I finished the new purse design!

Here's the moss cabled purse. To be completely honest, it's not entirely done because I can't find the other handle... But I wanted to feel like I accomplished a goal this weekend, hence the picture-it at least LOOKS done! I used the Berroco Ultra Alpaca: an alpaca/wool blend that marries well with moss stitch-slow going but so worth it! Now if I can just write the pattern while it's fresh in my mind :-)

Yours in knitting, Claire

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sent with Treo 700p & Snappermail

We'd love to hear from you!!!!

We've had a blast setting up this blog, and we're hoping that readers find it engaging enough to want to comment. (it's SO much more fun to read what other people have to say!!!)

So...here's the question: What's the wackiest place you've tried to knit??

I'll start the ball rolling. This summer, we took the family to a Red Sox game (you can never take New England out of New Englanders...) While my husband scurried around-alright "scurry" isn't exactly a word I normally use with him but there was a great sense of anticipation - anyway, while he scurried around making sure everyone had the appropriate amount of Red Sox attire, my concerns lay more with which knitting project to bring for the 4+ hour game. Mike was more than a little horrified when I asked if Fenway security would let me in with scissors. While he has tolerated, mostly without comment, my knitting in theatres, youth sporting events, and all the obvious places like planes, trains, school openhouses..., he seemed genuinely incredulous that I would not be 100% riveted by watching men throwing a ball at a stick. Besides, he said, "fans can be really really mean."

Well I took the knitting, security didn't even blink, and I hurriedly shoved the bag under my seat while I scoped out our neighbors. And honestly, we did have AWESOME seats behind the dugout which held my attention for about 15 minutes. But I was worried...especially about the shrieking woman behind me with the beer.

After a while, Mike leaned over to whisper that I could probably get out my project - these people seemed pretty nice. I was still worried about the beer-drinking-shrieker behind me - there was SO much wool in my bag. Does beer ever really come out of cashmere??

Finally I did brave it, the lighting was EXCELLENT after all. And the picture here, while having no real relevance to knitting, is to remind me of how, in a stadium filled with angst ridden fans (they lost), I alone remained calm.




My knitting was on my lap while I took this of the girls

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to what YOU have to say!!!
Yours in yarn,
Claire

Seaming

We wrapped up another set of Technique classes today at the yarn shop. Today was "Finishing" or more specifically the wondrous Invisible Seam. For years and YEARS I hated sweaters because, well here's the biggy - I never did a gauge swatch, didn't know I was THE loosest knitter on the planet, and could never understand why my sweaters looked like they would fit Mr. Stay-Puff. But the other reason, and the point I'm trying to share here..., is : I only knew the backstitch seam and my sweaters would have looked just as nice if I had sewn them up with shoelaces.

BUT, I read a book (actually EVERY knitting book I'd ever read suggested right-side seaming, but I couldn't imagine it working...) and decided to sit down and give it a try and Who'd-have-thunk-it: it really is like MAGIC. That's why I love Technique part 4 - no one really believes it will work BUT IT ALWAYS DOES!!!!!!!!! Now if I could only get gauge on those sweaters without going down to a 2...but that's another story.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

Project Gallery

Way over there on the right, hanging out under Purl, is what I hope will someday be a functioning photo gallery of knitting projects from the shop. NOTHING is easy in the world of HTML programming though, especially when you haven't a clue about programming, or what HTML means... so I can't promise what you'll get if you click on the link today!!! But let's all have a little faith in the Dell faeries, and keep checking back...

Yours in knitting (when I'm not ripping my hair out with HTML whatever-that-is),
Claire

"Fetching" Gloves

I have knit 3 pairs of these great fingerless gloves. The pattern is at knitty.com (one of my favorite sites) They are quick and easy...Instant gratification.
My beautiful friend Radha is modeling her pair. I made hers a bit longer and crocheted an edge with Blossom yarn from Noro. ~shirani

Another rainy day in Erie

Nothing fun to do on this rainy day?? Run over to Cultured Purl and pick up a skein of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - just ask for the buttery soft, cashmere nirvana, they'll know what you mean.
Ask Sue where to find the cabled fingerless glove pattern (it's FREE!!) and by the end of the weekend you'll have the MOST charming pair of fingerless gloves you've ever seen.

Happy knitting!!,

Claire

Another photo of the yarn shop

When I stopped by Cultured Purl today I noticed an enormous box of new Louisa Harding yarn-some GORGEOUS fall colors. Perfect if you were, like me, DYING to make some of her fingerless gloves out of the luscious Kimono Angora-from the Gathering Roses collection- and, unlike me, you don't have 10 other projects already in varying degrees of completion, weighing on your mind!

So, stop in and take a look!

Yours in knitting, Claire

ALWAYS BUY MORE YARN THAN YOU THINK YOU'LL NEED or, THE ALLEGORY OF THE ORANGE DRESS

Not being a particularly NEWSY day at the shop, I've decided to share a personal story. Recently, I had the wonderfully spiritually cleansing experience of throwing out (into the trash can) a partially completed project that I WAS NEVER EVER GOING TO FINISH. It had haunted me for years: the Orange Dress.

Awhile back, something like 6 years ago, my husband (not a knitter OR a sweater-wearer) accompanied me into a yarn shop during a vacation to Maine. Needless to say, it was an unusual experience and as thrilled as I was, I had a certain nervousness about the whole thing, so I hurried about trying to take it all in while my husband browsed through the knitting magazines. Specifically, it was Rebecca that caught his eye: the European Rebecca, featuring incredibly hip patterns modeled by impossibly tall, lanky, Scandinavian BABES with 8 foot long legs, usually strolling barefoot along a beautiful beach… I should have known I was in trouble when he said, “Why don’t you make this?” pointing to an orange ribbed minidress barely covering one of the BABES.

Unfortunately, the shop had the yarn, just a bag of it, in the exact color orange. (Understand by orange, I don’t mean the charmingly muted tone of a faded summer daylily, but rather something more akin to a Penn Dot rubber road cone.) Despite my concerns that the color wasn’t my best, my husband enthusiastically purchased the bag of yarn, just enough and all they had, along with the pattern and the picture of the BABE, and off we went.

Well, as you might imagine, I very quickly determined that the pattern, although pleasant enough to work on, was never going to turn me into the BABE. In fact, although I am decently thin and petite, I could tell as I was going along with it that I would more closely resemble, at best, a great big curvy carrot. A carrot with very short legs…

So I did what any of us would do, I stuffed it into the back of the closet, where it lived for about 2 years. Eventually my husband insisted that I couldn’t add to my stash, growing at what he considered to be an alarming rate, until I finished the ORANGE DRESS. So, out it came. Now here’s the part that I feel really bad about: …somehow our very exuberant, oral, flat-coated retriever, Bailey, well, somehow, she got hold of 3 balls of the yarn and shredded them…

My husband discovered the disaster and was horrified. The shop in Maine, not being computerized like Cultured Purl, had NO record of the yarn. I, being me, had long ago lost the die lot information. But we searched. And searched. And, well, there just wasn’t any more of that yarn (right dye lot or not) to be had… With not anywhere near the amount of yarn required, the project went back into the closet where it stayed for a couple more years. I couldn’t believe it, but my husband STILL talked about the freaking ORANGE DRESS that I never finished EVERY TIME I bought yarn for a new project. He also couldn’t understand why I couldn’t somehow make it work with what I had left. The guilt of the whole thing was just really really getting to me. So…the other day I threw it all out. Trash day. Gone. Gone for good. I have chalked it up to the learning of a valuable lesson: never buy a shop’s entire inventory of a yarn for your project, even if it seems like enough for the project. And never let your husband browse Rebecca while you shop; better yet, have him wait in the car…

Mary's bag

Definitely one of THE coolest knitted bags I've ever seen...Mary made this from a pattern in last fall's Interweave magazine. And by the by, she also made that cream sweater peaking out from under her jacket - it's done in Rowen big wool (key when you need some instant gratification!!) and it's the Knitting Pure and Simple neck down sweater pattern that we're teaching again this fall. NICE NICE beginner sweater!!!!!!

The rain continues here in Erie and it definitely feels like fall today, making it a great day to get to the yarn shop and hunker down with a comfy knitting project!! What I really should be working on are my red striped socks. It would be a stretch to call them comfy though, as I'm SUCH A LOOSE KNITTER, I'm having to do them on 1's...just a wee bit stressful

Later on this afternoon, it's another Debbie Bliss Knit-along. See you there,

Happy knitting, Claire

Purl

That less than stellar photo down to the right, is of the charming vintage mannequin known affectionately as "Purl". She lives at the yarn shop and dresses in various knitted garments that Shirani puts together in THE cutest combinations. Here she's wearing the (I know it's REALLY REALLY hard to see--the original photo that Shirani took was as clear as day, I screwed it up somehow in the upload...) where was I , oh yes, here she's wearing the black lacy holiday shrug and a knitted belt and a knitted purse. I believe all these items are done in various Louisa Harding yarns. Okay, the dress is NOT knitted, and secretly, I'm dying to steal it off Purl's back...

And on a total sidetrack...I was reminded in a conversation with a friend today, of the song with the line about much of life being wasted while "waiting for the tide to turn." Yes, SO much of life is out of our control, but isn't it nice that we can have knitting projects on hand while we wait?

Yours in knitting,
Claire

The 'Audrey' scarf

This is the pattern of the "Audrey", a scarf I designed for the beginner cable class tonight. It's done in my all time FAVORITE yarn- D. Bliss Cashmerino. It's like knitting with butter! For years I thought I had a wool allergy, but it turns out I wasn't knitting with the GOOD STUFF!

The funny thing about this class: everyone catches on to the cable part right away but the struggle is with the yarn over between the knit and purl stitch in the eyelet ribbing. Who knew...:-((

Well, I should be getting back to knitting my moss stitch/cabled purse (truthfully though, I am enjoying sitting out in the sunshine on this beautiful summerlike day watching Audrey & Celia's riding lesson.) but I'm at least THINKING about the purse...

yours in yarn, Claire

The yarn shop! Specifically, the table where I teach classes. This week I'm teaching the "Audrey" scarf-beginner cable, and a techniques class on different bind offs-the decrease bind off and the woven bind off for ribbing are two of my favorites. And we also are continuing with the Debbie Bliss knit-along: Shirani's GREAT idea to offer a weekly social afternoon with everyone knitting a Debbie Bliss pattern of their choice. I am available to help with pattern questions or individual problems. What's nice is I get to enjoy the company of really nice woman AND knit too! I've just finished the knit-sideways-in-one-piece cardigan in the pumpkin colored cashmerino aran. Super soft and cosy...

Happy knitting, Claire

The Cultured Purl Afghan

Here's one of the squares we designed for our afghan block class. It's called the Flower Sprigs & Brambles Block.

The ladies in this class have been knitting for MONTHS!! All we've got left is the seaming...;-)

yours in knitting,
Claire

Welcome to the Cultured Purl Blog!!!!

Cultured Purl is a wonderful, WONDERFUL, yarn shop in Erie PA (the Northwest corner of Pennsylvania on Lake Erie) I teach a lot of knitting classes there, and the owners, Shirani and Sue, knowing I am a little bit computer savvy (not so savvy that it hasn't taken me HALF THE DAY to set this thing up!!), asked if I would start a blog for them.

And so here it is, in its infancy!!!!! Later this week I'll add pictures of Shirani and Sue, and talk a little more about the knitting shop and the really fun things we have going on there. But for now it's back to my red striped socks!!

Thanks for visiting,

Yours in knitting, Claire