Re-entry

I'm suffering a bit from a Stitches West hangover.
First, let me tell you that this is not one of those blog posts that is rich in visuals. When I'm busy, I completely forget that I have multiple cameras tucked into my bag. Taking pictures simply doesn't occur to me. So instead of showing you photos of all the knitting superstars I met, or all the gorgeous booths, or the yarn out the wazoo, I'll just tell you this....

1. I love spending a weekend among my tribe. I got to talk with some of my favorite people in the world.

2. The knitting business is filled with the smartest, funniest, most creative and generous women I know.

3. I didn't teach this weekend. I spent the weekend working with my friends from Kollage Yarns in their booth in the market. As a result, I had the opportunity to talk about my designs with lots of knitters.

4. Things that make my heart go pitter-patter:

• Seeing someone wearing a piece that I designed. They saw a picture or sample, liked it, bought yarn, and spent their valuable time making something that started out as a idea in my head. Then they actually liked the finished product enough to wear it in public.  Amazing.
• Hearing that people look forward to reading the technical articles I write for Twist Collective. Perhaps that should be amended to be: Hearing that anyone other than my mother actually reads what I write.
• Having students tell me that they are using the information and skills learned in a class they took with me.
• Having a designer seek me out, introduce herself and tell me that she has learned a lot from my editing of her pattern.

5. Four days of standing on concrete makes me ache from the knees down.

6. Contrary to popular belief, the perfect booth snack is not Girl Scout cookies (not that there is anything wrong with Girl Scout cookies). The perfect booth snack is Cuties, a trade name for seedless Mandarin oranges. Easy to peel, not messy, smells wonderful, and a marvelous hit of sweet and juicy when your energy starts to fade in the afternoon. Want to make a friend? Hand them a Cutie. Next year I'm bringing 2 bags instead of 1.

7. I didn't shop. Really, I didn't. We were so busy in the booth that there were aisles of the market I never even saw. And seriously, did I need to buy anything? No.

8. Despite not shopping, I managed to come home with 2 braids of hand dyed BFL from Shady K Fibers which will make the acquaintance of my spinning wheel this week.

If you get the opportunity to attend Stitches, or a similar event, I hope you jump on it, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Enough. Laundry awaits.

Dragging my feet into the 21st century

I've never been accused of being an early adopter. I don't own a food processor, since my knife works perfectly well. I drive a 20 year old Toyota with a manual transmission. When I had a shop, I had a cash register, not a point of sales system.

So it should come as no surprise that I am accustomed to using an overhead projector when I teach. I like the immediacy of being able to write on my transparencies to illustrate a point. Besides, I don't own a laptop.
I'm headed to Kansas City this weekend to teach at The Studio Knitting & Needlepoint Annual Retreat. When the retreat organizer asked the facility representative about an overhead projector, she was met with peals of laughter. It seems I'm being forced into an upgrade.

Fortunately, I was given an iPad for Christmas. (Thank you, Susie). And contrary to popular belief, it seems the iPad can actually be used for more than Twitter and Words With Friends. A Google search for "best presentation apps for iPad" pointed me at SlideShark.
I've spent the past two days re-creating my visuals in PowerPoint (who knew I had this already on my computer? not me) and uploading them to SlideShark, from which I've downloaded them to my iPad. It has been a steep learning curve, but I'm ridiculously proud of myself. I should be able to project from the iPad using the LCD projector which seems to have replaced the overhead projector while I wasn't paying attention. Wish me luck.

What have I been knitting?
Entrelac samples. I've been asked to teach Basic Entrelac Techniques at FashionKnit in Walnut Creek in March. I haven't taught entrelac since I had the shop, so I've been making samples and developing an outline. Call FashionKnit to sign up - I'd love to see you in class.


And I started a new pair of socks last night, since I'll need travel knitting this weekend. Sitting in my chair watching PBS, I realized I was looking at David Attenborough while knitting with yarn in a color called.....David Attenborough. I know. It's Skinny Bugga from the late lamented Sanguine Gryphon. Merino, cashmere and nylon.

If you want some Skinny Bugga of your own, you can get it from Cephalopod Yarns

Have a great weekend.

Go Niners!

I'll miss the game because I'll be in transit, but my thoughts will be with them.

Fun in Fresno

Write a blog post has been on my list every day this week, and here we are at Friday already. Better late than never, right?
I had the good fortune to spend Saturday with the women of the Sheeper Than Therapy knitting guild in Fresno. This is the third time this group has invited me to come be their featured teacher. It is always an honor to be asked to come teach, but when a group asks you back it is a special thrill. Thanks, ladies!

  
I taught one of my favorite classes - Making the Most of Self-Striping Yarn. I've done a lot of work with yarn dyed to knit up into stripes (see here and here and here). I enjoy talking with other knitters about how to manipulate the colors and predict or control the way the colors will line up.

There was also some show-and-tell

And some puppy love from the guild's unofficial mascots
After a sack lunch (thanks for the chicken ceasar, Regina!), we spent some time with a box of samples from the Spring issue of Twist Collective, which I had brought along to share. It was 102F in Fresno that day, so I'd brought lots of lightweight lacy pieces. As lovely as the pictures in the magazine are, there is nothing quite like touching and trying on the samples in person.  I suspect there will be several Harrows and Stellarias showing up at future guild show-and-tell sessions.
The guild in Fresno is such a great group - accomplished knitters eager to learn something new, welcoming to newcomers, supportive of beginners, and willing to laugh at my jokes. I'll happily go back anytime. It's too bad every town doesn't have a group like this.


In other news...
I know you see lots of charitable organizations asking for donations on-line. I know you need to be selective about where you put your money. But if you don't know about Halos of Hope, you should. Pamela Haschke, a cancer survivor herself, founded Halos of Hope to provide handmade hats to people with cancer. She is doing the work of angels.
Though the hats themselves are donated (we know how generous the fiberarts community is), it costs money to get them from the knitter to the head in need. A new fundraising campaign was just annouced: The Great Buzzzz for Halos of Hope. For a $10 donation, you can vote to shave or save the head of Drew Emborsky (the Crochet Dude), Benjamin Levisay (from XRX, Inc.) or Mark Moraca (from Kollage Yarns). The ritual barbering will take place at Stitches East in Hartford CT in October. Click on over and check it out.



And finally, some knitting! I've been working on design swatches and editorial commissions, so can't show you what's currently on the needles, but I can show you a recently released design...
Here is Kenwood.
Knit in Kollage Yarns Fantastic, a smooth, many-plied worsted weight merino, Kenwood was designed to be a polished jacket that could take you to the office or out to dinner. It begins at the waist with a band knit horizontally.  Stitches are picked up along the edge and worked up for the bodice, then down for the peplum. A simple lace panel adds eye-catching detail along the front edges. The inset waistband creates the illusion of an hourglass waist, and gives you a great place to show off a special button.