Tea Party at A Tangled Skein

We had a great time on Sunday at the LYS in Hyattsville called A Tangled Skein. They organized a tea party with scones, watercress sandwiches, Assam and other teas, and, of course, yarn samples to knit. We knit yarns made from linen, bamboo, silk, cotton, and even sugar cane and milk. Perfect choices for a tea party!

It was organized by Cheryl, the store owner, and Jennifer.



There was much concentration as we knit our swatches.


Even my friend, Patty, came to try out the new summer yarns.

Central Park Hoodie
So many of my friends at A Tangled Skein (in Hyattsville, MD) were knitting the Central Park Hoodie (Shelly, CiCi, Chellette, Jennifer), that I had to try it too! I knit it in three weeks last November-December. I love the pattern and only changed it slightly by shaping it a bit at the waist. I left the sleeves long, because I like the flare. For the yarn, I used Tahki Donagal Tweed in dark purple. I have worn this sweater frequently and love the feel, the fit and the cables. It was a joy to knit and I found the perfect buttons to match.

Hydrangea Bag
I am far behind in my posting about my knitting projects. Today, I start to catch up.
This is my Hydrangea Noni bag that I made last May. It is knit will Ella Rae yarn. Beads were added to the center of the flowers. I am very pleased with the result. I am not much for sewing linings, but I did put in plastic canvas and a lining for this bag.

Alaska - land of soul touching beauty and bizarre politics

I recently traveled to Anchorage Alaska for work. I attended a meeting with representatives from other Federal agencies and from Alaskan agencies, universities, and non-profit groups to discuss the lack of geographic information for the state. It is very far behind the coverage and quality of the data in the lower 48 states. This lack of information has an impact on plans to deal with many issues in the state such as coastal erosion, air travel (poor elevation data means more accidents), settlement of native property rights, pipeline development and several other important issues facing the future of Alaska.
I met many wonderful people on my trip and was in constant amazement by the beautiful landscapes. I will not comment on Alaska's politics (this is not a political blog), but will say that I would be in a minority there. Liberal, vegetarian, tree-hugging, feminist, fiber obsessive, anti-gun, hippie-renaissance women like myself are not plentiful, though, they do exist.

This first picture is of me in my recently finished Pi Shawl standing on Byron Glacier (near Portage Glacier in Girnwood just south of Anchorage).

I knit this in Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace 'Black Purl' and 'Blackberry'. I used about 2600 yards of yarn and the shawl is huge. It is so comfortable and versatile to wear. Here is a picture that shows off the concentric rings. It began as a travel knitting project in the spring, so I stuck to the simple, concentric circle pattern which shows off the variegated colors well. I choose to do a border of flowers with a lace pattern knitted onto the edge in the solid blackberry.

I flew to Alaska a couple of days before my meeting. I took a train from Anchorage to Seward, a boat trip out into Resurrection Bay, then the train back, all in one day. It is arranged to make this possible for visitors and it worked out very conveniently. The views from the train are spectacular (I wish my photos could show the grandeur, it was absolutely breathtaking). The boat trip enabled us to see a variety of wildlife and a glacier.






Sea Lions in Resurrection Bay. We also saw bald eagles, sea otters, seals, two type of puffins, kittiwakes and other gulls. From the train we saw moose, mountain goats, Dall sheep and beluga whales. Later in the week I saw more moose and a black bear.

At the conference, we saw two young moose eating from a planter outside of our meeting room window on the campus of Pacific University in Anchorage. Right after this photo was taken, the FedEx truck's engine startled the moose, and, as they ran away, one had the bamboo stake hanging around it's neck. Later it was spotted after having shook it off.











After the several days of meetings, I went to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about an hour north of Anchorage. I bought some Quiviut, the soft fiber down from the Musk Ox. I also had a tour of a musk ox farm in the Palmer area. They are such ancient a gorgeous creatures.

The women that I met at the demonstration area of the fair were very friendly and generous. They shared tips on spinning and fiber blending. Here is a photo of a one-of-a-kind spinning wheel. This woman's husband made it for her! Marjorie even shared some fiber and a spindle kit with me. It made me want to move to Alaska to join their guild!

I have so much about creating with fiber, my travels and life in general to share that I will be post frequently now that I again have access to blogging more easily (computer issues that I will not waste your time with.)

I leave you with one last photo. The beauty of milky glacial runoff (due to the silt content).

Happy First Anniversary to my LYS, A Tangled Skein in Hyattsville, Maryland!

On Friday evening, we had wonderful food and music to celebrate the first anniversary of the store. A Tangled Skein also had one of their great sales and extra long "Sit and Knit" events (9-midnight) to mark the occasion.

Here are some of the knitters (from Wednesday night, the actual anniversary, when we had a mini-party), concentrating very hard on their intricate knitting! That is Pat in the middle, a Knitting Wise Woman with an answer to any knitting problem. Sonia is in the corner, finding a cozy space in the crowded store.

Chelette is putting all of her focus on her lovely sock.

For the big event on Friday, Bob, Jennifer's husband, provided yet another night of pleasant folk music to enliven our evening.

Susan's husband, Chris, joined her for part of the evening, proving that you don't have to knit to have fun in a knitting shop.

Rivka and Pat were busy at the register with all of the sale purchases. Even those of us who vowed to stay within our budget did manage to get some new skeins of Noro sock yarn.

OMG! - you like to make socks too! It's that second sock that's the killer though...........

Happy First Anniversary to "A Tangled Skein". Here is hoping there are many more anniversaries to come!

SOAR

I returned from SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) in Michigan last week. What a fantastic time! I learned so much about spinning, knitting and other fiber arts. There were so many incredibly knowledgeable and generous people at the retreat willing to share ideas. The fall scenery was gorgeous as well.

My three day workshop with Katherine Alexander was full of experimentation with new ideas. She showed us how to use S spun and Z spun singles to create amazing energized forms in our knitting. What fun to see the knitted fabric curve from the energy of the singles. Katherine has tremendous energy herself and it was a pleasure to be in her class.

Here she is modeling one of her sweaters with a classmate from Minnesota wearing a sweater knit from one of Katherine's patterns. The color combinations and shapes are fantastic.

Then we had four, half-day workshops. My first was in hand combing with Robin Russo. Combing creates a lovely, light and airy top from which to spin. I can't wait to tackle the 3 fleece I have waiting to be washes and combed at home.

Next was a workshop with Margaret Stove from New Zealand in spinning and knitting lace. She taught the class how to wash a Merino fleece lock by lock and then spin it from the lock to achieve a smooth, very fine, lace weight yarn. It is amazing how much yardage one can get out of a single lock!

The next morning I took a workshop with Janel Laidman in carding batts using many colors. What fun we had experimenting with blending, striping and mixing multiple colors of fiber.

Here is the fiber we had to choose from.

This is my carding partner, Linda, with the batts we made and yarn she spun from her batts. We tried several different methods including choosing colors we don't like, just to see the outcome. We liked all the batts we created.

My final class was learning to use my wheel more effectively to get specific types of yarn. The teacher, was wonderful and helped us to see the difference that a gentle take up can make on the final yarn. I also learned the wonders of steaming the yarn.

The final night we had a spin-in complete with a bluegrass band. Imagine 200+ people in the same room spinning and knitting to bluegrass. Good Stuff.

Here are two of the scholarship receipients.

And, two new friends from my Katharine Alexander class, Jillian and Carla.

A night with the Harlot!

Last night was great! I went to Borders in Bailey Crossroads, VA to see the Yarn Harlot, aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I went with friends from my Wednesday knit night at A Tangled Skein, CiCi, Chelette, and Joyce. (Thanks to CiCi and Chelette for letting me 'borrow' their photo.)














Photo: Left to Right: CiCi, Chelette, Stephanie, Joyce, Anne














We were early in the line to get a number for book signing (I was number 12). It was fun sitting in the Science Fiction aisle, scaring the Muggles (non-knitters) while we knit. I sat next to the cutest baby named Oz. Then we went and sat in chairs waiting for the Harlot. It was well worth the wait! She is so funny and has a way of making her point stronger through her use of humor. Her descriptions of the perceptions of non-knitters towards knitters is right on target and her stash jokes are the best.

When we went up to get our books signed, I asked her how to pronounce the yarn, Kauni (connie) pointing to my bag. Well, she asked me if I had planned to knit a bag or if it was the result of a gauge mistake. When I looked at her sheepishly (pun intended) she said "Busted". She was right of course. I decided to make a bag, and felt it, after I had realized that my sweater was going to be 50" around. I love how it turned out though, so a mistake can be redesigned into something beautiful!

I had such a great time being with knitters. I saw so many wonderful garments and creative people. It is nice to be with 'your own kind' once in awhile. :)