and I was anxious to see the article. 

I started paging through the issue, and got more and more excited.  I haven't stopped to read any of the articles (that would take TIME), but here's what I found while scanning titles and looking at the pretty pictures: 

• An article on Slip Stitch Knitting, based on Roxanna Bartlett's "upcoming" book Slip-Stitch Knitting (published in 1998), which I purchased when it was new but never looked at in detail (I buy books faster than I can read them), followed by five (five!) patterns for slip stitch garments, including a jacket that I'm putting on my to-do list.
• An article on Nøstepinder by Robin Hansen.  I purchased a Nøstepinde from Mielke's Fiber Arts a few years ago, so this will be an interesting read.
• The article on knitting Arans from the top down, by Beth Brown-Reinsel, followed by the pattern for her Celtic Dreams sweater, which I had purchased years ago from her booth at one of the knitting conventions I've been to, and which I re-discovered at ThreadBear's Grand Opening in Columbus about a year ago, when they had a beautiful version of it knit up in a Black Water Abbey yarn.  I really have to make that sweater someday soon.
• An article about Alice Starmore and Aran knitting -- had her Aran Knitting book just been published?  Followed by the pattern for her Maidenhair Cardigan, which is also in Aran Knitting.
• A pattern for the Poudre River Pullover by Tara Jon Manning (who more recently authored Men in Knits), followed by an article by Tara called "Celtic Images and Family Pattens -- Folklore of the Aran Sweater".  Cool!
• An article by Katherine Hegg, who once came to Lansing to teach a class for our guild.  Katherine's opened the article with a mention of her friend Jacquie Vaughan, who she taught with at a yarn store in Elmhurst, Illinois.  Jacquie now lives in Lansing and is a good friend of mine, so this was a very fun surprise!
• A wonderful pattern by Melissa Leapman, called the Hourglass Cable Pullover.  I've taken a number of excellent classes from Melissa, and am pleased to count her among my knitting friends.
• The results of a "pillow challenge" which included an entry by Jillian Moreno, who was the Associate Publisher of Interweave Knits at the time.  I've never met Jillian, but she's a friend of two of MY friends, and a frequent contributor to Knitty.

There were a lot of "small world" moments as I flipped through these pages.  Did I hit the jackpot, or what? 

Not bad for $2.98!

Sarah

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