It's that time again...

yes, Fall classes are just around the corner, and I need some ideas. My plans include:

the Lace Table Runner,

the Fair Isle Bag


the Peasant Shawl (the one that's done in sock weight yarn)

Another fair isle hat, this time with the option of ear flaps,

Mittens, with the option of adding a pretty edging to the cuff,

the Sock it 2 Me class - a sock with heel and toe variations,

and something else Shirani and I are thinking about:

a series of pillow classes, with different stitch patterns or techniques, take as many classes in the series as you'd like.

design your own intarsia - maybe one of the pillow classes.

If there's a class of mine you'd like me to offer again this fall let me know. Or, if there's something you've been wanting to learn, mention it and I'll try to put a class together. I'd like to have my schedule set by the middle of August. It's looking like Tuesday will the be weekday I can teach evening classes this year, but that's not definite.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

I've been consumed with kid things, and summer things, and dog things - but that's a story for another day.

Thanks Shirani and Sue for a lovely birthday surprise!!! The ice cream cake was what just what I needed to cool off after our walk around the hot track. And it was great to see so many Cultured Purl friends out supporting the Relay for Life this weekend. Cultured Purl raised more than $9,000, (mostly from the sale of the lovely crystal bracelets), for the fight against cancer.

I am about half way through my summer sock. It's done in Austermann with aloe and it is one of the true striped colorways - red and grey, a very interesting combination. I'll post a photo soon. It's very slow going though because I'm also spending as much free time as I can working on another passion of mine: genealogy.


I've traced lines going back to 1600s France, England, Germany. But I'm a little stuck (strangely enough) on the American part...

dear Elsie Mae, I should have picked your brain more when I had the chance.

Grammie was the first person I remember talking to about knitting: I sat in the rocking chair in her living room as she walked down memory lane and shared with me the story of how her mother had helped her knit a beautiful pale blue dress for a party. It took her FOREVER, but when she was done, she was SO proud, and she thought to herself that she'd never looked more beautiful. She never made much time for knitting once she married, but she always remembered the feeling of wearing the soft blue dress she'd knit herself. Remembering that story, kind of makes me wonder what I'll be telling my grandchildren someday; what will be the thing I loved knitting the most?

Well, this has motivated me to get moving on the red and grey sock...

yours in knitting,
Claire

Progress Update on my sock-a-month-for-a-year goal...

I started with these in January....















Here's where I experimented with nylon reinforcement thread, which really worked out well given how my son insists on dancing around the house while wearing these.

Then after that, it's kind of a blur, but these came next








There's another pair I sneaked in during the month of March, but I can't find the picture right now.... SO....that brings me to a grand total of 7 and it's only the end of May, so I'm feeling like I'm in good shape for making my goal. How's everybody else doing????


Yours in too much sock yarn (but luckily they always wear out, so can one every really have too much of the stuff?)
Claire

I need to vent...

I've been RIPPING my house apart today, and it wasn't about Spring Cleaning. It was about not being able to find the Altoids tin box containing about a bajillion pretty glass bead place markers that I've spent years accumulating.... yes, while others in my family spent the day outside frolicking in the sunshine, I was NOT getting a lot of knitting done. NOT as in NONE. I have this sort of sick feeling because I kind of, sort of, maybe remember tossing an old almost empty box of Altoids away a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out a bag - but wouldn't it have occurred to me to check inside???? I'm going to choose to believe that memory is more imagination caused by panic and worry than fact, and that one of these days I WILL come across that box.

What I did manage to find in my hunt was an embarrassing number of project on needles. (I was just saying to Rita at the shop yesterday that I can never find the right needle size when starting a new project.) Well it's pretty much because they're all holding projects I just don't want to work on anymore. For a variety of reasons: can't handle the wool on hot days; can't remember where I am in the pattern and don't want to think about it right now; can't imagine what ever possessed me to want to do the project in the first place...reasons like that.

So for those of you out there feeling bad about those unfinished projects you just can't seem to finish, don't feel bad. I've got more. Waaaaayyyyyyyyyy more. There are the 2 Lucy bags, at least 4 socks (mostly all still in the bloody ribbing part), that cute little Ella Rae bag Rita did in turquoise, the sideways sweater that I just know Shirani is working on right now and I might as well forget ever catching up to her, a triangle lace shawl, a peasant shawl, a tank top in silk, my lizard ridge afghan, George's mitered square blanket that is never-going-to-happen-so-I-should-just-recycle-the-yarn, that really funky cotton noro sleeveless cardigan, a floral intarsia bag I started for a class 2 years ago, a noro ribbed scarf that can justifiably wait till fall. I feel like there's something big I'm overlooking but this will at least give you a sense of just how deep of a hole I'm in.

And having said all that, I did come across a small supply of those little plastic markers which will do in a pinch because I've just cast on for another lace design!!!

Yours in way too much yarn-on-the-needles,
Claire

The Fair Isle bag

I'm on a roll....




Here's the completed Annie Meadows Bag, done in Debbie Bliss Cathay yarn.

The first series of classes for this bag is just about finished and a new session will be starting July 16th (Wednesday's 11-1) for anyone interested in giving two-stranded knitting a try - no prior experience required, just a knowledge of both knit and purl stitches and a willingness to try something a little outside the box!

Yours in knitting,
Claire

The Chatelaine Table Runner

It dried overnight...

it never ceases to amaze me - that

something which starts out looking like this



and this,

turns into

something like


this






and

this,



with just the help of some water and a few pins, and of course the patience to leave the thing alone until it's thoroughly dry!

I LOVE LACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yours in crochet cotton yarn,

Claire

It's midnight

and I've just finished pinning out the lace table runner. I had to tell someone!! It's soaking wet (love that Citris Soak) and it's grown quite a bit. Let's see...went from 16x23 to 19x38. A nice size for my small gateleg table. I'm way tooooo tired for mental math, but as I'd hoped, it's grown in length not width even though it's garter based. Did you know the earliest British lace was always knit? The stockinette (or as the Brits call it "stocking") stitch was an after thought in knitting's evolutionary timeline.

SO, I have the fan BLASTING in the guestroom where the runner is pinned out on the carpet and if the fiber gods are smiling it will be dry by morning!

I'll post pictures tomorrow - or actually later today...

Yours in lacy slumber,
Claire

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Beading for the Relay for Life

Th Cultured Purl is putting together a team for this summer's Relay for Life and the girls have been busy making bracelets which will help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Here's a shot of Rita stringing some beads together: they've already made a bunch and the orders just keep coming in. The bracelets are made from colored crystals representing various cancers. If you're interested in walking for the Cultured Purl team, give Sue & Shirani a call.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~

Sent with my Treo 755p smartphone & Chattermail

Something wonderful happened today

I stopped by Cultured Purl today and bought this yarn (even though I need another project like I need a hole in the head...) but seeing Barb's lovely asymmetric shawl made me realize I couldn't let another second pass without starting one for myself. For any one interested, I'm giving it a go with the new Noro sock yarn...

Anyhow...the really wonderful thing was this - I only stopped by for a second, but Barb was there, and Chris and Susan, Maria, and Rita and of course Shirani, so I sat down for a brief minute borrowed from my insanely busy day (which everyone there knows about but I'm not going to share with you here because it will give you anxiety...) Well my minute turned into an hour, and here's the wonderful part, by the time I left I was TOTALLY, UNBELIEVABLY, 100% stress-free because I felt such a warmth and comraderie in that room. All women I have only recently been lucky enough to get to know through one common link- a love of knitting, and the homey, welcoming atmosphere of our local yarn shop! Thank you Sue and Shirani for created such a cozy space and sense of community in which so many interesting and spirited women have come to feel a part of. And thank you ladies for helping me pause for a breath today!

The rest of my day was just as hectic and busy as I thought it would be, but as I rushed from place to place, I had my new Noro yarn and cherished ebony needles close at hand, and every stitch I could sneak in was a reminder of the lovely afternoon spend in the company of the nicest kind of kindred spirits - my fellow Cultured Purl knitters!

Thanks so much ladies!

Yours in knitting,
Claire

~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~�~

Sent with my Treo 755p smartphone & Chattermail

The Annie Meadows Bag

Last night's Fair Isle bag class was the most fun I've had in ages. Ann, Amy, Julie and Robin - you're such a nice group to spend an evening with!

Here's a snapshot of my bag for you to use as a reference as you go. See you next week!

Yours in two-stranded knitting,
Claire

Goings On at the Purl...

First of all, I cannot let another second pass without sharing this photo of Daren and her Peasant Shawl...didn't she do a LOVELY job!!!! I love that this is done in sock yarn. But most of all, I love the easy repetition of the leaves and the way the edging emerges out of nowhere (practically) and makes the shawl into something more than just rows of lace - it becomes something lovely and ethereal: equally pretty over jammies in the morning, a black strappy dress at night, or just a pair of faded jeans and a favorite old t-shirt.

Good job Daren!!!!!!!!


Also,
I got a chance to stop by First Friday last week, and there was

quite

a

lively

crowd...

Chris was hunkered down in the back working on her very pretty toe-up sock design...

I believe she's calling it

"Wysteria"











And that's about it for Cultured Purl photos. I haven't done a lot of knitting lately. The design for the Fair Isle back is coming along slowly. Not the kind of thing that I can work on in a noisy chaos or surrounded by children, or while worrying about

THIS...



Yup. My pathetically pained puppers had her spleen removed. And it probably goes without saying that a 75lb moaning, hot-nosed, furry creature and two-stranded knitting just don't mix.

But she's a bit better now: sans staples and cone and eating like a trooper again. SO it's back to the bag for me.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

Happy Easter!

Kind of a random, catch-all sort of post....

My sunroom is DONE!!! I've waited until the furniture arrived (or was relocated from other places in the house) to publish this picture. You can't tell from the photo, but the stone floor warms up to heat the room. It's tumbled soft but still retains it's organic, natural imperfections and feels wonderfully cozy to walk on. I love to sit out here in the mornings with my coffee and the paper. Now, if I just had woods and a babbling brook in the backyard, life would be perfect!

I finished my socks in the knick of time and my husband LOVED THEM!! The pointed toe fits the shape of his foot perfectedly and the Fortissima is soft and comfortable to wear.


I am making NO progress on the sweater project I'm working on with Shirani in the lovely Noro Kochoran, but I have been knitting socks LIKE CRAZY! and I am well on my way to meeting my goal of 12 pairs in 12 months. My next yarn review will be what I used for these: (and I promise when I do the review I will remember the exact name of the yarn I used...)My notes are over in my knitting bag by the sofa :)


I stopped by Cultured Purl Saturday and took some pictures of the Sock Club, hard at work on the St Patrick's Day sock. I love the color of the yarn!! Look for pictures later this week...

Well it's our spring break this week. Not exactly Spring outside but at least it's not FREEZING! I'm off to get the children organized for an outing to the movies.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

A Minor Bump in the Road

That mess of yarn in the picture is the disaster I just had to rip out - hours of work done late last night (it really doesn't pay to knit when tired...)

I picked up the second sock this morning, well passed the gusset and midway down the foot, only to discover I had dropped a stitch off the end of my in-step needle TWENTY EIGHT rows ago...OHMYGOD...

I always keep a crochet hook nearby so I calmly began picking up the stitches. I'd have to say the first 8 rows were easy; the next 10 were tricky but managable; the last 10, however strained the boundaries of reason and sense. I did manage to get that last loop back onto my needle without breaking the yarn-how I don't know- but the result was impossibly tight, hideously ugly, and promised to be too uncomfortable to wear. So.........

Out it all came...plus and extra few rows because my frustration caused me to rip out with such abandon I couldn't quite stop where I had planned to.

Lesson learned- avoid knitting when bleary eyed; stop and admire your work frequently; and accept the fact that, at least with sock yarn, picking up a dropped stitch that's run down more than a dozen rows or so, is probably not going to look good enough to warrant the trouble. Sometimes ripping back is the only choice!

Yours in a mess of tangles,
Claire

I'm halfway there!

Well, actually MORE than halfway because I had started the ribbing for the second sock on another set of needles. I'm Sooooo glad I did that because now I'm facing only a couple inches of wrist breaking ribbing instead of 8...

I decided to try the Pointed Toe as I think it might be a better fit for my person's long toes. So here it is- a modified pointed toe, adapted from the very wonderful Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. It's worked over slightly more rows than the Basic Sock toe, otherwise known as the classic French toe. Also, it does not call for the Kitchener, so if you don't especially like grafting you might want to have a go at this technique!

Well it's back to ribbing for me.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

The Worst Thing About Socks...

For me at least, the worst thing about socks isn't that after all the work of knitting one you've still got another one to do. It's the thought of all that bloody ribbing.

I decided on a whim two days ago, to knit someone a pair of socks by next Saturday. Yup, 30,000 stitches in 10 days. I knit EVERYWHERE!!
In PTA meetings, in the car waiting for the kids dance classes to end, sitting in the exam chair at the eye doctors, begging to not have my eyes dialated because I'll lose an hour of knitting time... I even had the sock in the car yesterday morning when I drove the girls to school- prompting my daughter to roll her eyes and wonder aloud what I possibly thought I'd get done on it in the 5 minutes it takes to get there and back. But, it was a snowy, icy mess outside and I knew if I ended up in a ditch I'd be really really calm because I could get another inch out of the way while I waited for a tow truck!

However....the wrist strain is starting to kick in. 11,000 stitches of 2x2 ribbing. The Only Time I Regret Being a THROWER and NOT the time to convert to picking.

I had originally thought to start the ribbing on both socks so when I finished the first I wouldn't be so overwhelmed confronting that other 8 inches of cuff. BUT, my wrist pain makes it so going.

So at this point, I've got about 2 inches of that second cuff and I'm focusing instead on the pleasant ease and monotony of the stockinette foot, enjoying the BEST part of knitting socks- thinking with much love and affection of the person they're intended for!

Wish me speed,
Yours in knitting,
Claire

Ellen's Shawl

Didn't Ellen do an AMAZING job with the Lace Triangle Shawl!!!!!!!!

This is by far my most advanced design and Ellen's finished project is absolutely gorgeous - pictures just don't do Zephyr justice. You have to feel it to really appreciate its ethereal beauty. Her stitch work is lovely!

Although not the first of my students to finish this shawl, Ellen is the first to stop by the Purl so we could see the finished work!. I'm hoping to see the rest of the class soon!!

Great job Ellen!!!!

Yours in yarn,
Claire

Happy Valentine's Day

Knitting for Charity

Thanks KnittyGirl, for asking about charitable knitting. What a great idea for those of us with the time and means to make something beautiful and useful for those less fortunate than ourselves! Here are a few of my favorite charities:

Afghans for Afghans is a grassroots, humanitarian, people-to-people project that sends hand knit (and crocheted) blankets, sweaters, socks, and other necessaries to the beleagered people of Afghanistan.

Binky Patrol provides blanket and quilts to sick, abused, or needy children across the country.

Chemo Caps is an effort begun by the mother of Heather Spol, who passed away in 2000 at the young age of 25, to provide comfort and warmth to cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.The website has patterns and information on finding local branches.

Operation Homefront has patterns and information about knitting wool helmet liners for our troops stationed overseas.

On a local level, there is of course the ongoing blanket project at Cultured Purl, knitting premmie hats for area hospitals, and I believe children's mittens are always welcome at the Neighborhood Art House.

Also, there are dozens of other projects online which can be found by doing a Google search of "Knitting Charities". And readers, if you have a particular favorite, please let me know and I'll add it to this list.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

Online Supersocke 100 sock yarn

As I embark on this mission to knit 12 pairs of socks in 12 months, it occurs to me that it might be useful to review the yarns as I go. There, now it seems a more productive and less frivolous use of my time, although is a handknit pair of socks considered a frivolity or more a lovely way of life!



I asked my nine year-old, who's modeling the February socks, if handknit socks are better or is it just that he loves them because I made them for him. He replied, "well, yes, there's that, but it's just no ordinary sock."

I think I'll ponder that awhile. In the meantime, here's the review...

Online Supersocke 100 Highland Color
100gr/420m
75% superwash wool, 25% polyamid
made in Italy

One skein knit up a pair of child's (shoe size 2) socks with plenty of yarn to spare. You can easily knit a pair of women's or men's regular socks out of just one skein.

I used a set of US 1 1/2 (2.5mm) double points. However I am a very loose knitter and I would imagine most people would use a US 2.

The yarn is smooth and even in its thickness. It doesn't have much of a twist, and is rather loosely plied, although I didn't have any problem with the yarn splitting. There is a certain scratchiness to the material which made it less of a pleasure to work with than Cherry Tree Hill or Lorna's Lace. My son, who always watches my progress eagerly and wass quick to pull them on the minute they were finished, found them cozy but way too itchy to wear until they were washed. I ran them through a warm water machine cycle then let them air dry and they softened up enough for him to wear them to school with no problems at all. They blocked well and seem to be holding their shape nicely. I'm seeing very little pilling.

Supersocke 100 comes in a variety of colorways and I absolutely love the striping pattern. There is a definite repeat to the stripe, so that it's easy to make a matching pair. I have to tell you however, that mid-way down the cuff of the second sock, there was a break in the yarn which had been tied to a different section of the pattern. While the two pieces were close in color, they were different enough to cause the pair to be slightly mismatched. Despite this, I will happily use this yarn again.

Yours in knitting,
Claire