Needling and Booking it at WNK

Boo! Ethel and I spent Halloween Night gorging on–er, I mean, politely picking over–the candy and, of course, knitting. We had a few trick-or-treaters. My favorite exchange of the evening:

Me, to little boy dressed as Spider Man: Here, do you like Pixie Sticks? I think you need some more Pixie Sticks.
His sister, dressed as a witch, raising her hand: I think I need some more Pixie Sticks too!

Sister had a pillow case for a treat bag; she was no slouch.

Ethel showed off the crocheted spider web she had used as a trunk-or-treat decoration the previous night. She used some new lace needles that she likes and bought at Yarnworks. Addi’s? If you’re curious about what needles knitters who voted in this poll like best, here’s Reader’s Choice Favorite Needles for 2012.

Ethel’s spooky trunk decor

Imagine this with eccentric music playing in the background—oooh! We saw several of our fellow knitters at the Trunk or Treat party including Trish, Kelly, Lisa, Beth Y with new baby and Beth L with new baby, dressed as a cute football!

Ethel worked on the Claire sweater, having finished the matching hat but also having lost it in the shuffle of getting a new car.

Ethel with sweater and Evil Halloween Cat

Hope you find the hat soon, the grandkiddies are getting cold up there in the frozen North! Oh, and you won’t see a pic of what I’ve been knitting since I’ve had to RIP IT OUT and start over….

Ethel brought back a book from Utah, Where Safety Lies, written by her uncle.

Ethel with her uncle’s memoir

Doesn’t your aunt look a lot like you?

Ethel and I took a field trip Monday to go to the annual Friends of the Library sale. I tend to go for the non-fiction so I didn’t even touch the fiction islands and skirted the children’s books. My grandkids don’t much like to read anyway. Me, I like a good book.

My haul from FOL

From left to right, clockwise: Son of Stitch ‘N Bitch by Debbie Stoller (knitting for MEN!), The Cooking of Provincial France and The Cooking of the British Isles, some Time Life cook books to add to my collection. I also scored Scandinavian Cooking, which Ethel has borrowed. Feng Shui Beauty by Billy Yamaguchi, The Sivananda Companion to Yoga, Complete Guide to Pilates, Yoga, Meditation, Stress Relief. You Being Beautiful, another one of those Roizen/Oz books I love to read for the wisecracks and cute illustrations among all the medical and DIY advice. American Yoga by Carrie Schneider (a coffee-table book). Lilias! Yoga Gets Better With Age, by Lilias Folan. My mom, who was a physical therapist, used to watch Lilias’ yoga program on TV and I would pose right along with them. As a kid, Bow Pose was my favorite! Hooked on Cats by Joan Moshimer: I didn’t want to, but I felt compelled to get this book about rug hooking with a cat theme. Could it be because I have a bunch of wool remnants and rug-hooking paraphernalia stashed in one of my sewing room barrels? I Nu Yasha, a blank book to draw Manga or write in, The Complete Elf Quest Book 3 by Wendy & Richard Pini, Sulky Secrets to Successful Quilting by Joyce Drexler, to add to my Sulky sewing book collection. The Whole of Nature and the Mirror of Art, Images of Alchemy from the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, a Japanese ribbon art book–in Japanese, The Parent’s Tao te Ching, Making School Clothes for Boys and Girls (circa 1970) by Irene Cumming Kleeberg. I enjoyed googling Kleeberg and finding some interesting things about her, and last but not least, Juicing for Life by Calbom & Keane. Good shopping for cheapskate me: all this for just under $30. And all can be recycled back to FOL to end up in some other crazy old cat lady’s shopping cart next year!

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Day After No Knitting

Sorry, knitting aficionadas, I had to cancel this week because I’m sick again! Here’s hoping it’s a short-lived illness, but DH says I have a very mottled-looking throat! I’m trying to build up my immunity like crazy.

And, I haven’t finished anything worthwhile to show. We’ll have to wait until next week to see what everyone else has done. I did actually get rid of some projects, passing them along to the relatives at the Thanksgiving brunch! My Amy helped with the arm-twisting. I had fun watching them try on various items and think up unusual uses, such as the possibility of this as-yet-unfelted pouch for an “untraditional sporran.” [this from the son-in-law who plays in a Celtic musical group]

untraditional but gator-colored sporran?

Here’s a wikipedia post about everything you’ve always wanted to know about a sporran, but were afraid to ask.

A dear friend came up to me Sunday, excited about knitted Nativity sets she’d seen online. I decided to look up the subject, and wow! I liked this book by Fiona Goble. Or this set by Jean Greenhowe. And here’s another set on Ravelry. If you prefer, here’s a pattern from Leisure Arts. And if you prefer crochet, here’s a free pattern from Red Heart.

This is my first year to knit, and I find I have grossly underestimated the time it takes to get something finished. But next year I will be better prepared! Thanks to the wonderful cluster of knitting aficionadas I’ve met with this past year!

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Knit Knite Party Projects

Wednesday knitters stayed inside in the A/C while heat lightning flashed and thunder rumbled outside; the temperature got up to 100 degrees in Gainesville yesterday! Ethel braved the elements and got us a snack at the Farmer’s Market –French sorrel leaves, to go along with the watermelon cubes she brought.

watermelon cubes and French sorrel leaves

The leaves had a bright, lemony taste; very refreshing!
Meanwhile, we worked on some new and old projects. Lois worked on her beret from this book:

Lois's hat inspiration

pattern for beret

in a burgundy wool.

Lois and beret in progress

Ethel demonstrated her progress on the Fishy project…

Ethel and Fishy, so far

Ethel's frilly scarf

Ethel worked on a ruffled scarf but had to stop and get more of the carnival-colored yarn–don’t you hate it when you run out?

Turkish woolly

Ethel also finished two hemp washcloth squares, very primo with size 3 needles in seed stitch and double seed stitch.

hemp face cloths

. The rough, luxurious hemp blend and bobbly stitch has a wonderful exfoliating effect!

I worked on a couple of projects from One Skein Wonders to give me some practice and use up some odd balls in the stash. One was a baby hat in a Plymouth Heaven Lite nylon/polyester yarn, and another was the Fillippi scarf in a rib knit with ruffled edges, using a Patons Shetland bulky wool.

baby hat on creepy doll model

Fillippi scarf

After everyone left, the cats were relieved to be set free from their porch prison, where the heat lightning was probably very unnerving. They had a new toy fishing pole with a catnip mouse attached that has a supposed “real-feel” mouse squeak, so they were going berserk.

Cat-demonium

Mrrrow!

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Where is our knitting ringleader?

Sorry that Ethel has been away, busy and then sick,  and we hope for the best! We missed all the other regular knitters who couldn’t come this week, too, but off to the next project we go.

Finished crocheted blanket

I was shopping in Book Gallery West at the Millhopper Shopping Center, looking for the next Book Club selection, Things Fall Apart, when I saw a little note posted in the store’s cafe area. Knitting Group meets here the 4th Wednesday of the month from 3:00 to 6:00. Whoa, think about it! If we wanted to, we could knit in the company of others for 6 hours in a row one Wednesday of the month!

While I was in Ocala one day this week, I dropped into E.T. Yarns in Silver Springs. I moved back to the Ocala area in 1983, and E.T. has been at its current location since 1984, but I never knew it was there (or cared! I just got into knitting a few months ago.) The store is like a giant work room. Baskets of yarn line the interior walls. Leaflets, booklets, and books from many dispensations of time and fashion are here, there, and everywhere, but the proprietor knows what’s what. Some of the merchandise looks new, some second-hand.

Me (JJ): I’m a beginner, so I don’t really know much but I’m interested in everything.

Erma Tardiff (ET): Oh, I see you like my “Misty.” [My hand is irresistibly locked in an embrace with a bag of twisted skeins of wool in blue, gray, and purple. I’d impulsively considered buying the lot a minute earlier, but she sounded like she had some claim on it, and after all, I’d probably mess it all up].

JJ: It’s beautiful!

Other lady sitting at work table with ET: I see you haven’t yet gotten to the point where you hold it up to your cheek!

JJ (smiling outwardly but thinking of the flu-prevention mantra Don’t Touch Your Face): I’ve noticed that you carry lots of 75% acrylic, 25% wool. Is that a good blend?

ET: Yay-uh! You can wash it in the washing machine!

JJ: Mmmm. So, do you have classes here?

ET: No, but people come in all the time, from 10 to 4, asking questions, and we help them with what they’re doing.

I’ve never seen the job Yarn Shop Owner at a career fair.  Must’ve had some good karma to have a job like that, doing what you love, helping people, and being able to pay the rent and utilities as well!

This week: Tiffany continued on the Hunter’s Stitch afghan block, Lois continue on her angel hair purse.

Angel Hair mohair blend purse in progress

I’m also working on a purse just like this one, but in black and white. The body is about finished, now I’m trying to decide on the straps or handles. I’ve gotten a couple of dish cloths done in cotton, and I’m working on a third that has a diamond-shaped pattern and i’m doing all right with it so far, although keeping up with the instructions is a task.

cotton diamond-pattern dish cloth

Lisa is working on a sweater that we have yet to see, and she promised she’ll knit next time. Meantime, we talked about food a lot, since Lisa went to a Taste of Home cooking show in Valdosta this week. Taste of Home has the best recipes! Tiffany whipped up some salsa in a manual food processor that Pampered Chef introduced in March, in a few minutes. Yummy! Food, friends, knitting–another happy and delicious evening!

Delicious fresh tomato salsa

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