Adventures in the Land of Fiber

Last week was the regional TKGA spring knit and crochet conference.  I taught a swell class to some super-smart knitters, all of whom left with Mad Hats in progress, and promises to send me pix.  Big fun, no whammy.

At dinner, I sat next to the lovely and talented Chrissy Gardinier, who shared a sneak peak at her new book with me:

I am so excited that she has turned her considerable expertise to this topic - there really aren't enough toe-up patterns in the world to suit me.  And get this:  Every single one has both text AND charted instructions.  That's more than twice as much work for the author, but I know you'll all appreciate her taking the trouble.  You can pre-order this now, or get an autographed copy at Sock Summit (you know you're going - who could stand to miss it?)

I also rubbed elbows with Stephanie Bryant, a gifted girly who rarely colors inside the lines.  Stephanie's contribution to knitting is so original and so daring - she's my idol in the "Doing it my Own Damn Way" column.  You should subscribe even if comics aren't your thing, because her sort of behavior should be encouraged. Period.

And if the knitteratti aren't exciting to you (check your pulse), how about this?  I joined forces with Duchess of Dyebath Susan Stambaugh of Abstract Fiber to create a new design, which will be available at Sock Summit:

The design is a secret for now, but here's what you need to know:  1.  The color is called "High Desert" (preliminary swatches above)  2.  It's not going to be socks and 3.  You are going to LOVE it.  Stay Tuned.

I may have bought one or two things in the market.  I was defenseless: I had money to spend, and I was concious, so obiously there was no choice.  More on my haul later, but for now I will leave you with two magic words:  Merino/Silk.

Left My Heart in San Francisco

They came.  They Knitted.  Their Hats were Mad.  Here are the Bridge Knitting Guild of beautiful San Francisco, CA, working furiously on their self-designed hats.  

Know what I love about knitters?  They are always doing something beautiful, even when they aren't trying to.  This is the setup one of my students gave himself to design a motif with.  No one could fail with colors like that; and the matching pencils to draw with...pure magic.  The resulting hat was, too.

After class, we toured the Castro neighborhood, where I took in the sights (and smells!).

Here is my best friend's Best Friend.  Her name is Lilly, and she is one rock star poochie.

I got a spinning lesson, and I'm pleased to report that both my string and my nerves held together.  Sorry, Knitting: you have to move over and make room for my new love: Making Yarn.  It is so much fun that I am in danger of giving up sleep to make more time for it.

Then I went home, where my sweet little family were waiting for me, as well as my own spinning wheel, with whom I now am friends.

I decorated it with a favorite passage.  You can do the same if you visit here They had never made a spinning wheel quote before, but I think it looks great!
 

Wouldn't Wanna Bug Ya

Tomorrow I'm off to beautiful San Francisco to combine several of my favorite activities:  Knitting Class, Visiting Friends, Drinking Wine.  Probably not in that exact order.  Here is a funny little hat I made to demonstrate several techniques that I will be teaching.  I am crazy for ladybugs!  I've long wanted to make a ladybug-something, but it's a motif that seems to get knitted by other designers pretty often, so I have not indulged until now.  Lindsay picked out the colors, and made immediate plans to wear it next winter.  I don't need a better reason than that, but using it for my class was an added incentive to get it done.  I hereby assert that hats are a more perfect knitting project than socks because you only have to make ONE.  I love them unreasonably.

There are large plans afoot for the weekend:  Carson and I are going to do a self-guided fiber crawl, upon which I cannot wait to report.  He promises that I can be taught to operate a spinning wheel, and I'm going to help him fire up his very own website (which the knitting world very much needs - wait till you see what he has to teach us!).  Oh, and the Bridge Knitting Guild and I are gonna bust out 14 hats, give or take.  Ambitious plans for 48 little hours, no? I can't wait to see what goes on!