YARN CRAWL LA 2014

Last weekend was the pinnacle of yarn crawls.  Los Angeles County had 29 stores on the crawl this year plus one pop up shop.  My local knitting group started Thursday night at out knit night by yarn bombing the van that would transport us to all 29 stores.

We began the crawl Saturday morning at 9 am and finished Sunday night at 5:30 (30 minutes to spare).  Another group member, Sarah, followed along in her own car (she had plans later but wanted to hit as many stores as she could.)  Next year we hope to have a bigger group.  It's a lot of fun.  Even when the Knitagator makes everyone stay to the schedule.

Our van was the big hit of the crawl.  Store owners and employees heard about our van and wanted pictures, at least half of all our stops included posing with the van.

We spent the most time at the first stop-Alamitos Bay Yarn Company and the Yarn Over Truck.  First by posing with the van:

Then by going through "Candyland" at Alamitos and taking selfies with the Gingerbread man for extra drawing entries.

Me

Bessie

Me again

I planned our route, taking into consideration the Hollywood marathon and another event in LA-Civivla-both of which were guaranteed to cause traffic nightmares.

We went to 16 stores on Saturday-spending no more than 15 minutes per store and eating lunch on the go.

I have no idea which store this is.  

This scarf was on display at Twist, Yarns of Intrigue.  The yarn surrounding it is their own hand dyed yarn.  It reminds me of Malabrigo.  Soft and luscious.

It would take a daring woman to wear a knit bikini...

At Gather DTLA, in the hallway outside the shop, we found an art installation-made of yarn.  Looks like a giant web.

Gather is located inside a book store on Spring and 5th.  This area is always a traffic nightmare and parking is impossible.  Unless you pay to park in one of the lots.  We choose to have our wonderful driver, Bessie, drop us off so we could run up to the store for stamps in our passports.  We paid to park last year and were not interested in repeating that.  ($15 for 5 minutes).  Parts of 5th and Spring are closed to traffic on Sundays for the farmers market.  Add to that the closures for CivivLA and we were't taking the chance that our schedule would be messed up.

After downtown we headed back towards Santa Monica and went to the shop on the crawl and then the pop up shop at Wildfiber.  Wildfiber was set to close the week before the crawl and someone stepped in at the last minute and purchased the shop-saving it.  It's a fun shop.  They decided to do a pop up shop and had a book signing by Mel Clark.  Joan and I both picked up her book "Knitting Everyday Finery" and had Mel sign them.

Then it was back on the road for more stores.  During the crawl, we had stretches of 30 minutes to 5 minutes while driving where we were able to knit or crochet.  I began the Monsoon shawl for my knitting group knit a long.  I made it to the section before the lace-about 52 rows in.

We spent the night at a hotel Saturday night.  Hung out in the hot tub for a couple of hours to unwind and then hit the sack.

Sunday morning we were up early, had breakfast and hit the road in time to get up to Santa Clarita well before their opening at 10 am.  Creative U is the store in Santa Clarita and it was our favorite.  Of course it is also the farthest from us at an hour without traffic and probably a 3 hour drive with traffic.  They had the best selection of Cascade and Rowan yarns in LA county.  They do a knit night on Friday nights that sounds like it would be a ton of fun.  We're already planning a Saturday day trip up to Creative U.  And given them fair warning that we'll be heading up to hang all day on their couches.  The owner was lovely and said we're welcome to stay as long as we'd like.

I love this bear.  I'll have to knit one for my Mom-she loves bears.

Here he is in his habitat.  Looks like the perfect place to hang out.

Here is Joan and Lisa, I believe at Twist, Yarns of Intrigue.  Check out Lisa's newly finished Spectra.  It's gorgeous.

FO Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

It's a great day.  Not only is it the end of the week, which I love, but it's also time for the LA County Yarn Crawl.  I'm excited for this weekends crawl.  Last night at knit night we yarn bombed the van we'll be traveling in.

Sneak peek:

I will take better pictures this weekend and share them next week.  The van looks awesome.  We'll be easy to spot.

I have a finished object this week.  My Spectra is finally done.  It needs to be blocked but doesn't look too bad.

It's difficult to get a picture of this without a model.  I'll have someone snap a picture of me in it soon.  

Hop over to Tamis amis' blog for more FO Friday stuff.

WIP Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!  I've been counting down the days until this weekend for a while now.  Why? You ask?  Because it's LA Yarn Crawl time!!! 29 stores in 2 days.  My knitting group and I are going to go to all 29 stores on the crawl this year.  I have the entire route planned out (and that took some time, planning and work).  After all it is Los Angeles.  And, maybe you've heard, we have a wee bit of a traffic problem here in LA.

I'll take pictures as I am able to this weekend and will tell you all about it next week.  We're yarn bombing Bessie's van again this year and hope we can outdo last years efforts.

What's on the needles this Wednesday?  Pretty much the same list.  Couple of changes.

*That damn hat
*15 color Rainbow socks
* Emelie Sweater
*Shallows Cowl
*Collar finishing on Channel
*Monsoon Shawl

That damn hat is the Donegal cap.  I think I need to just restart the thing.  I told the recipient to not hold out hope of it ever being finished and to maybe pick something else.  But here's the thing.  29 other people have knit this hat.  That means it is not impossible.  I will not let it get the better of me.  I will finish that damn hat.  Maybe its the yarn.  I am using wool.  Pattern calls for a Hemp yarn.  If I can find Hemp yarn this weekend I'll recast on.

My 15 color Rainbow socks are so much fun.  The colors pop really bright.  The silvery thread sparkles.  Haven't reached the heel yet.

Emelie sweater- I ripped out and restarted.  The 3 x 2 ribbing was off.  blech.  So I recast on and made it a whole 4 rows.  I know.  Such progress.  I'm just whipping through this thing and will probably be done by April 15th of 2022.

The Shallows is almost half way done.  I'm really liking the pattern.  It's easy and I can remember it.  Bonus**.  I finally changed needles.  I was using my Knitters pride interchangeables.  But they were too heavy.  Made knitting slow and felt awkward.  Now I'm using some no brand cheap things that weight next to nothing, but make the knitting flow better.  I bought a package of circular needles size 0-15 from Amazon for $15 thereabouts or incredibly cheap.  The cords are sticky and twist ALOT.  The join sucks rocks.  The needles themselves are not bad.  Very light and if you don't mind stopping to assist your stitches over the join every single time, usable.  With the Shallows the cowl scrunches up on the needles, leaving the cord twisting by itself.

Here's a close up of the colors...

I'm still having camera issues.  Totally sucks.  New phone and the camera should be golden.  It refuses to focus so it's going back home to it's mommy for repairs over at Samsung.  Hopefully they will repair or replace it.

The Channel has lost all favor with me.  I have it sitting in a project bag on a table in my living room.  I see it almost every day.  I know I am really close to being done, done.  And wearing it, but still haven't made a move towards it.  It needs to become more interesting and then I'll finish it.  Maybe when I get on a finishing kick.  We'll see.

And the last thing on the needles this week is the Monsoon shawl.  It's a fairly new pattern from Interweave knits spring edition.  My knitting group has a few new knitters and a few shawl virgins.  This is a worsted weight lace shawl on size 10.5.  It's perfect for the beginners.  I'm knitting a long and will help out where it's needed.

What do you have on the needles?  Check out other WIPs at Tami's amis's blog.

WIPs Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!

It's been a long week.  The type of long week that starts by counting down the days till the weekend before 10 am on Monday.  No particular reason for the long week.  It usually happens when I have a vacation or something really fun planned for the weekend.  Nothing particularly exciting this weekend other than a yarn related tea party and shopping for a friends new car.  Neither of which would cause the week to be drawn out.

I don't have a lot to show you this week.  My list is basically the same from last Wednesday.  The only changes are that I finished the Slime Time socks and cast on a new pair of socks in 15 color Rainbow.

Fab Funky Fibres from the UK makes this 15 color rainbow self stripping yarn that is gorgeous.  It has silvery threads mixed in for some sparkle.

I've knit the ribbing and about an inch of the cuff.

**Please forgive the blurry image.  I've still got a wonky camera and haven't had time to take it in.

I've also spent time working on the Shallows cowl.  I'm about a quarter of the way through that.  I haven't worked on anything else this week.  I'm planning on working on my Emelie cardigan tomorrow at knit night and am itching to cast on for the Ravello sweater.  I just need to trade yarn skeins with a friend who thinks that her light grey has too much purple in it.

We're both using the same greys-one light and one dark for the Ravello.  She'll be using a black for her stripes and I will be using a zauberball with purples and other stripy goodness in my stripes.  My stripes will have stripes.  In any case more purple in the light grey will blend in better on my sweater than hers.

What have you got on your needles?

Check out some other WIPs via Tami's blog.

TGIF- Yay it's Friday!!!

I love Fridays!  Really who doesn't love a good Friday.  The work week is almost over and then I will have two whole work free days.

Last night was my knitting night.  Our group meets every Thursday night at two different restaurants.  Last night was at Corner Bakery at South Coast Plaza.  We love it there.  The staff is friendly and helpful and best of all they let us hang out after hours while they are cleaning up.  Eventually we get kicked out; so we just move our chatter to the parking lot.

We had smaller than usual numbers last night; but that didn't damper our fun.  New people never need help finding us.  If they missed the piles of yarn over four to five tables, the loud boisterous chatter would help them locate us in a heartbeat.  Our group is definitely not shy and definitely not old ladies knitting.

I have a finished object to show you today.  I've completed the Slime Time Socks from Oink yarns.  The yarn was a bit splitty and I have a weird pooling on the top of the foot in one spot.  I'm not sure what's up with that, I'm guessing that the dye didn't reach that part of the yarn.  The pooling doesn't bother me so I didn't rip out and fix it.

This weekend is the Yarnover Trucks first birthday bash.  If you are in Southern California on Sunday, come down to the Johnny Carson Park.  Check out the Yarnover Truck website for details.

I'll leave you with one last picture of knitting on the beach:

Have a wonderful weekend.

To see more FO blog posts from other knitters go here: tamisamis.blogspot.com

What's on the Needles Wednesday

Hi.  It's been awhile since I've told you what I'm knitting currently.  It's Wednesday and it feels like Friday will never get here.  I love Fridays.  I like Thursdays too because I have knitting night on Thursdays.  It keeps me moving through the week.  Ever feel like work is sucking your soul out of your body.  I do.  Frustrating work...necessary evil cause you have to pay for all the pretty yarn.

I've got a bit of startitis.  I have cast on two sweater and at least 4 other projects.  They're sitting pretty and waiting patiently for me to have time and the energy to get to them.  I know they won't change while they wait, but that doesn't stop me from wishing I could have them all done now.  I'd need about 4 brains and eight sets of arms to get everything done now.

That's not happening, so here is what I am managing currently:

      * That damn hat.
     *  Socks two at a time
     * A scarf swap sweater #5 of 6
     * A sweater, the Emelie
     * The shallows cowl for a friend
     * A handmade item-currently mitts, for a swap (but that may change)
     * The Spectra
     * Collar finishing on my Channel Tee

This hat will be the death of me.  It frustrates me to no end.  I cannot stand knitting it.  It's a gift for a future in law.  He requested it.  The pattern is just not working for me.  I like to think I'm an intelligent person.  This hat pattern makes me question my ability to read and follow instructions.  Other people have made it, well 25 according to Ravelry, and that just makes it worse.  It has 6 pages of written instructions.  Two double brims.  And endless frustration.  It looks weird.  Mike says to finish it and make it a cute police woman's hat for Halloween.  And when I told him it was for the soon to be bro in law, he said, "no guy will ever wear THAT hat".  So, I need to make a new plan.  Haven't decided what yet.

I've been working on my Slime time socks from Oink yarns.  Almost finished. Basic vanilla sock.

Please, please, please forgive my photos this week.  Something is wrong with my camera. It refuses to focus beyond two inches.  But you can sort of see the socks in the blurry photo above.  The close up one is a pretty accurate showing of the colors.

The scarf swap scarf this week is the fan pattern.  I knit while hanging at the beach because Southern California opted out of winter and spring this year.

I always use a plastic baggie for the beach to avoid bringing the beach home with me.  I am not showing you the scarf because the recipient doesn't want spoilers and in case she reads this; you too are left guessing.  

I've been dying to cast on and knit the Emelie sweater.  So I cast on last week.  And knit one row.  Well maybe two rows.  I have other knitting that I promised would get done, so I am making myself wait.  But I really want to knit it NOW.  It sucks being an adult sometimes.  (Don't you miss summer vacation?)

The Shallows cowl has been lying in wait since, November.  A friend, a non knitter, bought the yarn and asked quite nicely if I would make it for her.  I misplaced the pattern, then the yarn; but have found both again and cast on last week.  I've gone almost 40 rows.

The photo does not show the colors well at all.  It is a deep purple and dark blues mixed with lighter purples.  I think it will be gorgeous.  The yarn is Mini Mochi 80% merino wool and 20% nylon.  But has a gossamer feel.  Light and airy.  My only complaint is that it splits.  A lot.  But the softness makes up for that.  I'm hoping that as it gets longer the weight will increase so it doesn't feel like I am knitting into air.  For some reason that makes me strangle my needles.  

I am also working on a pair of mitts for a swap handmade item.  Still early.  No pictures.  And I am more than halfway through the spectra.  No pictures of that yet.  

And I've got my Channel Tee hanging in a project bag waiting for finishing to be done.  I'll get to it eventually.

Be happy.  I've been listening to Pharrell Williams song "Happy" today and I love it.  It has a great tune and a good message and it does make me happy.  It makes me want to get up and dance.  And has helped move time along a bit.  If you haven't heard it google happy or Pharrell and take a listen.  There is a page that has the song playing on repeat to a music video of a bunch of people dancing and walking along to the song.  It's a lot of fun and a guaranteed way to make you smile and feel "Happy".

Stitches...

A few weeks ago I went to Stitches West.  Now for those of you who knit or crochet and don't know what stitches is-where have you been?  For the non-yarny people out there, Stitches West is a convention for knitters and crocheters.  (Going to a convention proves your super nerd status-according to my husband). This was my very first year at Stitches and it definitely will not be my last.

We (three ladies from my knitting group and I) headed up the 5 fwy to Stitches early Thursday morning. Spent a couple of hours crawling through Los Angeles traffic, got a ticket for speeding on the grapevine (the ticket didn't drown out the excitement for the coming weekend) and eventually wound our way into San Jose.

We stopped for lunch at a great spot downtown-Gordon Biersch. We enjoyed our meals so much that we returned for dinner on Saturday night.  GB is a fairly good sized brewery and restaurant.  I split fish n chips for lunch and indulged in a really yummy steak Saturday night.  We saw several other tables of knitters, always great to see what everyone else is working on, while we knitted and waited for our lunch.

Thursday evening the marketplace opened up at 5 and a lot of venders had specials and deals for the early birds.  There were 14 isles of vendors and space for 1400 vendors (although many choose to have more than one booth space).  It was a lot to take in.  There was so much to see and at a certain point I think you stop seeing anything.  Good thing the market was open every day through Sunday.

I don't have pictures to show you.  I just didn't take any.  We played a couple of games in the marketplace- passport and poker.  Both required going to specific venders for something.  Stamps for the passport game and to get playing cards from the poker venders.

Here's a shot of us girls putting together the best poker hands while at dinner Saturday night:

Between the games and trying to keep track of who was selling what and remembering where to go I was too busy having fun to take pictures.

Friday morning I took a class on needle felting and made a little owl toy.  Now, I think he turned out cute.  Mike says he looks like a demon owl.

He's a bit blurry.  For a first attempt, I think he's not bad.

Friday night was also the Pajama Party.  Yes I wore pajamas.  Almost everyone wore their pajamas.  It was held in a room at the hotel adjacent to the Santa Clara Convention center.  We had a DJ, karaoke and snacks.  There apparently is an unwritten law-what happens at the pj party stays at the pj party.  But I have a couple of pictures, snippets really, of the fun.

You'll need to turn your head because I am having camera and computer issues this week.  I rotated the pictures and saved them and the computer keeps flopping them on their side.  

We also went to a fashion show put on by Knitters Magazine.  That was a first for me and a lot of fun.  I felt sorry for one particular model who kept getting the "ugly" outfits.  She was a pro though and didn't look tortured like I would have.  The venders sponsoring the show gave away 33 or 35 prizes during the event.  And the crowd roared when Steve got up to model his sweater (which won the 30 day sweater challenge the month before).

Sunday morning I took a class in steeking.  Steeking for the uninitiated is cutting your knitting.  Which I already knew how to do.  I took the class to learn how to keep my knitting from unraveling after it had been cut.  It was an awesome class.  Best ever.  I'll do a separate post about it later.  I have a ton of pictures to demonstrate.

Before I go back to work I have two last things to show you.  First a shawl-the Zero Kelvin by Lars Rains:

Nifty bumpy bits on the spine of this one drew me in.  I'm not a big shawl wearer (I feel dumpy and old in them typically); but this one I think I will have to knit.

And this really cool bear from Alisha Goes Round:

Now I just have to wait 11 months until it's time for Stitches again.