WWKIP

Happy World Wide Knit In Public Day!!

I'll be back!

She CAN be taught!!

Yesiree Bob! I checked my last ball of Noro and low and behold...look carefully now...Two segments of purpley-pink!


So I says to myself, "Self, that doesn't look right; I bet you there's a knot," and unwind I did until...



A lovely little Noro Knot.





While I can obviously be taught (at least some of the time), I do, however, still need some help with the skill of reading.





Did you know that when a pattern reads, "Repeat last four rows 14 times" (one of those rows included 2 decreases---one at each end---not rocket science), that a completely different amount of yarn will be required should you decrease a total of 14 stitches from the beginning of shaping, and then move onto the next set of instructions?





Did you know that failure to work the decrease at the end of the row where you worked one at the beginning of the row will mess you up quite a few rows later?





Did you know that when you stay up past midnight catching up on The Young and The Restless (poor Sharon), and reknitting all the knitting that you previously Frogged and Tinked due to above mentioned reading 'brain-farts' and the power goes out...that it's REALLY DARK!?
I MEAN PITCH!!





So this morning I completed the knitting of all the major parts of my Haliburton Noro, having to add more yarn to complete the last 1 & 1/4 rows and to castoff. Oy.
Gotta say again, I'm quite pleased with my attention to keeping true to the colour progressions (as much as possible).

With body and sleeves completed, I'm quite excited to see about getting this puppy put together, so I sit with the pattern.

I read the finishing instructions of the pattern.

I get more coffee.

I look closely, really closely, at the pictures of the sweater.

I read the pattern again; this time from the beginning to make sure that I didn't miss anything when I started this sweater a year and a half ago. I read it again and again and again.

I don't get it. It doesn't make sense to me.

So I do what any learned knitter/quilter/married person would do (because they too have 'been taught') who's been faced with similar frustrating situations.

I walk away.

I go take a shower.

I have an "AHA moment" in the shower, where suddenly the fog clears from all their convoluted instructions! I can put this puppy together!

All I have to remember is to trust. Trust and blindly follow the instructions exactly as they are written.

And prey.

But first, let us block.

An Update

Here's yesterday's deleted photo:

"Please, it's not time for another haircut is it?"

This, my friends, is what a skein of Noro Silk Garden WITHOUT A SINGLE KNOT IN IT, looks like knit up.

And Now...

More Powerful than a Bunch of Knitters at a Yarn Sale...

Faster than a Collection of Addi Turbos...

Up in the sky...

It's a Shopper...

No, it's a Knitter....

No, it's......

And The Winners Are...

Without further adieus, here is the Grand Prize Winner of the Think Outside the Sox Contest.

These are one of the pairs of socks that my Tulip Socks were up against! We told you, fierce competition! This knitter knit and DYED her socks (not sure which came first the sock or the dye...either way, WOW!!)

Winning the Adult Lace Socks with Cuff's:

These socks won out over my Aurora Borealis. I do like her "creative entrance" (that was part of the criteria).

Here is the "Inspired By Knitter's Magazine" winner.

I would've liked to see my Angel Socks here. This knitter was inspired by Issue #63 page 29. (Note to self: Look up K63 P29)

Now, for your viewing entertainment, have a look at the socks that won the Under 18 Category:

When I saw these while viewing the whole collection, I was hoping that whoever designed these would offer the pattern, because I thought they were so cute.

A ten year old girl designed and knit these wonderful socks! WOW!

I'm spending this frigid morning tidying up after the excitement of entering this contest (pattern writing still to follow) and organizing for my Mindful Knitting Retreat. I still hope to get my Diamond Cardigan finished in time, which will require actually spending time knitting today too!

[ I just deleted a really cute picture of Thursday...and there isn't an "undo" button on this thing! DARN!!]

I'ld like to thank.........you!

The results are in and unfortunately I didn't take any prizes home...this time!
Over the past 7 months or so, I've kept images of the socks that I entered in the "Think Outside The Sox" contest close to the chest, so as not to jinx anything. Well, it is what it is and these are my socks and the images that inspired my designs.

Entry #1:
TULIP SOCKS knit in Dream In Colour Smooshy yarn.
These socks were inspired by a sweater of the same name.

Entry #2:

AURORA BOREALIS knit in Collinette Jitterbug.
These socks were entered into the Adult Sock Lace Cuff category. I used beads and twisted stitches and an unusual toe make-up to tie into the theme and yarn colourway.

Entry #3:

ANGELS PATHWAY knit in Trekking with Angora and Metallic accents.

I entered these socks in the "Inspired by Knitters Magazine" Category. The first time that I bought a Knitter's Magazine was to make an Angel that they included in their projects (no, I haven't done it yet!). A number of years later I bought the XRX book "Angels; A Knitters Dozen", which was packed full of patterns for Angels and bells and all things Angels! This past spring I attended Knitting Camp in New York and learned about a new way of knitting socks from Cat Bordhi (shout out---Happy Birthday Cat!). With all of these resources, I set out to design some fabulous socks that were truly inspired by Knitters...from the first magazine that I ever purchased to one of the most recent issues where Cat Bordhi was interviewed and her new approach to knitting was explored. As I created these socks all the stitches just seemed to find their home. I had an idea, I looked up the stitch and then I worked it. More often than not, the pattern came together like it had been done a thousand times before; it just felt right.

I really enjoyed this whole process and gained so much from the experience! I now know that YES, I can do it! I am pleased to have shared the stage with so many talented knitters, and I am thankful to friends and family that supported me throughout this venture and for getting their votes in for the "Knitter's Choice" award.

Tomorrow, I will post the pictures of the socks that beat me in the categories that I entered and a couple that I just plain found interesting! I also plan on making up patterns for my socks and I am on my way to entering yet another design contest...

Why Not?

And remember....

Could there be a better reason?

February 26, 2009

To me...

To me...

There's wine chilling in the fridge...(winewoolandwhoppers/chocolate---get it?)

Happy Birthday to me!

LIFE IS LIKE A BALL OF NORO!

With all due respect to Forest Gump...Chocolate aint got nothin' on Noro!

Life? Life is never constant....And neither is Noro.

The colours of our lives flow into one another and sometimes you see a beautiful sunrise and sometimes you're met with the view of the town dump. Sometimes you get to knit with the gorgeous blue or teal or pale green and sometimes you get that murky washed out brown and that "yucky green".

You may plan your life and you may plan your knitting, but the Universe, (and the Knitting Gods --- they're all in cahoots you know) is what controls both these ventures. It really is best just to surrender yourself to be open to how the skein unwinds.

You can make choices. Minute choices, such as, what to wear, and God help us, what to have for dinner, AGAIN!! (N.B. I LOVE Pancake Tuesday. At least one dinner has been decided for me there and at least the children and I are happy. My husband, however, is confused...EVERY YEAR, HE'S CONFUSED...as to why we are having breakfast for dinner?) The major decisions, such as where to live, where to work (inside or outside of the home), to what medical treatment is best suited to you and your family. The choices are endless! So too, we choose a type and colour of Noro yarn, we select a pattern (not necessarily in that order), needles and we cast on, hopefully we've made the right (?) choices. Only time will tell.

The one constant that you CAN count on in Life and in knitting with Noro is that there will be glitches to the plan, there will be decisions to be made, there will be tears and there will be joy, but at least in Knitting there is always the option of the "Do Over".


Here is my Haliburton Noro before yesterdays knitting time. I had set aside two balls for each sleeve, but that wasn't quite enough, and so I went searching among my left over bits. I am a tad obsessive when knitting Noro; wanting to stay true to the colour shifts...I may have mentioned that before...and not one of the left over bits sang to me. When I began this project I thought I was going to be in charge of how it all came together; after all, I was the one knitting it.

The ball that I had started the I-chord with,(See? Ball band labeled with an "I" because I "planned" for the skeins that would work for each part of making this sweater. Hahahaha!) that has been in limbo since the inception of this sweater held the answer! So I pulled out the centre of the ball to a point that I could continue on for the completion of sleeve number 1.

As I will likely encounter the same problem with sleeve number 2 (again, note that ball bands have been labeled "S" for sleeve and "S1" for the skein with which to begin the sleeve!) I sift through my left over bits and "plan" for the inevitable.

I left renewing my Health Card until the last possible moment, but I made sure that I knew which ball of yarn to use for the next sleeve...yup, I've got my priorities all set!

Left over bits organized with enough (I hope) to actually complete the sweater!

So here's the thing. I pack everybody away. I make the cut to the I-cord skein. I settle in to knit and congratulate myself and tell myself how wonderful I am to make the effort to ensure this aimless shift in colour from ball to ball. I'm knitting the only slightly "yucky green" into the orange, and I'm pulling out the yarn to continue knitting, and I'm looking at the colour shifts that have occured earlier in the sleeve, and I think, "Oh, look at what colour is next!", and I look at the skein as I'm completing the orange and beginning the transition into dark teal green and I see...

---Please take the time now to go back to the first picture that I posted to see if you can find the clue as to what happened next in our story---

Another clump of Orange.

And I sit and knit, yet am a bit bewildered. How did they do that?

I continue to knit.

"I bet you there's a knot!", I say, to no one in particular, and keep knitting.

Yup, a knot. Another stinking, making me cut the yarn, AGAIN, or work with a knot in the middle of my work, which is NOT acceptable, and have an absolutely funked out wrong colour progression, KNOT!! Had I looked more closely at the skein I maybe would have picked this up, but Geez! You know, it's like a relationship that you've been working on over and over. When is it time to accept that it's just not working? To admit defeat and move on to another courtship that doesn't involve sooooo much effort!

Not today, my friend!

I cut the yarn, I finished the sleeve, I packed it away and I took this beautiful picture of the fronts and back of my wonderful Haliburton Noro sweater!

It really is better just to go with the flow. I think I'll go buy a Box of Chocolates!