Put Your Hands Together!

Next month I have the great good fortune to be teaching at the Nordic Heritage Museum's Nordic Knitting Conference.  This year's theme is MITTENS! 

Now you may know that I'm not a real Scandinavian (couldn't even play one on TV), but the generous folks at the Museum have included me anyway because I'm such a devotee of Nordic Knitting.  And also, there may have been bribes.  Look who else is coming to teach, talk and learn:

Annemor Sundbo, Ragga Eiríksdóttir, Susanna Hansson, Carol Rhoades, Sandy De Master and Mary Germain.

These teachers are not only some of the brightest stars in knitting, they are also personally responsible for preserving and passing on the very history and tradition we hold so dear.  Their combined body of work represents a good percentage of everything we have learned or remembered on the subject.  I just hope I don't spaz out when I meet them.  You know; more than usual.  I'm considering knitting the words "STAY CALM" into a pair of wristlets, just as a precaution.

This being my first year to attend, I asked my friend Karin to tell me a little bit about what the conference is like.  Here's her take:

"People love the ambiance of being surrounded by so much history, folk art, inspirational pieces, etc.. That is almost always a positive remark on the evaluations. Nancy Bush loves teaching there because the students seem so interested and dedicated during class. For the most part they aren't there to just take a class from someone “famous” but truly seem to care. Or at least that is how she tried to explain it. People are coming in from the East coast/mid-west/Canada.

Being a smaller event, people get to know each other better and make new friends over lunch, etc. The Friday night happy hour is a great mixer. The banquet will have tons of door prizes and hearing Annemor speak will be a real treat. Every morning there has been Danish pastries and coffee for everyone.

Mittens will be coming out of collections for display and the museum has asked members to bring in special mittens that their family have knit to be out on display too."

I don't know which has me more excited: Meeting the other teachers, or seeing the mitten collections! 

I'll be teaching "Sassy Selbuvotter", my introduction to Norwegian-style mittens, and the decidedly non-traditional "Entrelac Mittens", in which we make sexy mittens with entrelac gauntlet cuffs. 

What:        Nordic Knitting Conference
Where:      Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle,WA
When:       October 5-7, 2012

CLICK HERE for more information (prepare to have your mind blown by the class offerings).

Summer's End

I've been acting as Wardrobe Mistress for my family.  It started out so subtly that I didn't even realize it:  School clothes acquisition begat closet cleaning, which begat a mountain of mending, laundry (and what the hell?) Ironing.  Lindsay decided she wanted to cultivate a new fashion image, which called for some advanced thrift-store recognizance (She is SO much cooler than I was at 13 - thank God).  Which begat more mending, hemming, and button replacement.  No less than 5 pairs of pants had to be returned/exchanged for Campbell (apparently we are all in denial as to his actual size).  And Phillip went on a vintage clothing procurement tear that can only be described as "Creative Nakedness Abatement".  Dude has got such odd style.  Fortunately the damage was minimal, as he has learned not to purchase weird old things without texting me a photo first.  The 70's zip-up ankle boots were a sobering near miss, however.  Before I knew it, I had touched every item of clothing the three of them own, at least twice. 

At some point during of all that, my pants began to disintegrate.  I think they saw all the other old clothes headed for the Elephant Graveyard and tried to make a break for it.  I grabbed both pairs of jeans and patched the holes in them where the rear pockets were starting to pull off, promising myself to embroider something clever over the mends later (short-term goal being not to have my lingerie on display).  Turning attention to my own wardrobe inspired me to finally hem the two bargain sweater dresses I picked up off season last year.  And having those ready in my travel clothes arsenal made me feel so smug that I went totally batshit and ordered some Grownup Lady trousers that I could conceivably travel with for teaching.

All of which culminated in finding out that I have forgotten how to sew.  The final wardrobe salvo was to make some cute little skirts for Lindsay.  The first one was 3 inches too big around the waist.  I tore it out and cut it down.  I put it on her and it's 2 inches too small.  Some cog has slipped.  I have to make the same dumb little cotton skirt a THIRD TIME.  No idea what's happened.  I think maybe the Sewing Gods are pissed at me for knitting too much. 

Phillip and Cam went back to school yesterday, leaving Lindsay and me alone for the day.  We went for a motorcycle ride to our favorite sandwich place to celebrate the end of summer.  Lindsay told me that she has decided she's going to ride a motorcycle too, when she grows up.  She saw some little kids watching us as we drove away from the sandwich shop and waved to them.  She said they looked like they wished their mommy had a bike.  I felt good; It's not often your kid recognizes you as the Cool Mom.

When we got home I snapped this photo of Lindsay, practicing for when she has her own ride.

Today she started the 8th grade.  After missing the bus.  Campbell went to his second day of the 5th grade.  And forgot his lunch.  Phillip began his 8th year of teaching High School English.  No idea yet what he forgot/missed, but there was certainly something; I'm waiting for the phone call.

And I'm sitting, at long last, in a Very. Quiet. House.  Welcome Autumn.  I've missed you.

Knitting Behind the Wheel

This is the yarn kit for my new class, "Knitting Behind the Wheel".  And no, we won't be knitting in the car (this time).  I mean, of course, the Color Wheel!  And in the class we will be playing with color by exploring different combinations within our knitted class project.  Students will each get ALL this yarn, a pattern, and their very own personal color wheel!  The goal for the class is to understand the basic rules of color theory, and then break them.  Cause that's how we knitters roll.  You'll leave class with your project in process, and a clear map for how to finish it.  Once completed, your class project will serve as a living color combination "dictionary", as well as a beautiful felted bag.  What could be better?

The class lasts for 6 hours, and is being sponsored by the Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild.  It takes place on Saturday, September 29th, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  Click HERE to request further information.

This class is a great example of what happens when knitters ask me to teach something special for them: I wouldn't have thought of it without their suggestions. And as always, if you'd like to have me come and teach (this class or any other) at YOUR local guild, LYS or knitting group, I'm all yours for the asking.  Just drop me a line!  And yes, I do kids' parties.  But I do find that my DPNs sometimes pop my balloon animals.