Knittymom
Sharilyn's adventures in knitting
and motherhood
and motherhood
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Knittymom
Please don't hammer on those bananas.....
I have been a mom long enough that I can rip off a phrase like "Please don't hammer on those bananas.", without even batting an eyelash. I'm not sure why DearSon picked up a small wooden mallet and started to pummel the bananas but he stopped when asked. Although, as you would expect, that poor bunch of bananas are a bit bruised.
Also happy Saint Patrick's Day!
I've got a Saint Patrick's Day joke for you. What's green and sits on your porch? ...... Wait for it. Wait for it. Patty o'Furniture! (OK, I didn't say it was a good joke but it makes me laugh every time.)
There was the traditional building of leprechaun traps. Sadly, the leprechaun got away this year again. Apparently he found some yarn laying around the house (Imagine that?) and used it as a rope to get out of the large glass and shimmy over the block wall.
And lastly for now. If you had to pick one thing to not fall out of the refrigerator door and smash all over the kitchen floor, what would it be?
Simply said, a full glass jar of horseradish. The consistency of the horseradish is somewhere between liquid and grainy solid that resisted my attempts to mop, sweep, or soak it up. So between the consistency, the glass shards and a smell that chased large and small out of the kitchen, it was not a pretty clean up.
I have some pretty impressive knitting blocking that I'll be ready to show next post.
(PS: If you're looking for way to help Japan, here's a link to the Japanese Red Cross. You will have to convert dollars to Japanese yen. Here's today's conversion rate.
Total donation in yen = 78.4900 Japanese yen x (amount in dollars to donate)
So if you want to donate $10, you would enter 785 yen (rounded). )
Probably a bit random
This looks like it's going to be a random type post....
First some knitting:
1. My neighbor asked me to knit a hat for her niece who goes to school in Minnesota. The mascot is a bulldog so I thought it would be funny to intersperse a traditional Norwegian star hat with the bulldog logo. I tried unsuccessfully to draw a bulldog myself but found a pattern for a bulldog washcloth on Ravelry by Lisa Milan. Here's the link . So I charted it from the written instructions, played with gauge a bit (love the math!) and came up with this hat.
2. I've been working on a new sweater.
The basic pattern is the Shalom cardigan from Ravelry by Meghan McFarlane. I know it looks like the Noro Kureyon in fall shades that I used for the yoke is the star of the show but for me it's the cushy dark coffee colored yarn that I spun from fiber I bought at the Fingerlakes Fiber Festival** from Robin Nistock . I have spun other of her fibers before and all of it is beautiful! I also heavily modified the pattern. First because the pattern is written only in a size small with a CO of around 65. I cast on 80 and altered all the measurements for the yoke, back, front panels and arm holes proportionally. I'm also adding sleeves and buttons all the way down the front. I can't wait to finish the knitting and block it. Shouldn't take too much longer.
(** The spell checker suggested "Fingerless Fiber Festival" which would really be just tragic.)
3. What is with the spam comments appearing on my blog? The security on my blog used to protect me from comment spam but now every day I have to delete a smattering of comments touting products/services in which I have no interest. Here's a list of some of the recent unwelcome visitors.
2. Although I really like a dog better than a cat for a pet. If given a choice between the two, I would much rather come back as a cat rather than a dog.
3. Things that taste gross together: Peas followed by cafe mocha. Tomato sauce followed too closely by chocolate covered marshmallows. (Don't ask why I know these things.)
4. Two foods that taste surprisingly good together: Sushi followed by red velvet cake. Really weird but they make a tastey combination.
(Warned you that this was going to be random.)
5.
I have no idea how DD#2 and DearSon managed to roll a snowball this big onto the sidewalk.
6.
February was also for Daddy/daughter dances.
7. Please note random numbering of random thoughts.
First some knitting:
1. My neighbor asked me to knit a hat for her niece who goes to school in Minnesota. The mascot is a bulldog so I thought it would be funny to intersperse a traditional Norwegian star hat with the bulldog logo. I tried unsuccessfully to draw a bulldog myself but found a pattern for a bulldog washcloth on Ravelry by Lisa Milan. Here's the link . So I charted it from the written instructions, played with gauge a bit (love the math!) and came up with this hat.
2. I've been working on a new sweater.
The basic pattern is the Shalom cardigan from Ravelry by Meghan McFarlane. I know it looks like the Noro Kureyon in fall shades that I used for the yoke is the star of the show but for me it's the cushy dark coffee colored yarn that I spun from fiber I bought at the Fingerlakes Fiber Festival** from Robin Nistock . I have spun other of her fibers before and all of it is beautiful! I also heavily modified the pattern. First because the pattern is written only in a size small with a CO of around 65. I cast on 80 and altered all the measurements for the yoke, back, front panels and arm holes proportionally. I'm also adding sleeves and buttons all the way down the front. I can't wait to finish the knitting and block it. Shouldn't take too much longer.
(** The spell checker suggested "Fingerless Fiber Festival" which would really be just tragic.)
3. What is with the spam comments appearing on my blog? The security on my blog used to protect me from comment spam but now every day I have to delete a smattering of comments touting products/services in which I have no interest. Here's a list of some of the recent unwelcome visitors.
- licensed vocational nurse medication aide training (because legitimate schools use spam to advertise (??!!)),
- partnership dating and single services (What are "single" services?)
- phentermine 37.5 without prescription (I had to look this one up. It's a diet aid in the amphetamine class. Legal?) ,
- polysorbate-80-for-hairloss (I recognized this as a food additive. It's a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and oleic acid, and is often used in foods. Polysorbate 80 is a viscous, water-soluble yellow liquid. Suggesting that it has a use for hairloss.....interesting......)
- the magic Donut Maker (Does it make magic donuts or donuts magically?)
- links to the cabbage-soup-diet (um...I like cabbage but yuck!)
- yachting services available in Australia (truly useful in Upstate NY)
- and abacus ads (well actually, an abacus might be fun....).
2. Although I really like a dog better than a cat for a pet. If given a choice between the two, I would much rather come back as a cat rather than a dog.
3. Things that taste gross together: Peas followed by cafe mocha. Tomato sauce followed too closely by chocolate covered marshmallows. (Don't ask why I know these things.)
4. Two foods that taste surprisingly good together: Sushi followed by red velvet cake. Really weird but they make a tastey combination.
(Warned you that this was going to be random.)
5.
I have no idea how DD#2 and DearSon managed to roll a snowball this big onto the sidewalk.
6.
February was also for Daddy/daughter dances.
7. Please note random numbering of random thoughts.
Sharilyn Ross, Professional Knitting Instructor
Yes, that is correct. I am actually getting payed to talk about and teach other people how to knit. (OK, not a huge amount. Turns out sharing knowledge on knitting isn't quite as valued by society as say filling in tax forms or catching footballs.) But still, how cool is that?! I taught my first classes at our community center last Tuesday and had a total blast. I met a lovely group of ladies (not surprisingly, all women) ranging from pre-teen to post-retirement.
My DH surprised me with these to congratulate me after a successful class. (I'm sure I've mentioned before that he is a good man.)
Now follows some other random bits:
1. It was a colorful Christmas:
Yup, yarn gifted out right. Yup, yarn bought with a gift card. Yup, books about yarn. And, yes, that is 176 different shades of eye shadow. It's a wonder it doesn't take me 3 hours to decide upon what color combination I'm in the mood for on any given morning. Thank you all!
2. It has been cold.
And I don't mean chilly. Cold. That's Fahrenheit and we're not even talking wind chill, people. I generally don't mind winter, but the deep freeze is getting a bit tiresome.
3. What do you do when it's sub-zero outside?
Go see a (comparatively) nice warm hockey game.
Go Rochester Institute of Technology Lady Tigers!
We enjoyed it!
4. What else do you do when it's sub-zero outside?
Continue on my knitting fingerless mitts jag. These are for my dear MIL.
Yarn: Universal Yarn Classic Shades
Needle: US 5
Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters
Mods: Added a bit of length to the thumb and hand so that knuckles would be sure to be covered. The yarn is just lovely. Soft and the colors are saturated and rich.
5. Meet the new(er) additions to our family
Fish. It's surprisingly difficult to take a picture of rapidly swimming fish, in a fish tank (of course -- where else would they be. It would be much easier to take a picture of fish flopping around on dresser. But the ending would be bad.) , backlit against a window. You really can't tell but there are 3 zebra danios, 3 red (they are clearly orange. Don't know who named them.) platies and one black molly.
And our last fall addition.
Meet Toady (and a rather too trusting cricket). Toady was rescued from our neighbor's window well in late November.
A few minutes after the above picture, the cricket moved.
Clearly this is a suicidal cricket, or Toady and this cricket have reached an uneasy detente. That picture was taken yesterday afternoon. I haven't heard any cricket chirps this afternoon. So much for detente.
Toady took a trip into DearSon's kindergarten class for show-and-tell this week. In this picture, Toady had just pooped, clearly Toady has mastered public relations for the 5 year old crowd.
6. Thank you Tim Horton's
I was just starting to bemoan the loss of Tim Horton's holiday season peppermint encrusted chocolate dipped chocolate donut when this came along.
A peppermint encrusted chocolate dipped, chocolate filled heart shaped donut. Oh, my. And, thank you.
My DH surprised me with these to congratulate me after a successful class. (I'm sure I've mentioned before that he is a good man.)
Now follows some other random bits:
1. It was a colorful Christmas:
Yup, yarn gifted out right. Yup, yarn bought with a gift card. Yup, books about yarn. And, yes, that is 176 different shades of eye shadow. It's a wonder it doesn't take me 3 hours to decide upon what color combination I'm in the mood for on any given morning. Thank you all!
2. It has been cold.
And I don't mean chilly. Cold. That's Fahrenheit and we're not even talking wind chill, people. I generally don't mind winter, but the deep freeze is getting a bit tiresome.
3. What do you do when it's sub-zero outside?
Go see a (comparatively) nice warm hockey game.
Go Rochester Institute of Technology Lady Tigers!
We enjoyed it!
4. What else do you do when it's sub-zero outside?
Continue on my knitting fingerless mitts jag. These are for my dear MIL.
Yarn: Universal Yarn Classic Shades
Needle: US 5
Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters
Mods: Added a bit of length to the thumb and hand so that knuckles would be sure to be covered. The yarn is just lovely. Soft and the colors are saturated and rich.
5. Meet the new(er) additions to our family
Fish. It's surprisingly difficult to take a picture of rapidly swimming fish, in a fish tank (of course -- where else would they be. It would be much easier to take a picture of fish flopping around on dresser. But the ending would be bad.) , backlit against a window. You really can't tell but there are 3 zebra danios, 3 red (they are clearly orange. Don't know who named them.) platies and one black molly.
And our last fall addition.
Meet Toady (and a rather too trusting cricket). Toady was rescued from our neighbor's window well in late November.
A few minutes after the above picture, the cricket moved.
Clearly this is a suicidal cricket, or Toady and this cricket have reached an uneasy detente. That picture was taken yesterday afternoon. I haven't heard any cricket chirps this afternoon. So much for detente.
Toady took a trip into DearSon's kindergarten class for show-and-tell this week. In this picture, Toady had just pooped, clearly Toady has mastered public relations for the 5 year old crowd.
6. Thank you Tim Horton's
I was just starting to bemoan the loss of Tim Horton's holiday season peppermint encrusted chocolate dipped chocolate donut when this came along.
A peppermint encrusted chocolate dipped, chocolate filled heart shaped donut. Oh, my. And, thank you.
So what did I knit for Christmas...
The last few blog posts were a bit light on knitting because so much of my knitting the last couple of months had been geared for knitting warm snuggies for Christmas gifts. So here is a picture of the 2010 Christmas Collection:
And for reference purposes and just because I like to number things. (Trying to impose order on my fairly chaotic world I suppose.)
In order we have:
1: Ruffled Scarf from One Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky
I've knit this pattern before and it is a pleasure. Reasonable fast for a scarf and with some fun details.
2-4: Plain sock patterns with yarn that I dyed myself
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish DK bare
2: Classic Buffalo Sabres colors - I'm really pleased with how these came out.
3: Camouflage colors - I was actually trying for more of a olive color but the dye broke (too much acid?). But as they say, "it was a happy accident", as I really liked the gold/greens that resulted.
4. Fun with colors pooling. Burgundy, green and gold. One of my very favorite color combos.
5. WWII Watch cap pattern by Helen Waittes
Yarn: Cascade 220
Great stretchy pattern if you're knitting for someone with a head size you're not quite sure of. (Or should that be, "knitting for someone with a head size of which you aren't quite sure". ?)
6. Yes another pair of Maine Morning Mitts. (Yes I still have an unstoppable attraction to this pattern.)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon -- Not sure of the colorway
This is my go-to pattern for fingerless mitts. The mitts are made with lots of ribbing so they fit a variety of hands. Great for gifts.
7. Baby Fan mitts
Yarn: Sublime DK - Lovely yarn made with merino wool and silk
Made for my MIL who I such a pleasure to knit for. I had to take a whole repeat out of the pattern so they would fit her petite hands. (Lovely mitts made from lovely yarn for a lovely lady.)
8. Another but different patterned watch cap: Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk
Yarn: Cascade 220
I really like the way the decreases were handled at the top of the hat. They made a cool swirl.
9. Owl mitts by Sandra Satre
Yarn: Berroco Vintage held double
What fun!
10. Cabled mitts made from Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden - 1 skein thus the "mismatchiness" of them.
Another one of my go-to mitt patterns.
11. Ohio State colors hat
Yarn: Handspun from fiber from Spunky Eclectic
12. Cabled mitts made from Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen
Yarn : Plymouth Superwash Merino.
13. Unnumbered in the middle of the couch. ('Cause there's always some chaos)
Scallop-Edge Beaded Necklace by Carol Metzger in 101 Designer One Skein Wonders
(If you would like to look up patterns and examples, check out Ravelry. They're all there.)
Phew...Did you get all that?!
And now for the most unfortunate ice formation ever to appear at our house. We found this on the top step outside the sliding glass door to the back yard. Although I will share it with you, I'm not going to make any further comment except it isn't a winter palace.
OK. Sorry. Couldn't actually end with that so, here.
Walrus cupcakes. Better. Yes?
And for reference purposes and just because I like to number things. (Trying to impose order on my fairly chaotic world I suppose.)
In order we have:
1: Ruffled Scarf from One Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky
I've knit this pattern before and it is a pleasure. Reasonable fast for a scarf and with some fun details.
2-4: Plain sock patterns with yarn that I dyed myself
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish DK bare
2: Classic Buffalo Sabres colors - I'm really pleased with how these came out.
3: Camouflage colors - I was actually trying for more of a olive color but the dye broke (too much acid?). But as they say, "it was a happy accident", as I really liked the gold/greens that resulted.
4. Fun with colors pooling. Burgundy, green and gold. One of my very favorite color combos.
5. WWII Watch cap pattern by Helen Waittes
Yarn: Cascade 220
Great stretchy pattern if you're knitting for someone with a head size you're not quite sure of. (Or should that be, "knitting for someone with a head size of which you aren't quite sure". ?)
6. Yes another pair of Maine Morning Mitts. (Yes I still have an unstoppable attraction to this pattern.)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon -- Not sure of the colorway
This is my go-to pattern for fingerless mitts. The mitts are made with lots of ribbing so they fit a variety of hands. Great for gifts.
7. Baby Fan mitts
Yarn: Sublime DK - Lovely yarn made with merino wool and silk
Made for my MIL who I such a pleasure to knit for. I had to take a whole repeat out of the pattern so they would fit her petite hands. (Lovely mitts made from lovely yarn for a lovely lady.)
8. Another but different patterned watch cap: Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk
Yarn: Cascade 220
I really like the way the decreases were handled at the top of the hat. They made a cool swirl.
9. Owl mitts by Sandra Satre
Yarn: Berroco Vintage held double
What fun!
10. Cabled mitts made from Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden - 1 skein thus the "mismatchiness" of them.
Another one of my go-to mitt patterns.
11. Ohio State colors hat
Yarn: Handspun from fiber from Spunky Eclectic
12. Cabled mitts made from Mom's Cabled Mitts by Jessica Jensen
Yarn : Plymouth Superwash Merino.
13. Unnumbered in the middle of the couch. ('Cause there's always some chaos)
Scallop-Edge Beaded Necklace by Carol Metzger in 101 Designer One Skein Wonders
(If you would like to look up patterns and examples, check out Ravelry. They're all there.)
Phew...Did you get all that?!
And now for the most unfortunate ice formation ever to appear at our house. We found this on the top step outside the sliding glass door to the back yard. Although I will share it with you, I'm not going to make any further comment except it isn't a winter palace.
OK. Sorry. Couldn't actually end with that so, here.
Walrus cupcakes. Better. Yes?
Things that go kwangangangang in the night
It's the classic horror flick set up: Late at night. Kids in bed. Hubbie away traveling. The glow of the television flickering across the face of a woman on the couch knitting needles flying in her hands. (OK, maybe the knitting part isn't classic horror flick.) A night shattering crash outside the window nearest her. Fear.
Except the noise went "kwangangangangangang". It was loud. It was night shattering. It was certainly not scary. Clearly the silliness quality of the noise is inversely proportional to the primal fear that it can inspire. Perhaps in order for a noise to cause an instinctual fear, it must trigger a reaction that dates back to the dawn of humanity when we had to worry about what vicious things were wandering around the plains at night that might actually eat us. And I got to tell you, nothing potentially lethal ever went "kwangangangangang" because my heart rate didn't jump one beat. Near as I can figure, I large icicle broke off the roof and hit the wires that enter the house causing the them to vibrate. Not scary. End of story.
Oh and by the way....I FINISHED MY CHRISTMAS KNITTING YESTERDAY!!!! No one gets only one sock. No one gets three quarters of a scarf. No one gets a hat with needles still in the crown.
Merry Christmas! Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Hanukkah (late, sorry)! Happy Kwanza! Happy Holidays! Have a splendid whatever!
Except the noise went "kwangangangangangang". It was loud. It was night shattering. It was certainly not scary. Clearly the silliness quality of the noise is inversely proportional to the primal fear that it can inspire. Perhaps in order for a noise to cause an instinctual fear, it must trigger a reaction that dates back to the dawn of humanity when we had to worry about what vicious things were wandering around the plains at night that might actually eat us. And I got to tell you, nothing potentially lethal ever went "kwangangangangang" because my heart rate didn't jump one beat. Near as I can figure, I large icicle broke off the roof and hit the wires that enter the house causing the them to vibrate. Not scary. End of story.
Oh and by the way....I FINISHED MY CHRISTMAS KNITTING YESTERDAY!!!! No one gets only one sock. No one gets three quarters of a scarf. No one gets a hat with needles still in the crown.
Merry Christmas! Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Hanukkah (late, sorry)! Happy Kwanza! Happy Holidays! Have a splendid whatever!
Cripes...that's a lot of snow
Yes, I know we live in western NY. Yes, I know Buffalo is only 70 miles to the west. Yes, I know Buffalo is synonymous with prodigious (perhaps seemingly perpetual) amounts of snow. But, geez, this lake effect snow event (can't really call it a "storm" as it happens so often and it's not really vicious, just constant) is, well, a bit surprising.
Cripes! That's a lot of snow!
I don't know why we're still receiving a satellite signal. The dish looks completely plastered.
The icicles off the front porch are so delicate and a bit sublime.
The neighborhood kids were busy in the backyard on Sunday. (This is before the additional 16 inches of snow that has fallen since then.) They pretty much hoovered up the snow in the back yard and converted it to a Cask of Amontillado type snow fort. And, I counted. There were 8 kids. Didn't lose anyone in the snow. Every kid who showed up to build the fort, tromped next door to defrost and have popcorn and hot cocoa. (Love our neighbors!)
Going back another day to Saturday.... (prior to any snow fall)
We went to snag our Christmas tree from the usual place...
Yup, that's the one.
Decorations were hung.
Including everyone's favorite.....
Headless Nut Baby. (Headless Nut Baby did have a head at one point long ago. But has been lost, probably to the bottom of a plastic bin, and is now only a memory. I wrote about Headless Nut Baby and a few other of my favorite ornaments a couple of years ago here .)
And completely unrelated...
Something green and fresh.
DD#1 had a hydroponics unit her technology class and brought home fresh and very tasty lettuce. (Can anyone else think of other possible uses for hydroponics?)
And my new favorite breakfast food.
I like oatmeal. I love dark chocolate. Adding dark chocolate to oatmeal definitely cranks the oatmeal up a major notch. Yum!
And my new favorite snack...
Chocolate dipped donut sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies. Thank you Tim Hortons .
(There is lots of knitting going on right now, but it is all Christmas related. So the discussion of recent projects will be a few weeks off.)
Cripes! That's a lot of snow!
I don't know why we're still receiving a satellite signal. The dish looks completely plastered.
The icicles off the front porch are so delicate and a bit sublime.
The neighborhood kids were busy in the backyard on Sunday. (This is before the additional 16 inches of snow that has fallen since then.) They pretty much hoovered up the snow in the back yard and converted it to a Cask of Amontillado type snow fort. And, I counted. There were 8 kids. Didn't lose anyone in the snow. Every kid who showed up to build the fort, tromped next door to defrost and have popcorn and hot cocoa. (Love our neighbors!)
Going back another day to Saturday.... (prior to any snow fall)
We went to snag our Christmas tree from the usual place...
Yup, that's the one.
Decorations were hung.
Including everyone's favorite.....
Headless Nut Baby. (Headless Nut Baby did have a head at one point long ago. But has been lost, probably to the bottom of a plastic bin, and is now only a memory. I wrote about Headless Nut Baby and a few other of my favorite ornaments a couple of years ago here .)
And completely unrelated...
Something green and fresh.
DD#1 had a hydroponics unit her technology class and brought home fresh and very tasty lettuce. (Can anyone else think of other possible uses for hydroponics?)
And my new favorite breakfast food.
I like oatmeal. I love dark chocolate. Adding dark chocolate to oatmeal definitely cranks the oatmeal up a major notch. Yum!
And my new favorite snack...
Chocolate dipped donut sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies. Thank you Tim Hortons .
(There is lots of knitting going on right now, but it is all Christmas related. So the discussion of recent projects will be a few weeks off.)
Happy December!
And just like someone flipped a light switch.....it's December and winter all in one day.
Happy December, everyone!
Happy December, everyone!
My day with Jared Flood
No, that's not the name of some superficial human interest news story. And for those of you who are thinking, "Who in the name of all that is wooly is Jared Flood?". He is a successful knit wear and yarn designer concentrating on classic lines and very wearable garments. Link here . And it really wasn't just my day with Jared Flood. The day consisted of one group class and a lecture and the lecture included an audience of hundreds. So it was certainly a shared experience but it was a lovely day knitting, learning about knitting, talking about knitting, listening to someone who has made a career of knitting and sharing the experience with other enthusiastic knitters. (Pretty much a perfect day.)
I took a class from Mr. Flood on his popular Girasole design. (Girasole means sunflower in Italian.) Here's a link to an entry on his blog where he shared the design for the first time. Take note of his beautiful photography. I believe he said that photography was part of his university studies and he uses it to its fullest effect to show off knitwear and fibers. (Note to self: I have got to figure out how to manipulate depth of field with my camera.)
The class was in the Cornell Extension building which is a serious built-in-the-1950's-doubles-as-a-Fallout-shelter type of building. Here's Mr. Flood teaching our class. I don't know when I'm going to tackle such a large lace project but I picked up a bunch of useful lace knitting tips and had a bit of interesting knitting to show for playing in the class.
OK, I am showing my extreme knitting geek-a-tude as I asked him if I could take his picture...with me. Yikes. He graciously agreed. (Ever have a day where no matter what you do, your hair just decides to have a mind of its own resulting in you trying to wrest it into submission by pulling it back into an unflatteringly tight ponytail. Yup, this was the day.)
Later that evening , he joined our knitting guild later for a lecture which was just delightful.
It's only my 3rd meeting since I joined the Rochester Knitting Guild and I still can't quite get over the number of people who attend. And at this meeting there were several hundred people (OK. Women. With the exception of Jared Flood and a janitor, I saw no other men amongst the throng.) enjoying the lecture.
I particularly enjoyed the pictures of his texture collages that he uses to inspire a mood for garment design. Beautiful pictures. I also enjoyed that he brought a number of the actually garments (a la trunk show) to view and touch. I have a few designs of his in my knitting queue. Oh, and did I mention some of the garments were knit with his recently launched yarn, Shelter. Shelter is just the kind of yarn I like - heathered, tweedy and "al dente" (i.e. soft enough by with a enough wooly-ness to have a little bit of tooth).
Also on my list to knit with at some point.
Like I said, a totally enjoyable day.
On a different note, I spun an angora blend from the Spinning Bunny a few weeks ago and knit them into some mitts for DD#2. I noticed right from the start how warm and soft they are but I really couldn't see the angora in the fabric. I just had to wait until they had been worn a few times -- the fabric has bloomed beautifully and now shows a lovely halo of angora.
Here they are enjoying a romp outside in the leaves on DD#2.
Fiber: Angora/wool blend from Spinning Bunny Yarn: Handspun on my Kromski Sonata. 2 ply about sport weight.
Pattern: Mitt design by Susan Sarabasha from Spinning Bunny
Mods: Sized down to fit a child. Started and finished with K row, P row, K row
I took a class from Mr. Flood on his popular Girasole design. (Girasole means sunflower in Italian.) Here's a link to an entry on his blog where he shared the design for the first time. Take note of his beautiful photography. I believe he said that photography was part of his university studies and he uses it to its fullest effect to show off knitwear and fibers. (Note to self: I have got to figure out how to manipulate depth of field with my camera.)
The class was in the Cornell Extension building which is a serious built-in-the-1950's-doubles-as-a-Fallout-shelter type of building. Here's Mr. Flood teaching our class. I don't know when I'm going to tackle such a large lace project but I picked up a bunch of useful lace knitting tips and had a bit of interesting knitting to show for playing in the class.
OK, I am showing my extreme knitting geek-a-tude as I asked him if I could take his picture...with me. Yikes. He graciously agreed. (Ever have a day where no matter what you do, your hair just decides to have a mind of its own resulting in you trying to wrest it into submission by pulling it back into an unflatteringly tight ponytail. Yup, this was the day.)
Later that evening , he joined our knitting guild later for a lecture which was just delightful.
It's only my 3rd meeting since I joined the Rochester Knitting Guild and I still can't quite get over the number of people who attend. And at this meeting there were several hundred people (OK. Women. With the exception of Jared Flood and a janitor, I saw no other men amongst the throng.) enjoying the lecture.
I particularly enjoyed the pictures of his texture collages that he uses to inspire a mood for garment design. Beautiful pictures. I also enjoyed that he brought a number of the actually garments (a la trunk show) to view and touch. I have a few designs of his in my knitting queue. Oh, and did I mention some of the garments were knit with his recently launched yarn, Shelter. Shelter is just the kind of yarn I like - heathered, tweedy and "al dente" (i.e. soft enough by with a enough wooly-ness to have a little bit of tooth).
Also on my list to knit with at some point.
Like I said, a totally enjoyable day.
On a different note, I spun an angora blend from the Spinning Bunny a few weeks ago and knit them into some mitts for DD#2. I noticed right from the start how warm and soft they are but I really couldn't see the angora in the fabric. I just had to wait until they had been worn a few times -- the fabric has bloomed beautifully and now shows a lovely halo of angora.
Here they are enjoying a romp outside in the leaves on DD#2.
Fiber: Angora/wool blend from Spinning Bunny Yarn: Handspun on my Kromski Sonata. 2 ply about sport weight.
Pattern: Mitt design by Susan Sarabasha from Spinning Bunny
Mods: Sized down to fit a child. Started and finished with K row, P row, K row
The power of word order and capitals
Item 1:
On the way back from a weekend in Niagara Falls, Canada, we passed a large billboard for a major supermarket in Buffalo. On the billboard, in large yellow letters next to a smiling well dressed butcher, it said....
Meat cut fresh daily!
All other things being equal, I would certainly prefer...
Fresh meat cut daily!
There's definitely a difference.
Item 2:
No wonder so many people don't want to go into politics. Talk about high stakes.
Actually, the local paper properly capitalized Louise Slaughter's (US House of Representatives) name so the headline does make sense to read. Still reading the headline out loud, makes me laugh.
Item 3 -- Seasonal stuff
The kids had their annual romp through the pumpkin patch.
We had our annual picture in the pumpkin patch.
There is a petting zoo at the pumpkin patch and apparently this is what happens when you cross a sheep with an Ewok.
Of course, after pumpkin acquisition, we had the annual gutting of the pumpkins.
We had a great bunch of pumpkins this year: large and not too goopey.
And for Halloween dress up, we had an angel, Queen Amidala (Movie 1 - Victory gown, for all of you Star Wars aficionados), and Luke Skywalker (Movie 6)
On the way back from a weekend in Niagara Falls, Canada, we passed a large billboard for a major supermarket in Buffalo. On the billboard, in large yellow letters next to a smiling well dressed butcher, it said....
Meat cut fresh daily!
All other things being equal, I would certainly prefer...
Fresh meat cut daily!
There's definitely a difference.
Item 2:
No wonder so many people don't want to go into politics. Talk about high stakes.
Actually, the local paper properly capitalized Louise Slaughter's (US House of Representatives) name so the headline does make sense to read. Still reading the headline out loud, makes me laugh.
Item 3 -- Seasonal stuff
The kids had their annual romp through the pumpkin patch.
We had our annual picture in the pumpkin patch.
There is a petting zoo at the pumpkin patch and apparently this is what happens when you cross a sheep with an Ewok.
Of course, after pumpkin acquisition, we had the annual gutting of the pumpkins.
We had a great bunch of pumpkins this year: large and not too goopey.
And for Halloween dress up, we had an angel, Queen Amidala (Movie 1 - Victory gown, for all of you Star Wars aficionados), and Luke Skywalker (Movie 6)
