Monday, March 17, 2008

Immersion knitting

I think I'm in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I know I'm in love with North Carolina knitters. And I should know, after spending four days knitting/teaching knitting/fixing knitting and playing with yarn at the Baskets of Yarn winter retreat. This, my friends, was total fun. I walked into the Broyhill Inn on Thursday before lunch and didn't realize I hadn't stepped outside until the retreat was done and Betsy Macholz, the brilliant young owner/founder of Baskets, and I were driving down to lunch with the rest of the group.

It was also not until late Saturday night that I realized I'd completely forgotten about the camera in my knitting bag. That's when my husband innocently asked, "Have you taken lots of pictures?" Uh, that would be no. Mind full of yarn not pictures.

So here's what I've got:

This is Rachel wearing her Sahara sweater:
Notice the zero ease fit, as per the pattern (Stitch Diva, totally excellent). I've since stitched closed the front opening about halfway, per Rachel's instructions (also totally excellent). The painting behind her is by her mom, MB.

This is MB, in a Knitmaven production shrug:

It's the Wedge Watusi pattern by Colleen Davis, knit mostly out of Colinette Giotto ribbon. One day I will make this for myself in smaller (translation: for short people) gauge.

And here we have my one and only photo from the retreat:

Meet (left to right) Janet, Joy and Linda. On Joy's lap is Rex, who doesn't knit but knows everything Joy knows about knitting, which is lots. The three bipeds are holding up the beginnings of their versions of my stash jacket (see mine on page 100 of Knit Fix). From their Ravelry postings, it's evident that the jacket has become an addiction. Don't say I didn't warn you all. In fact, while I was there I bought some silver linen/rayon yarn to begin another stashie for moi.

All for now. If I get my act in gear, I'll have the body of a Ty Dy entrelac sweater to show you in a day or so. Don't know why, but it's been a very fast knit. Oh, and my own Sahara, in some Noro. MB is making same in a different colorway. With ease. You gotta be Rachel's age to do that zero ease thing.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Way up there

When you live in Illinois, hills are relative. It's flat around here, until you ride your bicycle, when you discover maybe not quite flat flat. But tomorrow I'm headed up into actual mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, to be exact. I'm teaching at the Baskets of Yarn Winter Retreat in Boone, NC. I'm told it's cold up there. But then, given Chicago's endless winter this year, cold, too, is relative.

Before I go, I wanted to post something I've been meaning to put up since coming back from NC last time. See all those lovely teenagers learning to knit about two posts ago? Well, as I was darting around the class from knitting crisis to knitting success, I overheard MB telling the following story to this or that beginning knitter:

"If you've been hired as an assassin, it is critical that you be COMPLETELY successful. Thus, if you are 'shanking' your victim, it is best if you make the thrust underhanded. For if you strike from top to bottom, you run the risk of the knife being deflected by bones like the skull or sternum. Yes, you'll hurt the victim; however, without that you can't say you've completed the job.

"How does this relate to knitting? STEP ONE in knitting is to thrust the needle into your stitch as if it were your victim. Additionally, assassins, usually, have a signature 'thing.' As a knitting assassin, your signature is to split your victim's head in half. Nothing fancy, just chop it in half. That's STEP TWO in making the knit stitch.

"Now, STEP THREE, slide your needle through the stitch. What to do now? Proof of the assassination is to send the victim's head to your client. To end the stitch, STEP FOUR, pop the stitch off the end of the left needle.

"You get a rhythm that goes like this:
Stab it (or shank it)
Slice it (their heads in half)
Scoop it
Pop the little head off (the needle)"

I was so entertained that I insisted she write this down for me. She did, signing it, "Enjoy. The Knitting Assassin." Ever the artist, she also drew pictures, which I'm afraid you'll just have to imagine until I figure out how to copy them into the blog.

In the meantime, have a nice weekend, whether you're way up there or out in the flat. I'll post mountain photos next week, along with a photo of Rachel in her new Sahara/Bonsai sweater (it's finished, ta da!). Weather and U.S. Airways permitting, as always. Can you tell I'm not a big believer in heavier-than-air flight?