The Point/Knitty Cruise

There are so many, I had to upgrade my Flickr account to Pro to handle them all.

My favorite tactic: walk around the boat and shoot pictures of everyone and then chat 'em up. I got to meet the nicest people that way! Look how happy everyone is! People were knitting, eating, laughing, drinking and having a great time. Some sat upstairs where it was windy. Some liked it downstairs where it was more serene. Of course, that's where the cupcakes first showed up, so being downstairs was wise. :-)

We drank yummy Lorina French limonade and ate well, thanks to James Caterering. The salmon and the quiche? Oh, so good.

The auction was seriously fun. Lots of great books, some wonderful knitting bags including the Jordana Paige new messenger bag, and some killer sweaters formerly seen only in the pages of Vogue Knitting magazine. The original knitted samples. The hottest bidding was over the orange textured cover sweater and the Butterfly in Noro, donated by Kay [and knitted by her friend Heather]. It was a bit like a dressing room, with everyone trying on the sweaters to see if they suited them.

As soon as I learn what our total donation to Gilda's Club was, I'll put it here.

Anyway, lots of photos here. Thanks to Helane, John and everyone at The Pointfor such a great day!

just HOW little is the little one?

2:12 am. i wake up. it's way too quiet for a first night with bunnies in their new home.

i go to the living room and ease up the dimmer switch and find the big one sitting quietly, paws tucked under her chest, all ALONE in the big big cage. the little one is not there. NOT THERE??

i am still asleep. the cage door is locked. surely i am hallucinating. no, the little one is really, really not there. in fact, she's nowhere to be seen. or heard. but there is a tiny wet spot on the floor outside the cage. ah-ha!

i start to look. i do not find her anywhere. there are exposed cords about, doors open. we're not bunnyproofed yet! crap! hub hears me moving furniture, wakes up and starts to look and of course, finds her right away. next to a neat pile of bunny poop [remember: dry, odorless], she's huddled in the corner by the big floor lamp.

somehow, little missy squeezed herself through the bars. now scroll down and look at the picture of her and the bars of the cage. i tried to put my hand through the bars and it won't fit [and though i'm not a tiny lassie, my hands are small]. i don't know how she did it, but she had to spend the rest of the night in the travel carrier so we wouldn't have to worry about her strangling herself, trying to get through again. hub has since rigged the cage with subterfuge and it seems to be working. no further escape attempts today.

i said the little one would be trouble, didn't i? bunnyproofing commences in earnest this evening after work.

we're home and we have company

We made it home safely in our rental. And we brought some new friends. [We couldn't bear the thought of going home to a silent house again.]

Despite the difference in size, they're sisters, born the same day. Harlequin mini rex girls, about 8 weeks old. Want more?



They're in their new cage, trying to calm down after their long ride home. They've eaten, they've bathed and now the big one [who seems to be the cuddlebun] is resting. The little one, we think, will be a terror. She seems to like standing in her water dish. Oy. Names have not yet been chosen.

They're not our Noot, but we know we'll come to love them for all their own qualities in time. We feel a little more like a family again.

Lots of updates to come including TONS of pics from the amazing cruise thrown by The Point. Now, we're sacked and need to just mellow for a while. And then, bed. Ahhhh.

car go boom, we're okay.

not the news i wanted to report. hub and i had a car accident yesterday. we're okay. the car rolled over and i hope none of you ever have to deal with that. we were out in moments, but that was probably the single scariest thing i've ever experienced.

the subaru forester saved our lives, we're sure of it. hub is freaked, but okay. a few cuts. i'm nicely bruised all over and my left foot decided it wanted a souvenir, so the doc had to dig a little glass and dirt out of it. that's what hurts most now. the insurance company is on the case.

anyway, that's all. we'll know in a few days if our car is fixable. supposedly the tow guys drove it to the yard [like i said, love that subaru]. we still plan to continue our trip on schedule. we're just not sure exactly how. probably a rental.

oy.

---

p.s. hub's just come back from the tow lot. the car was NOT driven there. it's bashed in on the passenger side (that'd be where i was) and the top (where the kayaks were). the doors won't open. still have to wait to see what the adjuster says. what did he rent to get us home? a subaru. that's all we're saying.

away away away!

darling hub and i are taking care of ourselves. i can't remember when we last had a real vacation together. so we're off tomorrow for some happy time in the cape.

there will be knitting. there will be a little work, but not much. and there will be leisurely relaxing, reading, sleeping in and general vegetation.

to cap it off, i'll get to meet a whole bunch of really cool knitters on board a boat that sails around manhattan. go click on the link. i'll wait. i've just spoken to Helane who runs The Point and she's told me about the goody bags and the amazing things we can expect. she said that some of our readers have donated prizes for the charity auction benefitting Gilda's Club as well...so whoever you are, i KISS you!

i won't be very web-connected for the next week or so, so if you don't hear from me, don't panic. i'm likely sitting in an adirondack chair by the canal with my feet up, working another row in summer tweed.

see you in a week and a bit. i'm bringing the camera. pictures upon my return.

Team Knitty: Run for the Cure

As of today, Team Knitty has raised $4910 to help fight breast cancer. Over in the right sidebar you'll find the names of our team members. Click on any of them, and you can help push that number to a beautiful $5000. [We wouldn't complain if it went over that number, either.] We have 17 days left to collect as much as we can to make the biggest possible donation. Every dollar helps!

Thank you SO MUCH to every single person who donated. We're so proud to know you all.

Love,
Team Knitty
[Amy, Jenna, Katherine, Lorena, Shannon & Steph]

A good LYS is your best knitting partner.

Case in point. Jillian started this whole thing by giving me some of this delicious Summer Tweed. Color 528, brilliant. I bought more at my last stop on the book tour last December. Same dyelot! And when The Sheep started stocking Rowan, Lorena was almost psychic. Same dyelot again, so now I had 10 balls.

Which turned out to be insufficient for anything I wanted to knit.

I started the Trinity sweater [now put aside since its season is past -- it'll be lovely to work on at the end of winter next year]. I started a Retro prep. Twice. Ripped. The lace thing I'm working on was the last straw. I want to knit something to wear on my whole upper body, dammit.

This is where the good LYS part comes in. Lorena had put aside at least 4 balls of my beloved Summer Tweed in Brilliant to knit a ballet wrap for herself? The shop? Dunno. But she hadn't finished it. She offered me the remaining balls so I could make something wonderful. At first, I said no, cause it felt wrong. But there is no yarn speaking louder to me at the moment than this beautiful pink stuff. So I will be buying the last bit she'd stashed, with immense gratitude.

Result: raglan cardie with a collar, using the Ann Budd handy sweater book. Did you know that, if you don't get exactly 4 or 5 sts/in, you can just find the number of sts you SHOULD cast on to get your correct finished size, and then follow the numbers for that all through the pattern, when it comes to width? For example, I get 4.25sts/in. To make the cardie the size i want, that means 212 sts. Which you can find in the chart under a different gauge/size combination. I don't get numbers, but I trust Ann Budd. I have photocopied the pattern and circled my numbers. I have cast on and if all goes well, this sweater will actually be on my body before fall is out. [I haven't knit an actual SWEATER in years.] Vacation knitting!

Thank you, Lorena.

p.s. I knit this yarn on every needle in the house and the only ones that make it tolerable to work with, for me, are the Addis. This is a challenging bugger of a yarn -- delicious when knit, but anti-slidey on almost all needles. I'm glad I didn't get rid of my Addis after all!

KnittyBlog shares a press release...for good reason

I normally don't do this here, but this is too important. Everyone, please pass the word on... [and if your heart doesn't beat faster when you get to the part about the Forest Path Stole, something is certainly wrong with you. :-)].

From our friends at Interweave Press:

Fifteen stunning pieces of handmade jewelry, art, clothing and accessories featured in the pages of Interweave Press’s craft magazines and books will be up for auction on eBay September 16–26 to benefit relief and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Working through the eBay Giving Works charitable auction program, Interweave Press will donate all money raised through the auction to the American Red Cross’s Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.

*The designers of the auction pieces are incredible artists and philanthropists who work on our staff or have been featured in our publications, and I thank them for personally donating their creations to help raise money for such an important cause,* says Creative Director and Founder Linda Ligon.

Show-stopper pieces up for auction include a chunky malachite and silver necklace made with beads of various shapes, sizes and shades of green; three adorable handknitted dog sweaters in sizes small to large; a 100 percent alpaca lace-knitted stole featured in the Summer 2003 issue of Interweave Knits, photographed in New Orleans; The Big Easy Christmas stocking, which is as playful and fun as the city we love; and a Rafael Matias beaded painting.

Each original piece will be auctioned with a copy of the magazine or book in which the design first appeared, or in the case of editor contributions, will be sent with the latest issue of their respective magazines. The complete list of items up for auction can be viewed here, and are listed below:

* Faith, an original beaded painting by Rafael Matias, featured on the Dec. 2002/Jan. 2003 cover of Beadwork. Rafael is best known for his Venetian glass and bead mosaics, which reflect his favorite themes of heart, soul, and spirit.

* Embellished Fingerless Gloves, designed by Elyse Allen, an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design whose work has been featured in the New York Times. The gloves were featured in the Sept./Oct. 2004 issue of Fiberarts.

* Forest Path Knitted Lace Stole, featured in the Summer 2003 issue of Interweave Knits, which was photographed on location in New Orleans; designed by Faina Letoutchaia, who drew upon the lace-knitting traditions of her Russian homeland of the Shetland Islands to create this stunningly elegant alpaca stole.

* Handwoven Laptop Case by Liz Gipson, managing editor, Handwoven magazine and featured in the Dec. 2005 issue.

* Handwoven Night Life Scarf, made with merino wool by Madelyn van der Hoogt, editor of Handwoven.

* Elegant Socks, designed and knitted by Nancy Bush, PieceWork contributor and author of Knitting Vintage Socks. The socks appeared in the March/April 2002 issue of PieceWork.

* Wrist Warmers with Handspun Yarn, featured in the Summer 2005 issue of Spin-Off, designed by Amanda Berka, assistant editor. Amanda used a selection of readers’ yarns with fiber contest including cellulose and protein, submitted to the Your Yarns! Department.

* Baby Booties with Handspun Yarn, spun and knitted by Amy Clarke Moore, editor of Spin-Off.

FROM INTERWEAVE’S BOOK PUBLISHING PROGRAM:

* The Big Easy Christmas Stocking from Christmas Stockings, designed by Tara Manning.
* Naughty but Nice Victorian Elegance Christmas Stocking,designed by Sasha Kagan and appearing in Christmas Stockings by Tara Manning.

* Mean Green Necklace designed by Jamie Hogsett, from the new book Stringing Style: 50+ Fresh Bead Designs for Jewelry by Jamie Hogsett.

* Wool Shawl with Embroidered Floral Motif designed by Ann Caswell and appearing in Stitching a Legacy: American Needlework Projects and Stories, PieceWork magazine in association with the Peabody Essex Museum. The inspiration for this beautiful black shawl was a circa 1880 wool dress embellished with silk embroidery—a classic example of “art needlework.”

* Native American Inspired Blanket Sweater, from Dogs in Knits by Judith L. Swartz.

* Peruvian Treasure dog sweater, from Dogs in Knits by Judith L. Swartz.

* Fetching Fair Isle Jumper dog sweater, from Dogs in Knits by Judith L. Swartz.

"Interweave Press and our employees are compelled to help the thousands who have been affected by this tragedy; this eBay auction is our creative effort to offer financial support. Even if they don’t participate in the auction, we’re encouraging our readers and all the industry to send monetary donations to their specific relief funds of choice," says President Marilyn Murphy.

now THAT was a day

home now, all safe and sound and three bags of yarn richer.

facts:
- the harlot is a lovely, cautious driver and a charming companion. she makes me laugh. i like her.
- birch knit in jelly kid silk haze is DEFINITELY the way to go, dr. steph.
- as designated navigator [never a good bet with me, but i was the only candidate], i managed to get us there and back with only one U turn. for me, this is good
- i got to hug Alison and chat for a few minutes. she is nice.
- i got to meet Taiu and Maia and Kersti today and they're really nice, too. Maia was wearing this kickass coat, knit in KPPM, of course, that you will love. it's going to be in her next book, i hear.
- i saw a lot of Tranna folk, who are also nice.
- i bought 20 balls -- the last Megan had -- of sky blue Mission Falls cotton. On sale! Weep.
- i bought 1560 yards of undyed cotton ripply stuff to have a dye party with Emma. for $50. seriously.
- the Harlot was stopped approximately every 10 feet while browsing the floor to accept compliments from her fans and sign books.
- she still managed to score some sexy superfine cashmere and a set of blocking wires.
- there were no wheels to try out and little roving, except some wool. no Polwarth. sorry, J.

i am fried, but happy. as was my lunch.
[does that make sense to anyone but me?]

thanks for the invite, Steph!

my weekend adventures

pre-weekend: spend hours tonight on Skype with Jillian for the book. [God bless Skype.]

Saturday: I'll be on a wee road trip with Ms Harlot! She's gonna be signing books at the Knitter's Fair at the Gemini Fibres booth. Her 2nd book, btw. Just like the one she showed me on Tuesday that I had to pass on to Steph before I sat down and read it all. If you're coming, line up early. There are only 32 copies to be had.

Me, I'll be browsing fiber, and hopefully playing with a few wheels if there are any to try. And if there's silk roving to be had, stand back.

Sunday: More book. Sigh. I will be so happy when this part of the process is complete. And so will Ms. J.

Rhinebeck. Is. Happening.

I've been quite proud to be a powerful enabler for my friends over the years. But no one I've ever met can equal the sheer enabling power of my new friend, Emma Jane. We had been acquainted a mere 10 minutes when somehow the topic of a girls' road trip to Rhinebeck came up, and Ms Emma just ran with it.

WE ARE GOING. Little newbie spinner me, I'll never spin [ha!] Stephannie, and Emma so far. There may be more. But here is the important thing:

WE ARE GOING TO RHINEBECK. Did I mention that? We are all ecstatic. We all need a van full of loud talk, music, knitting, spindling, your turn to drive, I need to pee, and food and beverages. 16 hours on the road. Too much fiber [there can never be too much fiber] and not enough time. We cannot wait.

I wonder how fast I could get one of those magnetic signs made up for the van. And no, I won't be pulling a Harlot and knitting a miraculous sweater in a month for the trip. Never mind. I get to play with wheels! Fiber! Sheep poking! Woo hoo!

I will bring the camera, promise.

Whew.

Happy 3rd anniversary, Knitty readers. New Knitty is up for your pleasure!

An anecdote: For the first time in our history, we had two really similar submissions sent in for the same issue. I had to stare at both of them for a while, because I just couldn't believe the serendipity. But I could only publish one. The other very gorgeous sweater is this one.

The world is a strange, silently linked place. Or is that just the internet?

Tonight!

[To be enjoyed after you've made your donation to Hurricane Katrina relief]

On Tuesday, September 6 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Debbie Bliss will be visiting my LYS, the Naked Sheep in Toronto's Beach neighborhood. She'll be bringing design samples from her new fall release and signing books.

2144A Queen Street East, just a half-block east of Hammersmith.

I'll be there. Join us!

Strengthen The Good...Katrina Relief

If you want to make a donation to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief, consider Strengthen the Good -- they're matching all donations until they receive $1500 (and that number keeps getting larger).