Handpainted Yarn; Knitting in a Bar

I went to the Harmony bar in Madison last night to knit with the Tuesday knitting club. Tracy clued me in to this group; we went and it was totally fun. Great knitters, great neigborhood, great bar, great hot chips.

It reminded me of living in Missoula, Montana, the city where I went to college. Tattoos and blues and people having fun and doing what they love in a friendly bar.

One of the members, Rhonda, asked for help knitting swatches of her gorgeous handpainted yarn. What could I do but take a skein of the Sumac?

Mothers, Part 2 ~ What a year!

Four babies are expected in the family during the next six months!

My mom sent me a vintage baby bootie knitting pattern. My sister and I wore booties like these; apparently they stay on a baby’s feet better than most knit booties.

Back in the day, booties were the only baby footwear. Oshkosh B’Gosh had yet to invent those cool little socks with non-skid rubbery stuff on the soles.

So I’m knitting booties these days, trying to keep up with the onslaught of infants.

Sockstravaganza!

I love to do fiber crafts. Recently, I have focussed entirely sock knitting.

Last year, I created a knitting catalog for a graphic design class project. I bought lots of yarn and photographed it, with the idea of taking it back to the store when I was finished. Knitting stores are really nice about letting you return the yarn during a 60 day period, probably so you can overbuy and then return what you can’t use.

I took some of it back! A lot more than that became socks, scarves, a couple of goofy hats.

The above socks came about because I bought a skein of the very colorful yarn for the catalog. A skein is not quite enough to make a real pair of socks with cuffs and all. I improvised a short pair with ruffled ankles and toes in a different coordinating yarn.

This is my current sock project. I’m using the Magic Loop method, using one long circular needle and knitting one sock at a time.

It’s knit from Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, available at Jimmy Bean’s Wool and also at purlsoho. Lorna’s Laces comes in lucious colors, some of which are limited editions.

Which only makes me want to buy more.