future?

Inspired by the end-of-the-year spate of what’s coming in the next 20 years articles in tech magazines and such, I started musing on the future of knitting.

Just think how far our gentle art has come in the last 20 years. When I first started knitting (OK, that was way more than 20 years ago), my choices in knitting needles were metal straights, metal circulars with stiff rubber cables and metal DPNs. My choices of yarn (I did live in a small town) were scratchy, stiff wool or Red Heart. Now I can choose from needles (all types) made of everything from lovely, exotic (but sustainable) hardwoods to bamboo to chrome-plated nickel to brass. Cables are soft and have no memory. Yarn… the softest wool imaginable, silk, bamboo, angora, mohair, yak, camel, cotton, kelp, chitin… who’da thunk it way back when?

And in 20 years? A day of knitting might go like this…

I stop by Tangle on a yarn mission. Alice and Kaye, I say, I’m really interested in trying that new yarn made from that stuff the Japanese are mining on the moon. Do you have that yet?

Oh, the Rowan Moon Mist, Kaye says. That stuff is so yummy!

Alice says, We don’t have it yet. But I can order it for you. What color are you looking for?

Alice pops up a color chart on the display that covers the wall above the counter. The display has been calibrated to be absolutely true to color. I pick out a soft green, confident that there will be no color surprises when it arrives. I touch the green sample and say, I’d like this colorway.

Alice selects the pre-wound option and touches the order button and I pass over my credit card.

I’ll pick it up. I have to go back to the back anyway. Kaye offers.

I sit down to see what my fellow knit-buds are working on. C, as always, is whipping out a gorgeous fair-isle sweater. It’s for my first great grandchild she explains.

Curious George is working on her Advent calendar. My kids never noticed that I used the same mitten over and over. But I think the grandkids might.

M is trying to decide what to knit for her daughter.

B is crafting a few of her cute little fruit and veggie hats.

Nurse Knitter and E are both working on socks. I’m going to really get these done! E exclaims.

In other words, not much has changed here over the intervening years.

Kaye returns from fetching my order from the back room, where Rowan has delivered it to the transporter module, already wound in center-pull balls as Alice specified.

I pull my Knit Picks PrimoTech Symphony needle set from my knitting bag. The green Moon Mist is slated for a scarf for #1 Son. Being vegetarian, he really appreciates the new non-organic fibers. I dial my intended gauge into the PrimoTech calculator, and it selects needle tips for me. As I knit, sensors in the Symphony needles will constantly check my gauge and subtly shift in size to make sure my gauge stays consistent with the requirements. The more I knit with my set, the more consistent it will keep my knitting as it learns my style.

And of course the tiny little jet engines in the cable joins really keep those needles flying!

All right… maybe that last was a little over the top.

What do you see coming in the next 20 years?

shawl pins from Yarn Overs

I am back amongst the living. This flu-thing was horrible. I still have little energy. But at least I feel sort of OK. All I can say is… get your flu shot!

Thank you, gentle reader, for your kind wishes. Really, it meant a lot to know that people actually wonder what happened to me if I disappear.

Speaking of disappearing… Has anyone heard from Maia? She hasn’t blogged for a long time and isn’t responding to my emails. I would just like to know if she is OK. If you have heard from her, please let me know!

OK. I have actually pseudo-knitting content — pseudo because I haven’t actually been knitting anything at all. I went to knit night last Thursday at Tangle, knit about three rows, sat and stared at everyone, and left early to go home and go to bed. Really exciting around Chez PI it has been lately, let me tell you.

So here is pseudo-knitting content.

These lovely pins, being modeled by the PNW Shawl, are from Yarn Overs: Handcrafted jewelry for you knitted garments, and are hand made by Robert Howard in Colorado. The one on the left, Rings, is brass. Leaf, on the right, is copper. These two, and others of Robert’s creations, are available in copper, brass and nickel silver.

These are not small pins. Leaf is 3″ long and Rings is 2-1/2″ wide. The size makes them suitable for sweaters, jackets and scarves as well as lacy bits of shawls. These would make lovely gifts for any knitter in your life. (I’m not sure of the timeframe — they may have to be post-Christmas gifts, now.)

Go. Order. You know you want to!

So what are y’all doing for whatever winter holiday you celebrate? #1 Son is currently in California on tour. He will be back in time for Christmas (our holiday of choice, more or less), but will be leaving again on New Years Eve and will be gone for 5 weeks. I will miss him as he will not be able to call me much. But the little birds have to fly, eh? Somewhere in there I can hopefully catch him long enough to get a picture of the scarf.

First, just a bit of non-yarn-related info: #1 Son has managed to purchase the ticket for his out-of-the-country trip in January. Of course, he has absolutely no money left and will have to live on water and the good graces of others, but he has 30 days left to figure out how to earn a little spending money. I am, actually, quite proud of him.

In more yarn-related news, I really, really want to show you pictures of the Pacific Northwest Shawl, but the weather refuses to cooperate. As I type this, it is snowing gently and the light is completely flat. According to the weatherpeople, we are expecting a humongous storm later this weekend. But one site reports the chance of scattered sun this afternoon. Should that happen, I will run quickly out and snap as many pics as I can in the hope that I will get one or two worth sharing. But even inside, there’s just no light.

Ann in Richmond mentioned that I had the presence of mind to record the whole repairing-the-GGG process. In reality, after standing across the room, swearing in abject horror, the first thought that really came to mind was I so need to blog this. I grabbed my camera before even edging in for a closer look. How sadly geeky does that make me?

But all of this is not what I really want to talk to you about today.

All knitterly creation stems from one simple element: yarn. It is the baker’s flour, the jeweler’s gold, the gardener’s soil. Yarn is creation, consolation, and chaos all spun together into one perfect ball. It’s a simple concept, twisting fibers together into a continuous thread of yarn. But the variety of fibers, blends, and spins is truley infinite. So is our relationship with yarn. We love it, we covet it, we are knocked senseless by it. Yet sometimes we are baffled, thwarted, and betrayed by it.

Clara Parkes (of Knitter’s Review fame) begins her wonderful new book, The Knitter’s Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn, with that lovely, evocative paragraph.

I immediately wanted to know more. And more. And more.

Want to know how wool and silk are the same (or different)? Where cashmere comes from? What the term worsted really means? Why silk sometimes stinks and how to de-stink it? How viscose is made? What’s good about acrylic? It’s all here. Section 1 contains a ton of information about all of the different fibers, from angora to yak, the special properties of each and how to evaluate them.

Not a spinner? (note: I am not) Never been up close and personal with a llama? Section 2 explores how yarn, from indie to mass-marketed, is prepared, spun and dyed and where you can get organic and minimally processed yarns and fibers in all stages of preparedness.

There is a whole chapter on pills. Not the kind you swallow here, gentle reader, but the kind that form on sweaters (and hats and blankets and scarves and…). Parkes not only explains what to do to remove pills, but also why they form in the first place and how to evaluate a yarn to determine its pill potential. I now have a much better idea of why my Noro Silk Garden jacket always pills like there’s no tomorrow, but my Noro Kochoran sweater, although it is much fluffier and fuzzier, does not.

from Cabled Tea Cozy

Section 3 begins with an exploration of plies, and why we as knitters care. Starting with single-ply yarn and continuing through various numbers of mutiple-plies, Parkes explains how the twists cause the yarn to behave and how knitters can work with that behavior. Following the guidelines here, knitters can match yarns and patterns that will work together. Did you know that simply rewinding a skein of single-ply yarn will stop its tendency to bias in stockinette stitch? I didn’t either, but Parkes explains how and why. Following the chapters on plies are chapters on cabled yarns, textured yarns, and neat things like boucle and chenille. Section 3 ends with a chapter on why yarns felt, why sometimes they won’t, and how to get the best felting results.

Every chapter in Section 3 includes patterns, and every pattern includes a note from the designer about how the yarn was chosen to work with that pattern. And what designers! This is a who’s-who list, gentle reader. Knitters from adventurous beginner to experienced knit-guru will all find patterns here to pique their interest. There are one-skein quickies and lace, blankets and sweaters, bags and socks. You will want to knit them all. Or at least I do.

The book ends with a reference section. How to take care of your yarn, with special notes on different fibers. Determining WPI and yardage requirements. The standard yarn-weight numbering system vs. the older non-standard systems (i.e. #1 = sock / fingering / baby), along with typical gauges and recommended needles for each. A list of abbreviations, including how-to instructions. A recommended reading list; designer bios and a glossary.

I love yarn. I love all the yarns. I love to gaze and fondle and squeeze and pet and smell. Even yarns I would never in a millions years knit with, I love. The Knitter’s Book of Yarn is devoted to such sheer fibery knowledge, with tons of gorgeous yarn-pr0ny pictures, that my inner yarn-geek is fed in the best possible way and I want to just grab my nearest needles and start knitting up a storm.

This book instantly earned a prominent place on my reference shelf.

We can’t all be yarn whisperers, but with The Knitter’s Book of Yarn in hand, we can at least understand our yarn and learn to work with an appreciate it even more than we already do (if that is possible).

The book ends perfectly: Let the journey begin.

the happy parents-to-be

Tuesday night the little sweater was washed and blocked. Wednesday night I sewed the buttons on and wove in a few ends. And Thursday the sweater, along with Rowan Margaret’s Silken Slippers, were gifted to the happy parents-to-be.

Aren’t they a lovely couple? She’s so cute, almost hidden by the wrapping paper and balloons. He was so proud of his Diaper Dude bag that was a present from the group at work that he didn’t want to take it off. I’m sure they are going to be wonderful, loving parents. And I know that their soon-to-arrive baby, little Katherine, will be warm and well clad. 😉

It was after dark when I finished the buttons, so I had to resort to picture-on-a-chair. The colors look like a watermelon, and the little heart buttons look really cute. You know, gentle reader, that I’m not at all a pink person. But if I were a little girl, I would so love this sweater. Her first hoody! the proud papa exclaimed.

Babies ‘n’ Bears sweater

This is the second Babies ‘n’ Bears sweater that I’ve knit. It’s a really fun, fast (usually) knit. People have remarked about both that it looks so intricate and hard to do. In reality, it’s almost all garter stitch and there’s very little finishing, even, needed. The sweater is knit from the cuffs to the center. A center back is knit on one side, and then the two halves are grafted together. All of the edges are kept live, so it’s easy to knit the front centers, then the hood (grafted at the center top), and finally the trim. Cottage Creations also has a pattern for an adult-sized sweater that really tempts me.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Cascade Sierra — 80% Pima cotton, 20% wool, 100g / 192 yds per skein — in colors 18 (hot pink) and 48 (light green) — all of one pink (just enough left to sew on the buttons) and about 1/2 of one green.
• Needles: Knit Picks Harmony Options, US#5 (3.75mm).
• Pattern: Babies ‘n’ Bears sweater from Cottage Creations
• Modifications from pattern:
  • None (believe it or not), other than to knit the trim and hood in a contrasting color.

Lenore has arrived

Hurry up!

Or at least that’s what I hear it saying.

A raven landed in my mailbox a couple of day ago, courtesy of the Rockin’ Sock Club. Isn’t this just yummy? It’s a little preview of the new Raven colorways that will be available at Blue Moon starting on November 5th. This is Lenore. I love, love, love what Tina has done with these rich, dark, colors. Believe me, the picture does not begin to do justice to the rich maroon and dark gray and black.

I even like the pattern this time. 😉

The pattern is by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It’s a top-down lace pattern. But, after perusing the chart closely, I don’t see any reason why it can’t be knit toe-up. I’m going to swatch the lace at the top of the leg to make sure. But it’s a good chance that there are a pair of Lenore in my near future.

But first I have to finish the baby sweater. And, thanks to the encouragement of the PDX Knit Bloggers at the Monday gathering last night, I’m almost there! I just have to bind off about 1/2 of the trim, and then weave the ends. Piece of cake!

tree planting

Yesterday morning a tree was planted in my Father-In-Law’s memory by the 10th Mountain Division Association. I managed to snap a picture with my cell phone of my Mother-In-Law wielding a shovel before I picked up my own shovel and started planting. (sorry for the craptacular photo. My cell phone has a horrible camera. Even with much Photoshop tweaking, this is the best I could get it.)

Barney loved to ski and loved quaking aspens. I share the latter fondness. Aspens have been one of my favorite trees since I was a little girl. They would turn such gorgeous colors in the hills during the autumn. And I just love their rustle and the dance of their leaves in the breeze. But I digress…

Ordinarily one tree is planted for each of the honorees. But there were two aspens for Barney — a larger one, and a tiny little one-foot baby. (You can just make out the baby in the lower left of the picture.) Barney, we were told, loved to ski in Colorado way back when. There were many aspen trees, and he had to ski between them, which he thought was lots of fun. So the two little trees were planted side by side. So Barney can ski between them.

It was a lovely ceremony on a beautiful, perfect fall day — the kind of day we’re supposed to have here in October.

happy iPod sock recipient

And, lest you think I’ve been idle on the knitting front while PI did the yoyo server thing, I have actually been knitting up a virtual little storm.

OK… a small storm.

A colleague at work saw my little iPod Nano sock and wanted one. I had a couple of long teleconferences on Thursday. Voila: iPod sock and happy recipient.

I used the Claudia Handpainted Sport Short in Boot Camp that was part of the goody bag at the Floating Knitting Retreat. That was wonderful yarn to knit with — soft and smooshy and great color. The requestee had asked for something that went with black, and camo fits the bill fairly well, I think. It’s a stealth Nano!

I’ve also been frantically knitting away on the second Babies & Bears sweater, which pretty much needs to be finished… today. Eek! 😯

Must keep knitting, must keep knitting…