We're not diffusing a bomb here....it's only knitting*

It's hard to even know where to begin with this story. I could give you a blow by blow report of every day's events but that really isn't that exciting to anyone but me. I could tell you everything I learned, but again, not that exciting to anyone but me.

So, instead I'll pick my top 10 moments to try to give you a glimpse of the retreat. And don't let the word retreat lull you into believing it was in anyway relaxing. Because it wasn't. It was busy. And exhausting. And mind-expanding. And exhausting. And all in all amazing.

1. The Harlot. By far, the best part of the retreat. I cannot even explain how fabulous she was.


2. The Harlot telling me that she was "obsessed" with my sweater and that it was "wicked awesome". Seriously?


3. Meeting fabulous knitters who have ridiculous things in common with me. Freaky, really.

4. Learning that I know more than I thought, but that I also know so very little.

5. Being in the company of iconic knitters who have shaped the way we knit today from how they have knit historically. A history lesson and knitting lesson all in one.


6. Chatting, laughing and enjoying the company of the goofy Amy R. Singer.

(I'm wearing my Tuscany shawl that was designed by Amy)

7. The Norwegian purl. Go watch the video. It's crazy weird.

8. Being inspired to increase my knitting speed. Watch this lady. She knits about 125 stitches PER minute. That's 2 stitches a second. That is more than 3 times as fast as me. I only dream.

9. The food. I ate waaaaay too much. Pasta, poutine (yes, poutine - try explaining that to the Americans), bread pudding. YUM.

10. Three signed books. A keepsake forever.

I could not have asked for a better time. I feel re-invigorated and re-focused (even though I have about 5 things on the needles right now - the Harlot says this is actually a good thing). It has also reinforced my love of the craft and the community. Ahhhh....knitting with knitters as obsessed as you for 3 days....memorable.

*the Harlot's mantra we kept repeating on Friday as she was kicking our arse with ridiculous techniques.

Bella Tuscany! Bravo! Encore! Bravo!

Well - it's complete. The Tuscany made it's debut on Saturday night. I must say - it had a wonderful night out. It does need to be reblocked as I only finished it Sat at around 2pm and had it on my shoulders by 6pm. Not really enough time to block it out. It now smells like smoke as we went to a casino - so it's currently airing out. Once that is complete, I will re-block and then I'm sure the smell of the sea will return. It is truly, truly the nicest piece I've ever made.

For the encore, the Hanami will be started this week. Hopefully. There were some yarn-related issues. I had originally wanted a gold Hanami, but was unable to find anything that I really liked. The chrome Zephyr I originally ordered was far too yellow. So I surfed and pondered and surfed some more. I finally decided on some Chewy Spaghetti laceweight in a greeny-browny type blend. I wear a lot of green so I thought this was a good choice, and different from my other shawl colours. We'll see. It hasn't arrived yet and considering the KAL starts this week, it's cutting it tight.

The problem for me right now is volume. The volume of yarn I want to get through by Christmas. The thought of another shawl for me seems, well, very selfish. I feel my whole knitting addiction is very selfish anyway. It's time for me, away from kids, house responsibilities, and annoyances. The very act of knitting is purely for me. No one else. So when I knit something for me, I feel doubly selfish. Especially something so, well let's be honest, useless as a very lacy shawl. Sure it's beautiful and I'll be proud of it, but it really serves no purpose.

Ok, enough self-deprecation. I did have a busy day. I opened T's Funny Farm. 5 children and 1 slightly incapable caregiver (that's me).

There were board games.

There were cars (I live with 3 boys, cars are everywhere).

There was a lot of love,

and a little bit of High School Musical (oh, it's cute).

I even got a little knitting done (the big kids liked entertaining the little ones!!). A few more rows and a couple of feet and this baby's done!!!

All I need is a baby to put into them!!

Struggling with Monogamy

I've been married to my knitting for the last 6-7 years. Our relationship has grown steadily, but has always had a bad side. My inability to maintain monogamy - of any sort, to any project. It's definitely me, it's not the knitting. I have always said that I suffer from some manageable, adult form of ADHD, but it's never been more apparent than in my knitting (or reading... but we'll leave that one for now).



If I'm to be truly honest, I would say I have 7 (I think) - things on the needles right now. Yep, seven. Some things have been on their needles for years (yes, years.). Others are socks which I just keep stashed here and there to work on a stitch or two when I get a chance (like in the car, when I'm driving and stuck in traffic - don't tell my husband). So those things move very slowly.



As a polygamist, I've noticed that nothing really advances. And this makes me start something new out of frustration of not completing anything. Therefore, I never complete anything, because I'm always starting something new.



So, I'm saying it here, and I'm saying it now. I will not start anything new until my Tuscany shawl is complete. You heard it here. I said it, and I will now hold myself to it. I'm asking for your help (that means you J.) to keep me an honest monogamist. I will not cast on that beautiful skirt from Handmaiden, or the new Koigu that J. picked out for me. I will not start a baby sweater for my new neice or nephew, even though I can't wait to see the Baby Surprise Jacket take shape. I'm will be a monogamist!!

(anyone got some spare yarn and needles I can borrow....need to cast something on....don't tell J.)

Needing a Fix

I have never been a crack addict, or a heroin addict or a drug addict of any kind, so I don't really know what it's like to "need a fix". I can only put that idea in the context of my life - and that means yarn. I know this is a big stretch, but that's my only comparator (I lead a very sheltered life).

I have been very busy on the MS3 and the yarn I'm using is quite nice - a baby alpaca that is soft and fuzzy. I'm sure for some people this yarn would do the trick. Not for me. I need something else to give me that buzz.

The other day I pulled out my Tuscany which has been way-laid while I maneuver through MS3. I realized that I could get my fix - from Seasilk. Oh my goodness. Ahhhhhh. I have never worked with yarn quite that fabulous. It is truly the most beautiful to touch and the most beautiful to behold of all my stash. Just look at the sheen:

It sparkles. And the colorway screams "T". So everyday, I get a little fix. Just a repeat or two to keep me going. I can control it though - it's not like I have to knit with it. It's not contolling me. Really.

I got another fix last night at SnB. The little baby fix - all snuggly and cuddly and sniffy and Ahhhh...beautiful. But just a little fix - that puts me right in my mind - NO more babies in this house. On J's next post she'll have some darn cute pics of the little man who came to his first SnB. You can read about his antics along with his big sis here.

Oh, my Seasilk is calling me. Better run. I'm sure just a couple of rows and I'll feel good. I need to go get my fix.

Shawl Chic

J. and I decided to collectively do some ordering (yes we're on a diet, and yes we know it's not August yet). We checked out The Knitter for the first time and we're excited about the possibilities. We've both decided on some Zephyr for our Hanami's. I had a dream about a gold Hanami (when do you have a 'knitting problem'?? when you're starting to dream about it???) so I went with the Chrome colorway - I think it's the closest to gold I could find.

I've never actually worn a shawl. Ever. And now I have 3 on the go.

The Tuscany in Seasilk.

The MS3 in baby alpaca.

And now the Hanami in Zephyr wool/silk.

Maybe I should consider giving one away, but right now the thought of giving any one of these away gives me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Too much love and toil and tears (not really, but you get the picture) to give these away.

I suppose I can just start wearing a shawl everyday to work. It'll be "my thing". I'll be the pharmacist who wears a shawl. I have been referred to a number of times as the Tall Pharmacist; I think I like the Shawl-wearing Pharmacist better. I will never be cold. I will always be chic. I will be able to better hide any body-related flaws. I think it's a great idea!! Now, I just have to actually finish one....

Getting Dirty

So my husband's out of town for the week. That leaves me to fend on my own. Nothing I can't handle of course (with lots of wine and yarn). At least it gives me the opportunity to finish his Father's day present - we'll celebrate once he gets home. And as he is across the Pond, I'm sure he's not checking the blog, so here it is....

Those are my lovely pink toes. I have basically the same size feet as JW so the first pair looks close to being done. I found the pattern online and the cabling at the sides is very cute (XOXO), but masculine at the same time. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

I quite like them, thank you very much.

Of course I'm not working on these solely. My Rusted Root is taking shape very well. I'll save pictures of that for next time. Can't ruin all the surprises.

As the single-parent for the week I get the joy of taking care of things such as this....

Do you see the smile on his face?? He is SOOOOO excited to be covered in muck. This one, he's trouble.

You can't imagine what the bath water looked like. Honestly....

(And J. - your Tuscany ROCKS)

Yarn is My Kryptonite

It's been a great past couple of days, at least yarn-wise. It started my package arriving from Colorsong yarn. This is where J. and I ordered our reward yarn post-10K run. We both ordered 2 skeins of Seasilk.

My is the Sangria colorway,

and

J.'s is Paris...

We are both going to knit the Tuscany shawl out of it. It didn't take me long to get my new yarn on the swift.

In the mail that day I also got my first Knitpicks catalogue - which basically has the same things (obviously) as the website. However, I hadn't really ever paid attention to any of their accessories. The handle's they showed for the Doctor's bag from Knit2Together are great - makes me consider knitting it (J. already has, and we really shouldn't always knit the same things, but we just both have really good taste).

Then, we went to a yarn store in town that we do not usually frequent and were VERY excited about their sock yarn choices.

I purchased some Socks that Rock in Kryptonite

and Nova Socks (in an unknown colorway)

J. made away with some TOFUtsies, Socks that Rock and some more Seasilk. I will let her elaborate. It was my "happy back to work yarn pick me up". We actually went with the intention of buying a yarn dying kit and neither of us realized we didn't even look for them till we got back to our offices. Another trip is in the works already (even though we've both decided we need a yarn diet; at least a sock-yarn diet). The colorways they had were amazing and different yarn choices from our other usual haunts - a very nice surprise.

And these guys appeared to survive their first day of me going to work. Probably better than I did.

The Lure of Lace

I wouldn't call myself an experienced knitter or an advanced knitter. I can do a few nifty tricks like cable, but haven't knit a lot with seriously difficult patterns. But lately I've got this urge to knit lace. Not sure where it came from. I'm not a girly girl and I don't normally run around in lacely, Victorian-like clothes, but I have this need to knit some.

For mother's day I received a copy of No Sheep for You and there is an AMAZING shawl called Tuscany. It is beautiful and I think it will be my first major lace project (other than socks, but those don't really count). I've never worn a shawl and can't say I can see wearing one in the near future but this pattern is so beautiful I can't help but make it. There are some pics of finished ones on the No Sheep Knit-a-long. VERY nice. I bought some red merino lace weight (lost the ball band already...par for the course) to knit it up. A little bit of a lighter weight yarn than what it was originally knit with but I wanted to try lace weight. It's taking forever to wind up into a ball (I have a swift, manufactured by J. and her sister-in-law) but not a ball winder - can see know why you should have both.

Once it's wound I will start. Therefore I need to get a lot of other things off the needles first - like a birthday sweater for my god-daughter and a father's day present for my husband (not saying what, as he is likely lurking....). I know once I start the Tuscany I won't be able to stop, so it's not a bad thing it's taking so long to wind the yarn up.

Will keep you posted with the Tuscany progress....