Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

A friend and coworker of the Cuddly Hubby's has a fondness for European vacations. The Bard and his wife like to take a couple weeks in France each year for hiking and bicycling during the day, and eating amazing food at night. The Bard also knows of my love of textile goodness. And the Bard's harp teacher is also a knitter. So, returning from France with good yarn is a way to please two women at once! Additionally, the Bard visited an old mill with 19th century spinning equipment. Very cool! So, I am adding to my stash, courtesy of the Bard (thank you, thank you, grovel, grovel, thank you) 105 grams, approx. 100m Artisan wool, color mulberry 25 grams, approx. 90m 70% angora, 30% merino, color bright turquoise 25 grams, approx. 90m 70% angora, 30% merino, color pale peach And I must admit that I love how the angora seems to be glowing in the photographs. Its halo is glowing brightly.

I haven't put gas in the zippy sippy in over a week. Partly I didn't need it, and partly I did not wish to be any part of the feeding frenzy that is happening here. I truly thought it would blow over by now. I was wrong. Tonight I knew the tank was getting low. And I want to go to JapanFest on Saturday, which is over in Gwinnett County. And I want to go game with friends in Dacula on Sunday -- that's almost exactly 100 miles round trip from my house to theirs. So I knew I was going to need gas tonight or tomorrow. My drive home from the shop in Woodstock involves cutting across Cobb County. Now, Woodstock has been out of gas for most of this crisis, but the city itself is only about a mile off I-575. I figured that as I got away from the interstate, I'd find gas. In fact, my plan was to just drive to the place where Cuddly Hubby and I always fill up. I couldn't help but notice on my drive home as I passed several gas stations, and they were all empty. E...

I know this is sacrilege, but I really don't need more yarn. That's not to say that I don't want more. It is to say that, should I be forced under house arrest, I should be okay for quite some time. In the time that I've been in the Atlanta Knitting Guild, the guild has sponsored two shop hops. I did the shop-sponsored hop last year. And, since I've been around to meet with the local owners individually, I've essentially done another hop by myself this summer. The owners sponsored a shop hop a couple weeks ago. The weather was nice, the gas prices weren't but, hey, that's why I have the zippy sippy. Now, I do have to admit to a small guild president meltdown in my living room earlier this month. It was the day after Dragon*Con, so I was still recovering from four days of partying like I'm 20, which I'm not anymore. Cuddly Hubby was home -- wise man that he is, he takes off both the day before and after the convention. I had just turned ...

In spite of the frenetic pace this month, I somehow managed to knock out a Baby Surprise Jacket for the shop. I'm not sure yet if I'll be teaching this as a class or as a knit-along. As this is my third time through the pattern, I'm to the point that I'm making refinements. Some of those I'll save for class, but I thought I'd share the seaming refinement with everybody. Here's the trick -- in the initial cast-on, use a crochet cast-on. The crochet cast-on, when not used as a provisional cast-on, involves throwing the yarn around the left-hand knitting needle in between the formation of each crochet chain. The result is a chain edge that looks just like a bind-off. Why is that such a great thing for this pattern? Because there are two unavoidable seams in this pattern. And to make matters even more interesting, those seams involve sewing a cast-on edge to a side-selvage of garter stitch. And those two seams sit on the top of the sleeve, not hidden...

I just had to post this great picture. When someone in the parade says, "Do you want me to pick him up for the picture?" you have got to remember where you are. The Young Mr. Star Wars is the son of one of the Cuddly Hubby's co-workers. I think the young gent was a little embarrassed by the whole thing, as he struck me as a shy child who didn't really want to be the center of attention. But I do hope when he's a little older he'll realize that this is a wickedly good picture! Photo credit here to the Young Mr. Star Wars' dad. He also snapped this picture of the Young Mr. Star Wars with his mom, the Dear Friend who took my avatar picture last year, and me with the Cuddly Hubby. The Dear Friend is proving that just because one is over fifty, maturity is not required in all behavior. Something about Dragon*Con brings out the fun.

It has taken me a full week to sit down and write. For the Cuddly Hubby and I, Dragon*Con is the best weekend of the year -- better than the last week of the year that includes Yule, New Year's, and college football Bowl Week. This was our fourteenth Dragon*Con. The Cuddly Hubby doesn't do any costuming at the convention. I've slowly eased into doing costuming, although I don't do anything too elaborate. And, alas, I don't have great pictures of myself in all the costumes I wore during the weekend. But I did promise I'd post, so here's what I have. Day 1: Friday about lunchtime at the Dunwoody MARTA station. I've had to adjust this photo a bit, as the bright background behind me and the lack of a flash made for a poor exposure. Most of the MARTA stations have public art, but this array of glass is among my favorites. The outfit was a gift from my in-laws. It came directly from India. Colorful and comfortable! Also practical. I did have anoth...