Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Cat Bordhi taught two workshops at The Whole Nine Yarns over the weekend. Of course, I and my undivided attention were there. For the non-knitters who read this blog (the knitters already know this) Cat's second book in her current sock series releases this week. This title has been on my wish list for more than a year. You'll recall from the Interlocking Leaves socks last spring that I really enjoyed foxglove architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters . I think I might still prefer that architecture over Personal Footprints, but both certainly have their merits. In the Saturday workshop, we made a personal footprints discovery sock. This is basically what's in the book, but it was so very nice to have Cat on hand. Especially if you do not knit socks very often (raise my hand), it is nice to have someone who has knit many, many socks to help you with fit. I also suspect that only podiatrists have thought about or looked at as many different feet as Cat. As yo...

Sometimes a technique gets a bad reputation. Intarsia is an example. A lot of knitters will not even try it, as they've already heard the horror stories. There are reasons not to love intarsia. It can sometimes be uneven. There are lots of loose strings during the knitting and lots of ends to weave in. And it can require a lot of concentration. Of course, this is mostly true if you are making complex picture knitting. But intarsia can be used to get some very nice decorative results without getting too complicated. Several years ago I wanted to knit a ruana. I was initially inspired by the one in Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book. At the time, I had a nice stash of Reynolds Fusion and was looking for an excuse to play with it. Reynolds had a pamphlet of four different scarf patterns, and that was an inspirational starting point. So I started with that, and knit a truncated diamond shape with diamond patterns. I taught that pattern once as a class. And I've wor...

Of course, I did take some knitting with me on the Wisconsin vacation. Had to have that! And it was so nice being on a road trip vacation with the Cuddly Hubby, as he could drive and I could knit. (I may be passionate about knitting, but I do not recommend knitting and driving at the same time. Sometimes, you just have to be patient, Grasshopper.) You'll recall I had been experimenting with some brioche/shaker/Estonian patent stitches . This project evolved out of the net stitch that I showed in the video on 17 July . I was looking for an excuse to try the technique in a project. And this particular project also served a practical purpose. The Whole Nine Yarns had been to the TNNA market in June and purchased several "skeins" of Spectacular 14 from Bjorn of Hand Painted Knitting Yarns . Part of what makes this yarn unique is that it is already cut into long lengths, rather than flowing continuously from a skein. The colors are beautiful -- complex and interesti...

I did mention that we visited some local yarn shops while in Wisconsin. In these economically tough times, I know many people are bargain shopping at the big box stores. Still, if you can afford to, I definitely encourage you to support your local yarn shops. These are the people who will be there to help you figure out a pattern, who schedule classes and workshops and book signings, who will order just the right color when it is out of stock. And let's face it, you can't perfectly check yarn softness or match colors with an outfit without having the yarn in person. In Fish Creek I visited Red Sock Yarns. This is a relatively new shop but the owner has already made some wonderful and smart choices. In addition to a nice selection of good yarns, she has a sitting area for knitters or non-knitters who need to wait. Here I bought six skeins of elsebeth lavold Hempathy in a lovely spring green shade. My thought is to make a top to go with a certain silk skirt. I'd been...

We rode the train into Chicago. We were way out in the suburbs, so the ride was about 45 minutes, but at least we didn't have to drive in the city or look for parking. I specifically wanted to visit the Art Institute of Chicago . It was nearly lunchtime by the time we got to the museum, and the Cuddly Hubby had not had breakfast. On the other hand, I was eager and a little cranky -- don't get between me and the great art, okay? Oh, and we did have a nice surprise. Our membership level at the High Museum here in Atlanta was high enough that we got reciprocal rights at the Art Institute. So we didn't have to pay for admission. Cuddly Hubby went off in search of food, I went off in search of art, and we agreed to meet later in front of Sunday on the Grand Jatte. I wandered through the Asian collection, and eventually found my way to the temporary exhibit "Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum."...

After our week in Green Bay and Door County, we headed down to Madison to visit more friends and see more sights. We stayed at the home of Dr. Don and Nancy Field. Dr. Field is a very successful rural sociologist and a professor at the University of Madison. He'll be retiring in the next year. Nan is a writer and publisher and runs Dog-Eared Publications . Both are very involved in nature conservation. They are dear friends of my husband's family, and Nan greeted us as if Cuddly Hubby were her own son. Nan and I had some interesting conversations about writing and publishing. She kindly gave us copies of her books and stickers. She goes to great lengths to be sure the information in her books is correct. For my friends who are home schooling, I can definitely recommend her work. The books contain interesting and fun activities while teaching scientifically accurate information about the animals and habitats. And she has been careful that the artwork for the sticker...

For airplane aficionados, the annual Experimental Aircraft Association airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is about as good as it gets. I've always had a tangential connection to airplanes. My father was a commercial pilot. My brother was a private pilot and instructor. My husband is an aerospace engineer and through him, we have several friends who are also pilots and/or engineers. Cuddly Hubby and I had never been to Oshkosh. Wow! For starters, this is like attending the State Fair, except instead of animals and farm equipment, everything is aviation-related. While lots of people do drive, lots of people also fly to the show. And then they camp. Lots and lots of camping for the week-long event. And more airplanes that you can imagine. I thought I had seen crowds at Dragon*Con. Hah! There are four parking areas where general aircraft are on display -- ultralight & rotorcraft, vintage, homebuilt, and warbirds. There are also several large exhibit hangers. And there ...