Really. I. Am. Alive.
August 28th, 2011For those of you that really are interested. I really am. I’m knee neck deep in spreadsheets, phone calls, creating new forecasting tools, modifying existing ones. Not to mention trying to hunt up my Ouija board to hold a seance to make sure I’m on target. I figure why not. Sometimes forecasting feels a bit like that.
Not a lot of knitting at the moment. Actually all knitting has been on hold for the last two weeks due to this little beauty.
I cut my left thumb at the base with a pair of scissors. Don’t ask. It was very superficial, but it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Four stitches later… To be honest, I’m not sure I would have gotten much done even without the stitches. But it makes me feel good to think so.
I have managed to do cram in some Nihon Vogue calculations. But not much else. I had a 3:00 AM Oh my God! wake up about a week ago on why I couldn’t get the Raglan sleeves to work out with the EXACT decrease pattern. Uhmmm that would be because we changed the angle, which changed the stitch count, which meant it was no longer EXACT. Which it really, really has to be. Sigh.
Recalculation done. It has been frogged and started over.
More later. Back to spreadsheets and pivot tables.
Living and knitting
August 2nd, 2011Yep, I’m doing both. We’re down a (wo)man in the office this week and last, which really has cut into the design and knitting time in the evening. Swatches are complete and knitting has started. Phew.
Aran
The Aran swatches. Yes, these really are swatches. I love the bottom swatch, but the top swatch made the cut. Both are Alice S. It knits up the fastest. The third sample is to test a 1×1 moss stitch to the 2×2 that is knit into the original swatch. Yep, that picky. It may mean less short rows. You heard me. Short rows.
Pattern: Alice Starmore, Little Rivers Tunic
Gauge: US 5′s over a big *s^ swatch.
Pattern: 37 sts and 33 r over 10 cm
Moss: 2 x 2, 21 sts and 36r over 10cm
Yarn: Shelter
Guernsey
Reminiscent of a mini Guernsey… I’ll be turning this into a small purse for a girlfriends daughter. I kid you not. This was a good exercise. I realized I wanted a different rib and transition point to the Diamond pattern. I’m taking the easy road on this one.
Pattern: The easiest one I could think of
Gauge: US 5′s over a big *s^ swatch
Pattern: St stitch and diamond
Yarn: Quince & Co
Cardigan Cape
I’ve not started swatching but I’ll be using Tactile Fiber Arts, Linen. I have the stitch pattern and idea sketched out. I’m hoping this one is a no brainier vs. 10+ swatches like the Aran and Guernsey (each).
Final
I had no plans to buy anything at the Sock Summit last weekend. I’m proud to say I escaped with very few purchases. Hint, those Dansko girls are some wicked selling machines. Open back, high-heal pair came home with me. Sigh. An these two pretty’s. The final is months away, but both these skeins leaped out a spoke to me. I’m hoping they’ll go well with a pattern that I fell in love with last year, which wouldn’t work with a sweater for Level 1.
A Verb For Keeping Warm
Shimmering Tussah
or
Tactile Fiber Arts
Linen
Alive and Kickin’ (Barely)
July 13th, 2011Yes, I’m still here. Not that you can tell from my lack of posting. But I am.
Where have I been? Where haven’t I been. OK, that’s an over exaggeration! But when you’ve traversed the US (up and across) and been half way around the world and back, in less that 8 weeks, it FEELS like all over.
I’ve been to Santa Rosa, CA, Seattle (twice!), Ohio (TNNA), Australia, and Sisters, Oregon. I should have blogged. Sigh. I didn’t. If you’re interested here’s the recap. (Photo heavy!)
WAYYYY back in May I hitched a ride on Alaska to Santa Rosa to spend a weekend with Shirley Paden for an in-depth look of her design process. Jessica McCready organized the event. What can I say, I’m addicted to both the process AND knitting. I stayed at The Gables Wine Country Inn. Lovely, lovely place. I would stay again, however I would advise to ask to NOT be put in the room along the front road (highway). It’s the only room in the Inn that gets the traffic noise from the highway.
The Gables Wine Country Inn.
Cast Aways Yarn in Old Town Santa Rosa. A must!
I can't remember her name. I was tickled. Her first knitting project. Leigh Radford. Whoot!
Totally geeked out!
May also included a trip up to Seattle for Nihon Vogue. Let’s just say I’m really behind (OK, slowly catching up) and call it good. Lot’s of swatching going on. I pulled back the Aran. Started over from scratch. I really, really didn’t like what I had started. Happy now. Guernsey? Uhmmm coming along. I’m seaming two sweaters. That feels good. Oh and swatching. Lot’s of swatching. Did I mention that?
June started off with a BANG. My nephew and I (+62,000 of our closest friends) rocked Seattle @ U2. This is my second time to see them. OH MY GOD. WOW. That’s all I have to say about that.
Leslie & J + 62,000 of our closest friends.
Pioneer Square the morning after U2.
On the business home front, the team from Skye was not able to attend DAC in San Diego this year. Disclosure, Urban is part of a larger business holding, Urban Skye. Skye focuses on the technology sector. The Skye team had a last minute technology client at the show. Unfortunately, Emily had a family commitment and Bill was on Holiday. Sara and I were headed to TNNA so we couldn’t step in to help. They were the same week.
On other fronts, the Pear Tree team came in from Oz two days before TNNA to see their new warehouse space. They love it! AND It’s only five blocks from the office.
PTY warehouse.
Inside warehouse.
TNNA. Uhm. Still trying to digest it all. Urban taught several classes. Sara attended with Rose City Knits and did some networking for the team. A good time was had by all. (We hope).
Pear Tree building the stand.
Packed up and ready for home.
While the Urban Skye teams (respectively) held down ‘The Fort” I headed to Australia with Karin Strom, Trisha Malcolm and Doreen Connors for a peartreeyarn press tour to see the Station, the Mill and meet the Oz team. The trip was a resounding success and a comedy of errors, all-in-one.
Trisha and Doreen JUST made it to Sydney before the Chilean ash cloud hit again. They left with minimal fuss Wednesday, June 15th (if you don’t count the last minute passport issue!) and arrived Friday, June 17th. Karin and I headed out on the 17th from Denver and Portland respectively, set to arrive June 20th in Melbourne. After one late, late flight Friday night to Melbourne nowhere, we managed to bum a couch and floor of one of my SF BFF’s (yea Sue). We started Saturday am by heading back to SFO – fortified with several cups of coffee and a shower – for our flight to Melbourne Sydney for a Sunday, June 20th late night arrival. We made it. Had a short sleep in Sydney (5 hours), then a crack of dawn, up an attem’ Monday morning for a flight from Sydney to Griffith, where we had a great day of shearing, a flat tire in the Aussie outback at dusk, and a fab dinner. We closed Monday night out with a wee run in with the Hillston police. Nothing serious. Shearing and classing lessons on Tuesday and a flight to Melbourne unexpected 8-hour drive from Hillston, NSW to Melbourne (darn ash cloud) closed out the travel portion of the tour. Wednesday was a bit tamer, and included a fabulous lunch in the wine country with the PTY mill manager and his wife. Did I mention – we had a ball? Karin and I… we’re talking India and Cotton. We’ll keep you posted.
And... we're off. Finally.
Fab dinner at The Station.
Doreen and Kathee contemplate new jobs.
View from the steps of the shearing shed.
Kangaroo spotting.
Then an extra week for me in Melbourne. Darn ash cloud. The upside? I managed to catch up with friends in Torquay and spend some quality time with the Oz team. All productive.
Saturday night traffic jam in Torquay. My kinda traffic.
July started with a trip (and a trunk show) to the Sisters, Oregon Quilt weekend.
The Sisters.
Phew ! Need I say more….
April showers bring May flowers?
April 8th, 2011The title and the post have nothing in common other that we’ve had SO much rain in Portland that I have to remind myself, hourly, that all the rain will bring flowers. I’ll just say. I’m over it. Oh and the cold too.
I also know this is supposed to be a marketing, knitting and life blog. We’re suppose to give you updates, ideas, share life, knitting, marketing. Hopefully to inspire or at least keep you informed about thoughts, life… You get it. I hope. To say that I’ve fallen behind is an UNDERSTATEMENT. I keep repeating myself – like a broken record. I promise that in the next three weeks we’ll give you a complete update. By TNNA we should be smokin’. We hope. Notice that word ‘ we’. Yep, lots a great changes coming. Hopefully to the best. Risk. It’s all about taking risks. Let’s hope they pay off.
From a personal perspective, we’ve moved into our small little rental home. Yes, 650 square feet for two people was getting a bit too tight. Maybe if we were in our 20’s (when you don’t know better). Two people in there 40’s? Not so much.
Knitting has equaled ripping. I was so excited to have sorted out the precise decrease requirements for the four separate pieces of the NH Raglan that I managed to knit the front and back and forgot to decrease for the gusset. Oh man. Once I stopped trying to rationalize the why I ripped one side back and have kept the other side in tack for learning purposes. We have to seam the arms, just so.
Ah well. Have a great weekend. NPR just announced. We. Have. No. Rain. In. The. Forecast. Today. He repeated himself. It’s been that bad. We have sun today!
Inspiration and a Dream
March 25th, 2011I’m a huge fan of folk and junk art. Good junk art. And in moderation. My first memories of this form of art comes from spending my formative years in Texas and parts of the South. I remember finding small towns, poking in antique shops and open markets. I’ve always, always been amazed at how artists see and then build a piece of art. Especially if it’s functional. What does that have to do with dreaming and inspiration?
I’ve been dreaming that one day I’ll be able to attend an event called the Doo-Nanny in Alabama with my girlfriend Anya. What do the two have in common? As best I can recollect, just about everything. It’s a southern (yes that’s important) road side art festival that’s turned into a wonderful collection of people meeting to buy, sell and tell a yarn and listen to music. What’s not to love about that? I can just see it in my minds eye. Anya and I sittin’ in two lawn chairs, drinking, knitting or hand sewing and just plain soakin’ it in. Maybe doin’ some buyin’. I mean it is an art festival after all.
One day.
For inspiration check out this video essay on etsy about Butch Anthony and his Folk Art Compound.
Butch Anthony’s Alabama Folk Art Compound
Pretty cool huh?