Well I'm back

Really rather a weird week in italy. It rained a lot and Pooch and I discovered a number of humorous differences in our attitudes to things, such as sitting around reading or shooting the breeze. The train ride there was odd with our own little cabin on the sleeper fromparis to milan. We arrived in the morning very tired and so the first day was a bit of a daze, especially as it was pouring with rain for most of it.

There were some good bits though with scenes like this around most corners.

The ride back was during the day and equally tiring. We had a weird afternoon in milan first and I slept really badly that night so was already tired before next door decided to have their loudest party yet last night, so today I've been walking around in a daze. Combine that with finding I have gained another 4 pounds and am now at my most heaviest ever and having my first assignment due for the MBA and being behind with my studying and I'm not in the best of moods.

I did do some holiday knitting using the knit 1 crochet too cotton I bought in new york. I am rather pleased with it.

Close up of colour change and basketweave front.

It would have been a pic of it in situ but I find images of myself physically revolting as I am now a full 3 stone heavier than I was before I went mad 3.5 years ago.

There was no stash enhancement at all (stashalongstashalongstashalong) but I did pick up these in milan.

Pooch is his usual self, sitting next to me reading about italian cookery. I took about 10 pictures of him sitting in chairs during the week but this first one remains my favourite. In the first class lounge in paris before boarding the sleeper to milan.

Secret Pal Task 2

With the weather turning warmer, many of you are thinking of traveling (though some of you have just returned, you can play along). 1) What do you pack to knit?

• I am off to italy on friday and this question has been weighing heavy on me. What to knit? Cotton as it will be hot? But then if you get a bit sweaty cotton becomes hard to manipulate. Wool? But then might be too hot. Lace? But what if I get into difficulties? Should I then pack loads of emergency accessories in case of this?
  
• Do I take all my denise needles or just the ones I need for the projects I've got in hand? Oh so many possibilities.
• In reality - I'll be taking my cherry socks I've started with my SP yarn, another set of plain socks and then some other as yet undefined stuff. Plus maybe some crochet. Maybe.
  

and 2) What do you hope to shop for?

• I am on a YARN DIET!!! So nothing.
  
• Well, maybe. Patterns don't count. And maybe sock yarn. I dunno. Unlike america am not looking to see if there are any yarn shops nearby.
  

Bonus: Where would you go on a "knitting holiday"?

• Japan. I really want to go to japan anyway but would love to be able to explore their yarn shops and all the masses of gorgeous books I keep ogling on amazon.jp.

7 Random Facts

Here are the rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. When I was 3 I got run over by a Lehane 50+ seater coach outside my house. I went between the two back wheels when it was reversing.


2. I believe I'm allergic to sweetcorn but this may not be true.


3. Once I feel comfortable with someone I become completely trusting of what they tell me. This leads to many wind ups which are oh so fricking funny and always leave me swearing I'll never trust anyone again. But I still keep falling for it.


4. My left foot is bigger than my right.


5. I think I would make a great martial artists if only I could be bothered to get off my arse.


6. I don't think I'm very good at anything much but am just reeeeeaaaaalllly good at fooling people.


7. I think that everyone was born for a reason and therefore has purpose or a role to fulfil or maybe even a destiny. A turning point in my teenage years was learning about the concept of 'planned obsolescence' and I decided this applied to me as well as lightbulbs. I worry that my 'point' has already happened and I'm therefore obsolete and pointless. Yeah, you can see where this is going....bleh

So let's cheer this up a minute. I wanted to share this with people because I think it's hilarious although in my mind the bride is swatting the others with her bouquet.

And timely, as Pooch and I are getting wed, again*. This time it is 2nd August and after that I will be taking his name so it will be bye bye byrney bye bye. I'll be Mrs Whittaker, which is a little weird but I guess I'll get used to it. We've actually been planning for this for months so it's not a short notice as it might seem. The actual wedding is going to be jolly tiny but there will be a family and friends party about a month later which I will be sending out invites for after we get back from Italy.

So back to the meme....I always feel a bit guilty naming others but in the spriti of it.. I name And all that stash, Catmum, craftydramaqueen, heathersdoodles, janesprobablyknitting, http://knittingatnumber9.blogspot.com/, WoollyWormhead.

*Not that Pooch and I have been married before, but we've got to this stage before. The last wedding date we planned was coincidentally next weekend and that got called off because....yadda yadda. Check the blog posts from about a year ago for the whole sorry history. It's all sorted now though. Yaroo for Pooches!

Gimme some blanket love...

and this is still my favourite square out of all of them. The FO is about double bed sized and amazingly warm. Pattern from sping 06 interweave crochet and it used shed loads of elann peruvian highland wool.

So a jolly nice weekend really, apart from the coughing and sniffing my head off. Is on the way out though. So now wondering whether to start something new (but knitting from the stash of course) of finish off another UFO. I know what I 'should' do but I have a hankering for a felted bag using the aussie wool I got in new york. Hmmm, quick dip in the pattern stash I think.

Theme of the day

Bleh. Have been on a real downer recently. Have had a heavy cold too which hasn't helped. But I do have some knitting and even some crochet to report.

I finished the blue socks with the subtle rib. I haven't heard from the recipient yet but I was happy with them anyway.

I also finished the opal ones that were my first ever magic loop socks which I cast on at skipnorth. I feel quite sorry for sian as this is not a good pic of her but this is the only one I have of the socks in situ.

I have also made major inroads on the kaffe homage afghan from the interweave crochet my SP bought me from secret pal 6 or 7. I hope she's still checking in here. There's just one more panle to go which is already 2/3 done and then an edging.

I'm pretty pleased with it.

These were a real find when Pooch and I went to Leeds last weekend. These are my all time favourite sweets from my cholhood. Little choc fondant type things in colourful metal cases. I can still remember paying 2p each for these when spending my pocket money as a nipper.

They were a real blast from the past and tasted even better than I remembered. Pooch and I had a great time in Leeds, and had a box to see Rigoleto.

Sadly when I'm glum one of the things that makes me feel better is chocolate. And one of the things that makes me feel down is my weight. Can anyone see a conflict here? But hey ho. I did think this set up looked particularly appealing.

Orange squash anyone?

Nickerjac's meme

Was just wondering how to get back to blogging after leaving such a long gap and saw this mem over at Nickerjac's blog. Have had a visit from the ol'black dog so have been feeling rather pants the last few days. Took a day off work today though to catch up on study (for, oh yes, the MBA starteth) and am feeling much more balanced now.

Edit the list, bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch pattern
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
CardiganToy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
EntrelacKnitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Episode 6 of the podcast

is up at lixieknitsit.podbean.com. Yeeha!

New York Knitting

All shops can be seen on this google map. Let me know if you're having any trouble seeing it and I can email you a copy.

1. Stitches East - a shop near to MOMA and the "Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting" exhibition, review at the end of this post. This was an early introduction to the mixture of uses any building in new york is likely to have. What might look like a residential block may actually have a shop on the 5th and 9th floors. Or, as in this case, what looks like a posh corporate headquarters may actually be a mini mall with offices above it. So if you find the building don't get put off - it's in there, you just have to dig around a bit. Now at this point I was rather travel fatigued so may not have been at my most receptive but nothing here jumped out at me. Also I couldn't see prices on things which I always find amazingly off putting, even if it's just in a corner shop, so I left empty handed. But the woman there was vwery nice so would be worth a look if you are in the area.

2. Yarn Connection - 218 Madison Avenue near where it crosses 37th st. You had to buzz to get in and go through what looked like a residential entrance but the shop upstairs was really lovely. It was what I think of as a UK rural shop being quite jumbled with skeins hanging from the ceiling and magazines dating back many years with curled pages on the cluttered table. There were two women there when I went in, both knitting merrilly, but who very nicely helped me out when I looked a bit overwhelmed. The stock is not huge but what they do have is very nice and they seemed to have the full collection of noro and a very decent selection in the $5 bargain bin. Lovely selection of accessories too. Definitely a good one.

3. Gotta Knit, 468 on 6th avenue near where it crosses with 13th st. This was somewhere I actually went to three times. Which annoys me in retrospect. I went there twice when it was closed, following almost identical confusions on my part, and the third time I guess could partly have been down to my raised expectations but I left quickly having been very underwhelmed. Very little stock and no prices. All a bit too quiet. But if you do go there is a smoothie place next door called Jamba Juice which is worth a go. Only open 11-5 weekdays and 11-4 sat and sun.

4. Purl - 137 sullivan street near the cross with W Houston St. A real piece of eye candy. There are in fact two shops. The Purl knitting shop seems to be a bit of a legend and is posh in the same way that Loop in Islington is posh - you don't go there expecting the cheap stuff and there was quite a bit of luxourious tillie thomas type silk and lornas laces in colours exclusive to purl and so on. Lots of young hipsters hanging out. The real find was the cloth sister shop a few days which was filled with bolts of divine cotton, the least colourful of which would be the kaffe fasset for Rowan prints. I was quite blown away and could have spent a great deal had I not got far too much fabric already.

5. Downtown Yarns - 45 Avenue A, near cross with 4th st. This was probably my favourite place. It was just what a yarn shop would be like if I owned one. Inside wasn't huge but there was plenty of space to look at all the yummy yarns that were literally floor to ceiling. The owners were lovely and having a funny conversation about english scones as I walked in which I was able to help them out with. They had some lovely needles (I finally splurged on some lantern moon ebony ones here) and there was a big old fashioned kitchen table crammed with casual passers by of all ages knitting and crocheting and two dogs. I'm not praising the dogs, I'm just trying to convey it was a relaxed, all-welcome type place. I spent rather a lot of money here and could have spent the same agin very easily.

6. Seaport Yarns - near world trade centre site 135 william st. I almost didn't go in. What an opportunity I would have wasted! This place was astonishing. I walked in very dubious thinking it must be a wholesaler and almost turned round and walked out a couple of times. When I got in the owner was lovely and took me for a tour through the eleventy seven rooms crammed with yarn of all types from all over the globe. I was handed a lantern moon knitting basket and away I went to fill it up, more or less to the brim. I spent a whooooole lot of cash here but this is where I got all the cherry tree hill and the aussie yarn and the square needles and and and...

8. String - recently moved from madison ave to 130 E 32nd St between Park and Lex. Another top end posh one. Lots of silk, cashmere, laceweight, all sorts but not much under $20 a skein. It was an experience to visit and a very beautiful shop but I was quite content to come out with just one skein of laceweight.

9. School Products - I got here and couldn't find it and gave up. I have since been made thoroughly miserable with tales of such yarny goodness that it apparently contains. All I can say is - try harder peeps.

10. Lion and Lamb - depsite being listed on all knitting shop lists for new york this legendary place has closed down. I got this confirmed from a couple of sources.

Here are two small pics of my annotated (scribbled on) map that I doggedly carried around with me like every good tourist should. Along with a big forehead sticker that says 'mug me'. Click on the small ones and you'll get to the larger versions.

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting - Hmmmm. I hadn't expected to visit this as I hadn't quite connected the dots in my head that would have lead me to realise I was going to be in new york while it was on. So I went in not expecting it and came out thinking... "I'm glad I hadn't looked forward to seeing that, because it was a bit pants'. Many will disagree with me and I should say first off that I think it's good that knitting and lace are getting out there in the big wide world but most of what was in this exhibition wasn't even remotely lace or knitting and wasn't subversive as much as a bit useless. Some people say that to take something as utilitarian as knitting and make it impractical is zen or art or something or other. But what does it actually say or show about anything if you get a load of old zimmer frames, weld them together and cover them in duct tape? I came out of the exhibition was a moment of clarity about the whole what-is-art debate and decided that art was first what people will pay for and second what people will pay to go and see. And considering that some people will buy anything (I once bought some beer mats on ebay when I got over excited about the thrill of the bid when I first discovered it all) you could say that everything in that exhibition was art. It was certainly 'arty' although that word seems to be becoming rather derogatory.

Here is the leaflet from the exhibition. I thought about the ethics of reproducing it here but as far as I know the exhibition won't be coming to these shores so I consider it fair game. Just no printing it out and selling it, unless you're calling it art. Click on the littl'uns to get the big'uns.

As my mother has been heard to say....

"Jesus H Christ on a bicycle".

I just used my own Stashtimator on my stash. Now I know for a fact that thing underestimates the yardage. And I know I didn't overexagerate quantities as I wrote down what I suspected my stash weighed. But MY GOD!!!! If Pooch finds out he is going to go fund-a-mental.

I can't even write it down. Maybe I got the formulae wrong? New podcast tomorrow. Will 'fess up then, if I've stopped shaking.

Gimme Your Stuff

Just came across this at A Journey to Middle England's blog.

Sounds like swap bot only you get to swap with an actual person rather than an anon login so less chance of those crummy no sends. I can send...

• UK knitting/crochet/craft magazines
• Zines
• Yarn & Craft supplies
• Fabric and buttons
• English sweets
• Other food
• Clothes
• Any london tourist type things (soft toy beefeaters, plastic models of tower bridge etc)

In return I'd love to receive

• Non-UK/Interweave/Vogue knitting and craft mags
• Japanese craft books (does anyone not want to receive these? They are so cool)
• Yarn and knitting supplies
• Buttons
• Sweets, especially chocolate!
• Funky underwear type pants

Updated Oct 2007: Japanese craft mags gone.

Ugh

Am rather jetlagged. Am confused now about when I 'should' be tired and when I shouldn't and so ended up going to bed at 8.30 last night which I don't think makes any sense at all. Has also been playing havoc with my knitting, although I did finally manage to get to the NWKtog in golders green on wed night. It was really good to see everyone again so once again I'm resolving to go every week to stay in touch with enlightened thinkers on such topics as stash acquisition!

My photos are still half on this machine and half on another so no new york review yet but I do have a couple of pics I can share. One of the bummers about travelling alone is that you can't as easily lounge around because there's no one to chat to. So during my down time i tended to veg in starbucks and other such cultural places of learning and watch the world go by. In one of these places I was fortunate enough to see this, completely at random.

Yes, that is a young man with I heart Byrne written on the back of his t-shirt. The next few minutes involved me twisting and leaning one way and another in my chair trying to figure out if they all had them but no, it did seem to be just him. I wanted to go over and ask him what it was for but then considered the repurcussions of a lonely middle aged woman with several bags full of what appears to be wool accosting a young man and accusing him of being in love with her and then demanding to know where he buys his clothes. So I gave it a miss and now I guess I will never know. But I'll be keeping my eye out in starbucks around the world from now on.

Another thing I saw a scary amount of while wondering the streets was things like this.

Yes, dogs in tutus. And other unlikely outfits. I thought it might be a one off but then noticed that every pet shop (and there were quite a few) seemed to have a selection of doggie outfits, and then I remembered books such as this...

And realised why there were so many of them. It seems people really do make their dogs wear things like this. I had a friend who's mum decided it was only ok for her brother to pull her hair if she wore pigtails. I can't help thinking that it is OK to, not exactly kick, but to somehow put the boot in if a dog is dressed in one of these outfits. But then I suppose you should really get to kick the owner, rather than the poor dog.

Feel I am waffling a bit so will now reveal a bit of a secret which is that I am currently knitting up a frenzy on a secret off-blog project which I hope will explain why there isn't much knitting content around here at the moment. To make up for this I have been creating various things to do with the podcast, episode 6 of which is due this weekend. Over here you can find a pattern for a string bag which I talked about in episode 5 and also a new addition....
The Stashtimator. Oh yes. This little device calculates your knit speed in mph and your stash pension - which is how long your current stash would take you to knit if you didn't buy anymore. I'm rather pleased with it and in the next podcast I will be sharing my totals. Share if you dare! If you're subscribed through itunes you'll already have had the pdf pattern but you can download the excel file here.

Also, I am truly on a yarn diet. I have been over at Wendy Knits and am signing up to her 'knit from your stash' until Ally Pally.

The Byrne is back

Hello again peeps. I'm back again on british soil with the fruits of my hardcore shopping /sight seeing expedition laid out at my feet. Only not quite because Pooch gets irate about that sort of thing. Not that I should consider this when Pooch has behaved so dispicably in my absence. I mean, look at this...

This was a healthy plant when I left. I'm hoping it will perk up. Am talking softly to it and slowly feeding it water.

So....New York, eh? I'm going to dedicate a couple of other posts to KNY (knitnewyork) at a later date and to my specific experiences but less us for now glory in what I brought back. Now I had saved up for this and was expecting to do a fair bit of economy-boosting but I amazed even myself. I truly believe even my lovely sister would be in awe of my achievements. Here is a shot of the booty.

That is my not insignificant coffee table completely slathered with gubbins. I'm not going to list it all because it's embarrasing to realise quite how much I did buy but there are skirts, tops, presents for Pooch, baby t-shirts, the amazingly yummy apple jacks cereal and the list goes on. But, I hear you ask, where is the knitting goodness? Can it be that Bernard has wimped out?

As if. Stand by.

Yeah, I did go a bit mad. I anticipated you'd want a better look so get ready for your close up....

Bottom right we have some beaded and sequined loveliness.

Tilly thomas aqua green silk with sequins, 2 balls of glass beaded whiteness, buttons and some lovely cascade in the red quatro colourway. I picked up some of this last year and really liked working with it. At the top of the picture is a norwiegen sock yarn which took my fancy. Next is bottom middle

Berrocco cotton twist in three shades for a secret little project I have up my sleeve and some natural indigo dyed organic wool for my SP.
Bottom left

and we have some cherry tree hill. OK, 4 skeins, plus some lovely laceweight wool in blue and grey. This is my first laceweight purchase and indicates the way my little mind is working - I feel the future definitely holds lace, people. Also two skeins of koigu to finish off my crochet spiral tank top I started about a year ago. Top left

we have 4 balls of knit one crochet too cotton in lurvely blues and greens, 2 balls of diaketo (a japanese brand) and a big skein of blue heron loveliness too. Also a tonne of stitch holders and other bits, some of which are also for my SP. Top middle brings us...

... 4 pairs of scissors, all from a chinese superstore on Broadway that I would have loved to get lots of beautiful china from. The ones in the pink snail creature are my favourite and are great because when I take the scissors out he looks sad, which makes me uncomfortable, so I have to put them back in. Could it finally be that I will not lose a pair of scissors within 24 hours of purchase?? The red and brown wool is aussi wool and bottom left is more sock wool by a company called zitron. There are some nice mags there too including CRAFT which I had deliberately gone out looking for. I'm impressed and will probably subscribe. I wish I could have found MAKE too but that one proved more elusive. And finally,

a knitter is no good without her needles. I finally got my lantern moons (ebony), some lovely rosewood ones and ...... some square ones! Yep. 3.75mm apparently although I'm yet to test the tension. I just had to give them a go though. And there's just one more thing to highlight, because it is so cute!

This is a 4.5cm stitch holder. Isn't it sweet!

So I'm posting this...um...post, now because I am confident Pooch is on the tube by now. And so he won't realise how much stuff I bought until he reads this blog, which might not be for ages as he rarely checks in now we're better at communicating face to face. Ha. Cunning = Bernard.

So I will post in more detail during the rest of this week about which stores I went to and what they were like and all of that. Plus if I owe you an email hang on another day or two as I've got tonnes in my hotmail account and will get to those this week too.

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Am in america, so those are zed's I'm counting and not zee's. Or is it the other way around? Am sleepy. Anyway, quick update...swanky hotel room as until tomorrow morning I am on expenses.

A teeny weeny bit of shopping has takenb place since I arrived. No one is tgo tell pooch. Note to self - buy extra suitcase (well geez, it is soooooo cheap and I've been saving up.)

No shopping took place here as it contained nothing knitted that I could see. False advertising. Tsk.

The only knitting that has passed my lips as I have deliberately not been near a wool shop. Tomorrow brings new york and then....ahahahahahahahahhahaahahahaha. Wool shops beware!

Will be back in the uk on tues.

Maybe I have a brain tumour?

I know one shouldn’t joke about such things but maybe I do. There is a story in one of the Oliver Sacks books (An anthropologist on mars is my favourite one ) of a guy who was a peace activist or something similar in the 70s and ended up getting enveloped by a cult. His family were able to visit him after a while but were very concerned because he had gained a lot of weight (see moi), smiled all the time (OK, not me yet) and had no memory beyond about 1974 (see me on prozac). He also lost all his hair. Maybe something like this… (me in my thinner days) The people in his cult loved him because he was like their Buddha but when his family finally managed to get him away from them and into ‘a medical facility’ (see dictionary under ‘loony bin’) they found he had a massive, inoperable brain tumour. They stopped it getting any bigger but he remained, as Dr Sacks would say, 'locked in the past’ and totally unaware of modern innovations. At one point he breaks his leg and it takes months and months to heal because he keeps forgetting and falling over when he tries to walk.

The reason I think I might be turning into one of these

is because I used to be filled with zeal. Lots of fire and brimstone followed me around. I was going to change to world. I was going to not so much fight the system as run the system. I was going to be It. And now, I just want to knit. I sit around thinking about knitting. And more knitting.

Ah well. I am off to the US for a week tomorrow so may be MIA for a while but rest assured – I shall be thinking about all things knitterly in the meantime and will have much wool news to share by the time I get back!