This post is a few days overdue, but I wanted to try to get some pictures of my purchases before posting. Alas, that is not going to happen, so you’ll just have to make do with my overly wordy description of the day. There are no pictures of Stitches itself, because there were no cameras allowed in the Market, and I was worried about taking pictures in my class too.

Lynette and I headed down to Santa Clara on Friday morning, and made it to the convention center just as the market opened. Our first stop of the day was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. I was looking at all the gorgeous yarn (truly, the colors on their website don’t do it justice), when I heard someone say my name - it was Angela! She was there with Steph and Amy (blogless). Even though we’d been planning to meet up at some point during the day, I was pleasantly surprised to run into them right away.

I did some damage at BMFA before heading to Cookie’s booth to buy a couple of sock patterns. Then it was off to get my Victorian Lace Today book signed by Jane Sowerby. Meeting Jane and talking to her briefly was one of the highlights of my day. She was wearing a gorgeous Curved Shawl (my favorite pattern in the book!), and gave me a few tips on yarn selection and knitting/blocking the shawl.

After lunch was my Norwegian Knitting class, taught by Beth Walker-O’Brien. The class was outstanding. Beth had everyone knitting with their non-dominant hand (continental style for me) in about 20 minutes, and knitting two handed in under an hour. Along with teaching techniques for two color knitting and weaving floats, she also gave a great overview of the differences between Norwegian Knitting and Fair Isle (main differences are color/design and finishing techniques), and some brief tips on reading patterns and finishing. I have to admit, I was hesitant about the class and was worried it wouldn’t be worthwhile. I’m happy to say that my worries were completely unfounded - the class definitely exceeded my expectations. Next year I’m hoping to take another class from Beth at Stitches… perhaps the Norwegian/Fair Isle finishing class. (and now I have my eye on this Dale of Norway sweater - is this a bit too ambitious for a first Norwegian project?)

I’ll try to get some pictures of my Stitches schwag posted later this week. I managed to get everything on my list (STR, Sea Silk, and a few patterns) without going too crazy. My biggest unplanned purchase was a super cute knitting bag/purse covered with brightly colored appliqued flowers. Oh, and a couple skeins of Koigu and some inexpensive laceweight merino may also have made their way home with me. Still, not bad!

PS. Steph, thanks for the reminder about my Weekender - watch for a finished bag, zipper pocket and all, soon!

After my first quilt class, I couldn’t help but do some web surfing. I came across the Fat Quarter Shop, where I found a kit for what is possibly the cutest baby quilt ever. (it comes in pink too!)

A good friend of mine is having her first baby, a boy, in May. I decided after knitting my first baby blanket that I would never knit one again, so this little guy is getting a quilt instead.

My kit came in the mail today…

So cute! And the pattern looks really easy.  This will give me some practice cutting and piecing before my next quilting class.

Now the big question - do I order the pink quilt kit too? At the rate my friends are having babies, one of them is bound to have a girl sooner or later (probably sooner!). And I do so love the colors in the pink kit.

The man socks were (past tense) knitting up quickly. On Friday, I managed to finish nearly the entire leg of the first sock on the drive to Squaw Valley.

When we got home, I had the man try on his sock. Bad news - it was too loose. Turns out they really mean “Mega Boots Stretch” — this is some stretchy yarn! I think I could knit socks that were my size, and they would be stretchy enough to fit Todd too. So, my bright idea of adding two ribbing repeats to scale up the size of the sock was not so bright after all. I’m pretty bummed about the fact that I have to rip an entire 7 inches of sock, so I’m not ripping it just yet. I’m putting this project on the back burner for a while. After trying on the sock, Todd didn’t even seem so sure he’d like wearing hand knit socks. So sad. I’m not giving up just yet though.

To cheer myself up, I went to Babetta’s today and bought some yarn to make the Entrelac Socks. (I actually went to get a skein of light colored Cascade 220 for my Stitches class, but couldn’t resist the call of the Cherry Tree Hill solids in bright pink & olive green.)

These socks are so. fun. I’m really enjoying the entrelac, and can’t believe that I was (sort of) scared to try it before this. It just looked so complicated. Really, it’s not complicated at all. The only kind of annoying thing is all the turning. And I solved that problem by teaching myself how to knit backwards. (also not as complicated as it sounds.)

I didn’t get Salina finished over the weekend, as I planned. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish her up this week. I need a sweater to wear to Stitches on Friday!

That’s not a statement of self-worth. It’s a fact. I don’t count. And I didn’t realize this until tonight.

The realization occurred as I was knitting on the Man Socks. I decided yesterday to rip the sock cuff and start again… the socks were looking a bit large, and I decided to actually use a pattern. I came across Karen’s recently completed Madder Socks. She made them using the same yarn that I’m using (Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch, in a different colorway), and they look absolutely amazing. They’re also very gender neutral - plenty manly, or girly, depending on the yarn. And, the addition of ribbing in the foot and ankle part of the sock will make the fit not so critical - the socks will have a bit more stretch.

Tonight, I sat down to work on the socks, in a somewhat dim room. My yarn is dark. Almost black. I didn’t really realize how much more difficult it was to knit with a dark color, but Sheila warned me that it was probably not going to be easy, especially if I knit at night. Anyway, the previous cuff was a 1×1 ribbing - knit 1, purl 1, repeat. Not much counting required, so I didn’t have too many problems the first time around. The new cuff is 2×2 ribbing. Minimal counting required. 1, knit; 2, knit; 3, purl; 4, purl. Uh oh. Mistakes everywhere. Turns out I can’t count to 4. And then, when I finished the cuff, the real fun began… 6×1 ribbing alternating with 2×1 ribbing. I can’t count to 7 either. Or 10.

Somehow, I continually managed to mess up the ribbing. How could this be? I can count, right? I mean, I’m a pretty OK knitter. I’ve knit some fairly complex things. These must have required counting.

Turns out, not so much. As I kept making mistakes and fixing them, I realized exactly what was happening… I can indeed count. I just don’t. I knit by reading the stitches. For ribbing in the round, I knit a stitch if it looks like the stitch below it is a knit stitch. I purl if the stitch below is a purl stitch. Same goes for more complicated things: lace, cables, etc. I look at my knitting, and at the pattern or chart (if there is one), and figure out what I need to do based on what’s on the needles.

That approach has worked really well for me until now. Now, I can’t see what’s on the needles unless I really strain. It’s just a bunch of dark, indistinguishable stitches that form a knit fabric. My sense of when to knit and when to purl is completely gone because I can’t see a darn thing on the needles. Who knew stitches in dark yarn are so hard to see? Not me!

I’m hoping once I get into the groove of the pattern that I’ll get a muscle memory of sorts for the ribbing pattern, so that I’ll automatically knit and purl in pattern. Otherwise I’ll have to teach myself to actually count stitches. Good times.

I was recently informed that I have to knit a pair of Man Socks. This is not news, as the man picked out the yarn for his socks during our vacation last fall. Unfortunately, I just got my Spring IK, and am dying (DYING) to knit Eunny’s entrelac socks. But, they will wait. For now, I am knitting Man Socks.

Hopefully my gauge is OK. I’m not using a pattern for these, just extrapolating my basic 64 stitch stockinette sock for a bigger, more manly foot. No use in making a gauge swatch, since that would take just as long as knitting a few inches of sock. After I get past the ribbing and into the stockinette, I’m going to take the sock of the needles and see if it is way too big. I fear that I cast on a few too many stitches, but will wait and see how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed.

One back. One front. Two sleeves. One year. One happy knitter.

Next up - blocking, seaming, collar, cuffs. Expect a finished sweater by the weekend.

Went to my first quilting class on Thursday night. The class was great, but I have mixed feelings about quilting. You see, quilting is all about precision. Or at least that’s what I got out of the first class. Precision in cutting your fabric, precision in pressing (not ironing!), precision in sewing a 1/4″ seam, etc. I find all that precision to be more than a little stressful, after spending all day drafting precisely worded documents at work. I need my hobbies to be relaxing! (knitting, anyone?)

That said, I really learned a lot in the class - both quilting and general sewing techniques. My favorite tip for sewing was to start all seams with a piece of scrap fabric, and feed in whatever you are sewing after the scrap. When the “real” sewing is done, finish the seam with another scrap of fabric. That way the fabric doesn’t get distorted at the beginning and end of the piece, and you don’t waste much thread.

I had the same problem as Ruth when sewing my 1/4″ seam. I think pretty much everyone in my class ended up using tape to mark 1/4″ rather than using a 1/4″ foot. Apparently it is difficult to make an accurate 1/4″ foot or something… Weird.

My nine patch blocks turned out pretty well, I think. They measure 6.5″, just as planned, so apparently all that precision worked in my favor.

After the class, I talked to my administrative assistant at work (she is an avid quilter) about my quilting precision-related stress. She assured me that it is possible to be accurate without being anal (her words, not mine!), and told me that the minor imperfections in a finished quilt are what give the piece character. Hmmm - I’m not so sure I can deal with that, but it’s good to hear from a seasoned veteran that perfection is not the result that all quilters are trying to achieve.

On a completely different topic, anyone going to Stitches West? I’ll be there on Friday with Lynette, and I think Angela is going to be there that day too. Anyone up for a lunch or dinner meet-up?

The sum total of my knitting this weekend was a measly eight rows, because of this:

Necessary to transform our bedroom from this: (note the color swatches on the wall by the window - also, the ceiling is beige too. it’s a lot of beige.)

Hello, and welcome to the land of too much beige

To this:

All in preparation for this, which should be arriving in 2-3 weeks. Also planned for the room are these (next to the bed) and these (on the bed). I’m not going to want to leave my bedroom ever again!

Starting next Thursday, I’m about to embark on another crafty adventure. I signed up for Quilter’s University at my local quilt shop. It’s a series of four classes teaching the basics of quilting.

I’m excited about it for a couple of reasons… first of all, the class is at 5:30 pm on Thursday evenings. That means that I have to leave work at 5 to make it to class on time. It’s a sad state of affairs when I have to schedule an appointment in order to get myself out of the office at a reasonable hour, but that’s just how things are these days. I’ve been wanting to learn to quilt for quite a while too, and hopefully this will be a good way to get started. Ultimately, my goal is to make a modern quilt for my bedroom.

When I signed up for the class, I also bought The Quilter’s Ultimate Visual Guide.

I’ve been browsing through it, and it looks like a great book. Like the reviews on Amazon say, it seems to cover just about everything quilt related. I don’t really like that it doesn’t cover everything in the order that the quilting is actually done though. The book is organized alphabetically, which is a bit odd. Isn’t that what the index is for? I’d like to find more of a step-by-step guide to quilting as well. Any suggestions?

My first class is next Thursday, and I’ll be sure to post an update on how it goes.