Trish Knits.com

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First Saturday in April

Well, it took me four nights to get the photos together for the post from last Saturday’s knitting group, and to the group, I apologize! I know some folks really enjoy seeing the photos. But, better late than never, and here they are!

Yvonne and Alice are studying a pattern

Lisa is knitting a vest

Wanda told her sister Lisa about our group and they both came

Lola is casting on for a shawl with her own handspun alpaca

Marie gives Diane a knitting lesson

Mia is crocheting a shawl

Other Trish is making good progress on a scarf

Rhoda shows her fingerless glove in progress

Tammy shows her beautiful sweater

As usual, click to make the pictures bigger.

Saturday was a great day, as we welcomed quite a few new group members. As I was coming in the bookstore, I happened to see a woman browsing the knitting magazines. So of course I asked her if she had her knitting with her and if she would like to sit with us for a while. It wasn’t long before Alice fit right in as if she had been coming all along.

Another bookstore patron, Diane, saw us knitting and said she didn’t know how, but wanted to know if she could join us. She then went to the nearby craft store and got a skein of yarn, came back and dove in for a lesson. I tried to help, but my own weird knitting method is hard for others to translate into something that works for them. So Marie jumped in to help. It was great!

Wanda brought her sister, Lisa, for the first time, and Rhoda’s friend Kathy also came along for a bit. Ileana couldn’t be there, but her friend Mia came along for a first time visit.

The group was wowed by Tammy’s beautiful sweater that she knit for her granddaughter. And then there was Lola’s beautiful handspun alpaca, which is destined to become a shawl for her mother.

I really had a great time meeting so many new folks and chatting with other knitters for the afternoon. I’m already looking forward to our next meeting, which will be on May 9, so our group can go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Ah… Maryland Sheep and Wool. I think it’s my favorite day of the year–even better than Christmas.

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April 8, 2009
Family Movies

Not much happening today; just another lazy Sunday. Didn’t get much knitting done and haven’t finished photo editing from knit group yesterday. So, I leave you with these two clips of family moments of the week.

This first one is what happens when you let the cat’s water bowl run dry; she’s not shy about getting her point across!

And this is what happens when you let BoyZilla browse among the electronic musical toys at Target on a Friday night:

Both kids came home with excellent report cards on Friday so we let them go to Target and choose a small reward. For Her Highness the Teen it was the Twilight DVD, which has now been watched a handful of times. BoyZilla picked a light sabre toy from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is the new hot thing around here among 6-8 year old boys. I got another pair of headphones for my iPod. Exciting, huh?

Well, I guess I have some work to catch up on before morning gets here, which is already too soon from now. Ciao!

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April 5, 2009
Saturday Sweater Report: Week 2

Sweater in progress
Ok, in case you never believed me before, here’s actual proof that I am the slowest knitter in the world. This represents another week of knitting on my February Lady Sweater, and I still haven’t quite gotten to the second buttonhole yet. It’s ok, though, because I’m enjoying knitting with this yarn. I haven’t had any major knots this week so that’s a real plus.

Today was knit group and I took lots of photos and even some video. I’m kinda tired tonight so I’ll have to try to get to the group report tomorrow. We had lots of new people, including one lady, Alice, that I happened to spy reading knitting magazines in the magazine aisle. I can’t wait to tell you about everyone tomorrow.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. I’ve barely done two inches on my very first sweater and over the last two weeks I’ve bought yarn for three more. Plus some single skeins of Cascade 220 from Webs. (Pssst. In case you’re living under a rock and haven’t heard, they’re having a big sale. Check it out. It’s a good thing.)

Well, I’d better get to bed before I turn into a pumpkin. I’m really BIG tired tonight.

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April 4, 2009
News from the Interwebs

I don’t do this very often but there are so many amazing and exciting events coming up in the world of knitting, that I thought I would take a little space to mention a couple that stand out above the crowd.

Sock Summit 2009

Sock Summit 2009 Logo
Have you guys heard about this one? Sock Summit 2009 promises to be a knitting event like no other! The list of instructors reads like a who’s who of knitting. The instructor list includes names like Lucy Neatby, Nancy Bush, Cat Bordhi, Meg Swansen, Cookie A, and Barbara Walker. The registration opens in May, so keep your eyes open and watch that site. I’m sure they’ll be flooded when the time comes.

Oh how I wish it wasn’t so far away! I’d give my eye teeth to be there, even though I am NOT A SOCK KNITTER. I’d be one, just for that. So many knitters I admire, but the trip is more than I could do. Still I am hoping that many of my knit buddies will go and tell all about it. I can’t wait to hear.

A Radical Act of Knitting in honor of Mother’s Day!

From CODEPINK:

“Calling all CODEPINK knitters! We are creating a beautiful, quilted cozy to cover the fence in front of the White House to honor Mother’s Day. The message will be “We will not raise our children to kill another mother’s child”-inspired by Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation. We’ll be piecing it together from individual squares knitted by YOU as part of the 24 hour Mother’s Day vigil for Women who live in War Zones. The best part is you don’t have to be an experienced knitter to help! This is perfect for knitters of all skill levels—and a great opportunity for those who want to learn! Celebrate the time honored tradition of the radical act of knitting.” Read more about this event here. This sounds easy enough that I think I will participate by making a square or two.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day is June 13

I’m thinking of hosting an event in my hometown. I’ve never done it before but I will be talking to my knitting group this weekend to see what they think. Visit the Worldwide Knit in Public Day website to find an event near you!

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March 31, 2009
New Yarn Smells Like Easter Eggs

Lisa Souza Superfine Merino
Ah, I just love that new yarn smell! You know, that pleasant whiff of vinegar you get when you open a freshly dyed box of yarn? I guess given that it’s springtime it hit me — new yarn smells like Easter eggs. My daughter wrinkles her nose when the aroma of my “stinky” (her assessment) yarn crosses her path, but me, I love the scent and I just want to drink it in. It’s funny how I can link something I love so much now (new yarn — squee!) with something I loved so much as a kid (dyeing eggs). We don’t dye eggs in this house. I’m the only one who would eat them and there’s no way I could eat that many. And I refuse to waste food on account of art’s sake. Am I depriving my kids of the pleasure? I don’t know… now that I look at the world through my mom-colored glasses, it seems to me that the whole egg-dyeing thing would be lost on them and not worth it. Sigh…

Anyway, back to the yarn! It’s Lisa Souza Superwash Merino in the colorway, Wild Things, which I’ve heard is inspired by the artwork in the classic Maurice Sendak story, Where the Wild Things Are. I just love the yummy blues and purples with the splash of earthy greens and browns here and there. Lisa is a real artist and I can thank some of my enabling yarny friends for leading me to her a few years ago.

I’m pretty sure this yarn is destined to be another February Lady sweater someday. I’m probably going to change up the lace pattern when I do it in this color, and maybe make something that looks a little like dragon skin. How cool would that be? But I’m getting ahead of myself again… you know I’m only about 2 inches into the yoke on my current February Lady. But I’m always planning ahead like that. I keep telling myself it’s so when I’m old and retired I’ll have enough yarn to play with for the rest of my life. I think that’s the Yarn Harlot’s rationalization anyway, and I like it. It works for me.

Ok, I’m off to take in a few more yarn fumes, then to bed. Didn’t sleep well last night. Hoping for better luck this time. Ciao!

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March 30, 2009
Knitting with Cat Hair

Tegan likes to help with the knitting
Yesterday I posted on my Facebook Profile that I was wondering how to distract my 16-year-old, nearly blind kitty from wanting to “help” so much with the knitting. One of my friends then asked, “Doesn’t that mean you’re getting cat hair all over your silk yarn?”

Wait. Are you telling me that not ALL knitting comes with cat hair? Silly me! I thought this was par for the course. Cats have a knack for finding the knitting, wherever it happens to be. Why, I’ve even heard of people who don’t even have cats that somehow find their yarn to be a cat magnet! (Ok, not really.)

The truth is that I don’t mind having my cats nearby when I’m knitting. Except when they get on top of my yarn, thereby making it hard for me to pull more yarn from the ball. Or the time when Zoe, my 17-year-old Blue Maine Coon, managed to unravel an entire ball of yarn all over our apartment when she was a kitten. (I didn’t own a camera then, so just trust me when I say it was the biggest mess of yarn I’ve EVER had to clean up.)

So, I don’t mind finding the occasional stripey cat hair in whatever I might be working on. When I do, it says, “Tegan was here.” Knowing that her remaining days are fewer than I’d like to think, this somehow brings comfort to me. I know I’ll be finding evidence that Tegan was here for many years to come.

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March 29, 2009