What’s Happening At Nana’s?

Each day that I put off posting the size of this post has grown. So, instead of making this a really wordy post, I decided to make it pictorial instead, so if your browser is slow, be patient…I had lots of pics on the camera, so I know I’ve been busy. Here’s a quick look at some of the things I’ve been up to:

I knit another octagon: And then started a heptagon? OOPs do you hear amphibians...

Sherry and I went to the Midwest Fiber & Folk Festival. I Did some knitting, bought some stuff, tried fried twinkies and fried milkyway bars, and found the best gift for my new granddaughter:

On Sunday, my brother and niece arrived at the downtown train station, so I went downtown and picked them up, I had a little extra time since the train was delayed, so I checked out some city sites, couldn't resist this shot of the "new" Willis tower (so touristy):

I started a new pair of socks (name that yarn!):

And am nearly finished with the vest (working on front band today):

If time cooperates over the weekend, I'll try to write a decent post about the acquisitions from the festival and my new sock, and hopefully there will be a finished shot of the vest.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

The Shape of Things to Come

Well my knitting is starting to “shape” up. I finished one Octagon and two squares for baby Sylvia’s blanket. The Sprout yarn is so soft and cuddly, but it is a beast to knit with! Thank goodness the shapes are knitted with alternating decrease rounds (it goes faster as I go). Here’s a peek: There will be more colors added before it’s done, but it’s a start! I also finished the back on the vest and started one of the fronts, no hurry on this project, but I’m to the point where I’m ready to have it off the needles! (no pics) And, last but not least, I finished the blue anklets, so I have at least one pair of socks knit for July (and a finished project to show)… see! Pattern: striped version of a basic sock pattern Yarn: Panda cotton in colors 2302/Baby Blues and 0511/Deep Water Size 2.5 mm needles (dpn)

I expect this to be a sort of busy week. Linda has gone off on a much deserved vacation and left me as lead at the shop during her absence. Most of the time we work together to take care of things, so that’s not too big of a deal, I just need to stay in communication with everybody.

There also will be a little extra cleaning and staying on top of housework because my big brother and niece are coming to visit on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to the visit.

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to… Happy Knitting!

Nana

I Am Loved

Seven years ago today I had the great fortune to marry a wonderful man. Since we couldn't celebrate together today, he sent this:(some close ups of the individual blooms)

I am very loved by a good man. I miss him a great deal. Hurry home honey!

Fiddle-Faddle

Or as Elizabeth Zimmerman refers to it in the Knitter's Almanac …”sheer fiddle-faddle” basically little bit’s of knitting done without a pattern or reference library, just for the joy of creating. When I had made what I deemed sufficient progress on my vest…

(I've actually knit about 5 more inches since I took this pic) I knit these just for a change of project and pace: (yes; I wrote down the "pattern" )

They will eventually (with some additional embellishments) become something like these:

Nice little doodads which attach to a bag or basket so that I can distinguish that object as belonging to me and me alone. Just some fun happy knitting to get me over a hump.

I hope you knit yourself something fun ... have a happy week!

Nana

Trivial Tuesday Stuff

Sadly there is no real knitting to report, slow progress is being made on the Lakeshore Vest and a little bit on the blue anklets, but I am otherwise not doing too much to take pictures of or post about. Instead I give you some trivial things.

Craft Workspace before and after... this could be contributing to the lack of knitting going on:

With some effort, some improvements have been made:

Ahhh.... planning space (still more work to be done, but having clear space was much needed!)

Saucey is feeling a little better, tomorrow is her last day of antibiotics. I think we'll try to go to the vet tomorrow to see if they can get the needed sample. She says:

"Enough with the paparazzi routine already, just let me rest"

and finally, six things...

Here’s a meme I grabbed from Karen's Blog Rules of the game:* List six unimportant things that make you happy;* Mention and link to the person who tagged you;* Tag six of your favorite bloggers to play along, and comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged. (I’m with Karen that I won’t tag anyone, but please feel free to grab this meme if you wish!)

1. A purring kitty in my lap or on the bed next to me. 2. Opening packages and adding new merchandise to inventory at work (especially when it’s new yarn). 3. Phone calls from my hubby and/or kids. (Okay, I confess, this may actually be a VERY important thing) 4. The KIA Soul commercial (click on 'downloads' tab to see it) with the hamsters, so silly, I smile every time I see it. 5. Fresh fruit from the farmer's market. 6. Firework displays (the sight, not the sound).

Happy July!

Nana

A Little This; A Little That

It’s been one of those weeks. I’ve set little goals for my projects; which has helped keep me on track. I only had the toe left to do on the second blue sock, so I didn’t allow myself to touch any other knitting until those were done. See it worked:

Simply Blue; Pattern Simplicity from the Eclectic Sole

Yarn: Knitivity Down Home Sock, color Blue Jeans

Size 0 dpns

Then, I needed to get the 2nd triangle done on the vest and start the miters, so it was my next priority project, just that, no further and no picture.

I also needed to do a Christmas stocking sample for my July class… the knitting didn’t take long, but the embellishing has been a chore (but I like the way it turned out):

Here's a closer look at the I-cord trim with bells and pearl beads: I had a birthday just the other day, I got plenty of love: (it was last sunday in case you were wondering)

and last but not least...

Saucey had a relapse of her UTI symptoms and had to go to the vet once more. She is still too uncomfortable for them to get a good sample, so still uncultured… but the vet added an anti-inflammitory to her regimen and hopefully next week she will be able to provide the needed sample. It's not easy seeing her in so much distress. This weekend I will be focusing on getting a secret gift project done and crossed off my list so that I can free up more knitting time to make some super special things for my soon-to-be born granddaughter.

Have a nice weekend!

Nana

PS: How do you like my new header?

I Love a Parade!

Today was interesting. A lot of the towns and villages in our area have festivals this time of year to celebrate various meaningful events. These festivals usually include a parade or other kick-off extravaganza. So Linda signed the shop up to participate in one of the towns nearby where a lot of our customers are based. Since I don’t normally work on Saturday, she asked if I minded helping out, and since I actually hadn’t made any other plans for the weekend, I said sure! Why not, parades can be fun. So if you ever get asked to be in one, go for it. By my rough count, this makes about the 10th or so parade that I’ve been in. It was fun.

(I apologize for the quality, we all forgot our cameras and had to use my cell phone to take this. That's me on the left in my new Cardinals cap that DH sent for my birthday)

The hardest part was that we were one of the last entries, so by the time it got around to our turn to march, I had gotten past the heel turn on the sock I was knitting and was ready to pick up stitches for the gusset. This as I discovered is not really that easy to do while walking. So I just went with smiling at the crowd and waving my sock… I did the harlot proud! So, I know I promised a knitting post and this one is meant to be it. I’ll get back to the parade sock eventually. I finished the Monkey socks that I knitted on at every opportunity during TNNA. So without further ado, I present the Mixed Up Monkeys Pattern: Monkey Socks, by Cookie A. Yarn: Claudia Hand Paint Fingering in Desert Dusk, dye lots 8030.01. 009 and 015 Needles: Size 0, magic loop I’ve also made reasonable progress on the Blue Simplicity socks, but they are just shy of being finished (but apparantly didn't take a picture). I started the second Diamond Delight Vest which I am calling Lakeshore, because the colors remind me of (wait for it) taking a walk along a lake shore (hee, hee). This is for a class / KAL that I am teaching at the shop. I’m knitting it in Rowan Pima cotton, seven different colors:

I also cast on for the Christmas Stocking that will be my July sock class, since we are doing a “Christmas in July” promotion at the shop. It’s not very interesting yet, so, no picture. Then there are the parade socks; just a simple striped anklet in Panda Cotton, in colors Baby Blues and Deep Water. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but when it was taken before the parade I was just starting on the first dark stripe.... as I said, we had enough wait time for me to turn the heel before we actually started down the parade route. Even though I tried to pick up stitches during the times we had to stop for the cheerleaders in front of us, I ended up ripping out most of them. But, as you can see, I fixed it, picked up the stitches and started the gusset after I got home. This sock will go on the back burner while I get serious on the Christmas Stocking and vest projects. But maybe I’ll try to finish the blue sock during the solstice party I’m going to tonight (it’s a knitting party!).

And one last thing: the front of the shirts we wore in the parade had our shop logo (same as sign), the back says:

Hope you have a great weekend and Happy Knitting!

Nana

Nana’s Fantastic Adventure

After attending The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) show this weekend, I have to say that I had an amazing experience. There are so many things happening in my brain right now it’s hard to know exactly where to start. First off there won’t be any pictures in this post. I think I was so overwhelmed by the enormity of it all (and possibly a major yarn fume high) that I totally forgot I had a camera with me. This wasn’t my first “trade show’ ever, but it was my first TNNA and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I really did not know exactly what I was getting into when Linda told me she wanted me to go. If you have ever been to any trade show in any industry you will understand when I say that the primary function of the show is for the various companies in that industry to showcase their products or services to entice you to either sign up with them for a new account or to enhance your existing account. In this case the show was a showcase of yarn and needle craft supply vendors and lots of peripheral goods and services. Our primary mission at the show was to look at the new fall lines of yarn for our existing vendors and to check-out some of the ones we are considering adding to our store. Whew! All I can say is that it was a lot to take in and even more daunting of a task to make decisions. I’m glad I don’t have the final say-so, but I am pleased to be a part of the process. There were 258 yarn companies represented at the show. Additionally, there were publishers, authors, designers, accessories, you name it and what have you. The most amazing part of this experience was that everywhere you looked there was something new or different, eye catching, tactile, beautiful and tantalizing. It is nearly impossible to think clearly if you don’t have a game plan ahead of time. On top of that, as I guess is the case in every other industry, there were the “celebrities.” Everywhere! I might have missed a few, but just to give you an idea, I had a chance to meet and talk with: Cookie A; Amy R. Singer; Casey, Jess, Mary-Heather and Sarah (Ravelry) (but no Bob); Janel Laidman; and Jane Slicer-Smith; Cookie, Janel and Jane all have new books coming out late this summer or in the fall and I got to see previews and sneak peeks. The inner fan-girl wanted to jump up and down and squee, but this was a professional event, and I did act responsibly. Even though, if I had remembered about my camera, it would have been a really cool photo-op since I am knitting socks by both Cookie and Janel right now (But I'm not sure I would have been courageous enough to ask!) Also, I tried to meet Claudia, but her booth was so busy when I went by that it just wasn’t meant to be, did I mention my Monkey socks are out of Claudia Hand Paint! See what I mean… They really were everywhere... some sightings; Brett, Drew and Robyn of Knit and Crochet Today; Kaffe Fassett; Cat Bordhi, Lily Chin; Doris Chan; Sharon Dreifus; Jackie E-S and many others I’m sure I've forgotten because my brain is too full. I’m not just dropping names for the sake of showing off; I’m trying to convey what the atmosphere was like… ordinary people like me just sort of hanging out with well, the Fiber Elite… just, wow! And everyone was acting like it was just business as usual, well… it actually was. Because, of course those folks were there to promote themselves and get their books/patterns/yarns into our shops and eventually our customers hands. So that’s what I have been up to lately. To say that I am still wound up is an understatement. I am also very tired. I hope to have a post with some knitting pictures up soon. Happy Knitting! Nana

End of Week Round-up

I haven’t posted much about knitting lately, so I thought I’d do a quick post with a few of the projects I’ve been working on. I started some blue socks and am finding the pattern to be a pretty quick knit and am feeling much love for the yarn and pattern combination. The Simply Blue socks are coming along quite well….

(Doesn’t Saucey make a lovely model)

Pattern: Simplicity from the Eclectic Sole / Yarn Knitivity Down Home Fingering in Denim

I also needed a pair to work on for my magic loop class and after much rifling through my sock yarn stash and pattern collection, I settled on: A pair of Mixed up Monkeys

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A / Yarn Claudia Handpaint Fingering in Desert Dusk

The yarn is two different dye-lots of the same color and for that reason, I am going to mix and match the various parts of the socks using some from each skein. So for that reason I’m working them two at a time.

I also got all of the knitting done on the Presto-Chango sweater and it’s currently blocking. All it needs is a little seaming and just the right buttons

Have a happy weekend!

Nana

P.S. to Jean... I do have a P-38 in my kitchen drawer, but settled for my trusty Pampered Chef can opener to avert the crisis!

Houston…. We Have a Problem

“Quick Saucey… go call 911 I don’t think I can get that thing open with just my teeth….”

The Knitter Prevails

I give you Scallops:

The Scallop socks put up a small fight, but in the end; the knitter prevailed. I finished these in record time considering that when I picked them up on Wednesday I had frogged one complete sock already and had to frog the start of the second due to knitterly difficulties. Since the cuff was only about 24 rounds deep, these actually should have been a quick knit and once I got all of the mistakes out of the way, they were. The socks are short anklets with a ribbed lace design. My idea was that they would be worn with Mary Jane's or clogs that would only allow a portion of the pattern to show. The ribbed texture and gentle curve over the instep sort of reminds me of the top of a scallop shell. Here's a few more views so you can see a little more of the design:

My own pattern Yarn: Classic Elite Summer Sox in Melon Size 2.5 double point needles

Now I’m on to some more baby things, a few shop samples and a pair of blue socks, because I’ve had an urge to knit blue socks. Blue, blue blue; yay blue!

I have a busy month of June coming up with three classes to teach and a trip to Columbus, OH for TNNA, so stay tuned, I should have a lot of knitting to post!

Last, but not least, think good thoughts for Saucey, she had to take a trip to the ER Vet yesterday due to showing symptoms for a UTI. She's on an antibiotic now, so hopefully that will do the trick, and until she improves I'll just keep following her around the house with paper towels, sigh.

Have a good and knitty week!

Nana

Some Mays are Like This

Sheesh! I think I need some frog repellent.

Seriously, I have made mistakes and frogged more sock knitting this month than I can remember. Sigh! Maybe it has something to do with the rainy spring?

Yesterday I finished the Uptown Boot Socks without further incident, (and I’ll get to those) so then I picked up the scallop socks intending to finish sock #2. Now, I was somewhat proud of myself that even though I had decided to change the design and would end up frogging (just a little) part of the foot on the first sock, I was actually making pretty good progress on the second one. After all I had finished the heel flap and was working steadily toward the heel turn. I finished the turn, picked up the gusset stitches started back into the pattern on the foot, pulled out the first sock to do a little counting and then… hmmm, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something doesn’t seem right. Keep knitting, it’s just the light… No really, there’s something off here… no, keep knitting (sneaking suspicion continues to assert itself) … pull out pattern notes, GASP! I have been doing the simple 4 stitch, 2 row lace pattern incorrectly… no kidding! For most of the sock…. here’s what happened next:

Before:

After: But, I still have this to be proud of - Chocolate Truffles: Pattern: Uptown Boot Sock by Jennifer Appleby Yarn: Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino Dream in Bittersweet Chocolate Size 2.5 needles / Magic Loop Times frogged before getting a complete pair: 4

Fit ... perfect!

Some Mays are just like that… June can’t come fast enough I hope it’s too hot for frogs!

Nana

Memorable Weekend

I went down to central IL for part of the weekend and got to see a little parade in my folks town; Dad got to ride on one of the veteran’s floats, unfortunately, I was slow with the camera, therefore too late to get a good picture. Then later that day we all had the privelege to witness my niece Stasi get married…

The wedding was beautiful and moving with a radiant bride escorted by my brother resplendent in his dress uniform despite the tears as he gave away his daughter, then a beautiful tribute song written and performed by my nephew in honor of his sister and new brother-in-law. Many tissues were needed. Then, I had a enjoyable time at the reception catching up with friends and family.

Even though it was a short, pleasant trip, I'm still happy to be back home (and the kitties are twice as happy!)

In knitting news; I was almost to the toe shaping of the second Uptown Boot Sock when I realized that I was knitting on the wrong number of stitches. Epic pattern reading fail (again). Sigh, frogged back to the gusset pick-up. These might take another day to finish. Please ask the knitting spirits to be kinder and gentler to me on this project. Nana

More Life - Less Knitting

I probably don’t post enough about my spiritual life or the things that really matter as a regular enough entry. So today I’m taking a slight diversion from my more fluffy posts to touch on that. I was struck by a sort of humbling thought today as I was driving home from work. Usually I am the sort of Christian who wants to trust God in everything, but being a sort of control-freak, sometimes I really want to know more details about the bigger plan He has for me even though I know I’m not meant to see it. Today it occurred to me that I actually feel happy that I don’t know all of those details. It seems that in many areas of my life right now I know more details than I want to have about things that are going on and I know those things because at some point a decision will be required of me. Some of the decisions will have impact on more than just my life, so it’s a little daunting. I’ve never been one to shirk responsibility, but the humbling I had today was that God’s responsibility for our lives is so much more than any responsibility we have or can imagine. So today I am humbled and happy that I don’t have to know all of the things that God does about the future. I will just plan to take things prayerfully one decision at a time. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Nana

About Knitting

Yes, knitting has been happening along with all of the other exciting things I’ve been doing. I have a few FO’s that I mentioned, but probably haven’t posted pics of, so I’ll try to do a quick run-down:

The Delve sweater in a better modeled shot (same model, nicer pose and cute guy!)

I finished one brown sock, took this picture and then decided that the stitches on the foot were too big/loose.

Spent a few days thinking about it, decided to reknit at a smaller gauge and more stitches. It has now been frogged and I’ve restarted the sock with more stitches on the right size needle.

I finished the Lily of the Valley socks. Overall I like the pattern and might knit it again.

The nupps gave me a little trouble at first, but they got better with practice (and slightly looser loops!). I need to figure out how to tighten up the braid on the cuff and toes a bit, but it’s a nice pattern. Yarn: Louet Gems in Cream Pattern: Lily of the Valley by Susan Lawrence (available from Knit Picks) Size 2 needles / Magic Loop I got 4 repeats done on my Swallowtail shawl and it is starting to look a little more like it’s supposed to: I still have a ways to go, but hey, it takes time (I might finish it before my grand-daughter gets married, LOL!)

And finally, I spent most the weekend on this: The sample and practice pieces for my students to use during my Toe-up Sock workshop (tonight): I think that brings it up to date…. Happy Knitting!

Nana

Home Again and Yarny Goodness

I and thankfully my suitcase made it home safely. The Fairbanks-Anchorage and Anchorage – Minneapolis flights were fairly unremarkable. Knitting happened mostly as desired and no infants or queasy moms were seated nearby. The flight from Minneapolis-Milwaukee which should have been an efficient 56 minutes took more like 2 hours and 47 minutes; spent mostly sitting on the runway in Minnesota; due largely in part to storms in the great lakes region. The drive home was not fun either, but like I said I made it, and was greeted by two (happy?) kitties when I came through the door.

It's good to be home but I miss my guy terribly already. Here he is in uniform: The kitties and I were pretty lazy yesterday and I thought I’d get this post up, but we were really lazy…. anyway, as promised, I wanted to tell you about yarn stores in Fairbanks.

Here are the goodies that my DH helped me pick out:

(my apologies for the dark pictures... it was a bit cloudy that day).

The first stop was A Weavers Yarn; which is co-located with the owner’s home, so we initially thought we took a wrong turn when we ended up in a residential area, but found it easily enough. A nice shop with lots of good choices for knitters, weavers and other needle artists; since it was the first stop, I had to show a little restraint, but these goodies ended up in the bag:

One skein of Pagewood Farms Hand-dyed Sock Yarn; 2 skeins of Watercolours cotton embroidery thread (for embellishing) (and because it was just so darn pretty), and 2 skeins of Rabbit Ridge Hand-dyed sock yarn. Plus the owner Susan was helpful and friendly and threw in a couple of free sample patterns.

The next stop on our tour was Northern Threads which is also a quilting shop. This was a large shop which is primarily a quilting shop. The shop offered an excellent selection of yarns, fabrics and all the essentials for knitters and quilters. My Mom would love this shop. Here my biggest decision was over colors more than brands. I found an excellent yarn called Rustic Tweed from Queensland Collection. It came in so many nice colors that I had a hard time deciding. Even DH was stumped (he really liked both of the greys so well even he couldn’t decide which was better). The yarn has a very subtle variegation within the skein. So I really wanted to buy a sweater’s worth, but didn’t bring that big of a suitcase, of course the owner assured me that they do ship! I settled for two skeins of a soft creamy gold toned color… and there was also a scrumptious skein of Misti Alpaca sock yarn that I couldn’t resist, as well as a couple of nice buttons to tuck away for a future project.

After that we decided to take a break for lunch and went to a Chinese restaurant where I had some yummy cashew chicken and DH had some teriyaki chicken. We must have been hungry because there were no leftovers! Thus fortified we trekked onward.

Next stop was Inua Wool Shoppe which is a must not miss place. The shop is beautiful and the yarn selection is very well balanced and again I had a hard time not buying several things that I could have bought and settled instead for a few well-chosen things. Of course the one I know you’ve been waiting to hear about is the big-ticket item that is home-grown in Alaska. I’m talking Qiviut and yes! I got some. I had hoped to get some in a natural color, but the shade I preferred was only in stock in fingering weight and I wanted the lace weight because I figure I need to make something very special with this yarn and of course lace weight knits into spectacular things. I settled for a pretty cranberry color and found a lovely smoke ring pattern to knit it up with*. The shop also had an extensive selection of Noro Sock yarn (both Kuryeon and Silk Garden) and I got to see, fondle and pick from colors I hadn’t seen much of locally. After narrowing it down to three possibilities DH helped me decide on color S102 which is predominantly pink-blue-orange. (I see more striped socks in my future). I also found this funky little button that says “will knit for coffee.” It is supposed to go in the hole of a croc type shoe, but I think I will figure out a way to attach it to my knitting bag. (Maybe not the one I take to work… don’t want Linda to get any bad ideas.) I have to give kudos to my hubby here. He didn’t gasp or tremble at all when we checked out. Love him!

The last stop was the Memories and More shop which is a combination scrap booking and knitting shop. Her yarn selection was smaller, but by no means inferior to any of the others. I already had a rough idea of what I wanted before we went (from looking at the website) and was not disappointed! Malabrigo… yippee! In (ahem) a nice light purple shade. And she, too had Noro Sock Yarn and I found a shade of navy-gray-black (S233) that I hadn’t seen at Inua… it too needed to come home with me. I also got a couple of “Alaska” themed pages so I can do a memory page for the trip. (If I ever get photos printed, etc).

Whew! That seems like a lot. I’ll have to talk about my knitting in another post!

Have a Yarny Weekend!

Nana

* In a kind of funny coincidence I was telling DD#2 about our adventures and the pattern I found but I couldn’t remember the name of the designer. Then, she told me about this designer she really liked who had a lot of smoke ring patterns. After she sent me the info on line, I went to the website, and it turns out that it was the exact same designer!