Thursday, June 28, 2007

Movin' Right Along, Footloose And Fancy Free

Two weeks ago, Hannah and I decided to visit some yarn shops after our shifts were over so we hopped in my little car and headed first to Mabel's. Who should we see when we arrived but our mutual friend Larissa typing away at her laptop. Larissa has a book about knitting and the communities that keep it alive coming out next spring. There are lots of innovative patterns, most of which have the aim of connecting knitters with each other through their work. Hannah actually has a pattern in there for a baby blanket which is meant to be knitted in strips by several knitters and then sewn together. It's awesome.

Also? Mabel's has some yarn that I love. Bartlett's is woolen-spun yarn, so the texture is not as smooth as the yarns you're probably used too but there is NO DOUBT that it is just as lovely. I think that my hat of woolen-spun yarn is warmer than any of my other hats that I've knit. I wore it frequently over the winter. Someday I will take out the shoddy crochet crown, get double points and end it properly. Anyway, give it a try, and if you think it's too itchy to wear next to your skin, just imagine all the lovely jackets and hats you could make. Mabel's has 2 weights, I think, and a good selection of colours.

After that we dropped by CloseKnit for knit night and saw our friend Stephanie who used to work at Abundant with us. CloseKnit was having a sale and I picked up two balls of Noro Sakura in mostly-Green and mostly-Purple colourways. I'm making another sideways hat. Because I think it's fun. Short-rows are more fun when you don't wrap-and-turn, which is a lot of hooey and bull if you ask me since there are several good ways besides that are easier, neater, and less of a bitch to work. My personal favourite comes from an Elizabeth Zimmermann book. Perhaps I will attempt a tutorial sometime, if anyone's interested.

P.S. The sleepover was AWESOME, but Heather has all the pictures on her camera so a post will probably be coming later in the week.

3 comments:

Kathy said...

Hey dude, you coming to the Meet Up tomorrow? It'll be funnnnn....

Bobbie Wallace said...

Oh please come to the Meet Up tomorrow! I want to see what you're working on since you finished the sweater!

Bobbie Wallace said...

Luverly hat you got going there! So glad your boss let you come out to play today!