We'll be at the Sock Summit!

I am SO excited! We just found out we get to have a booth at the Sock Summit August 6-9, 2009 at the Convention center in Portland. It really feels like being a part of history... you gotta admit, who ever heard of a Sock Summit before? Now I need to get going on some sock patterns to be working on. I think the Double Bambu with a bit of elastic will be great... so I'll be experimenting with what works and feels best between now and then.

We already had signed up for a booth at the Knit & Crochet Show in Portland May 14-17. Plus we had a booth last year there (in September). That was a lot of fun. I'll have two outfits in the fashion show and so I'm looking forward to that. Gotta come see!

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Fall Knit and Crochet Show

Here are a couple of photos of our booth./ During the Fall Knit and Crochet show, our business, Fiber Rhythm Craft & Design offered patterns, notions and "Double Bambu" yarn.

We had sample garments on display so people could get an idea of what the patterns produce.

With the conference/market being held in Portland, we were fortunate in being able to bring some of our own furniture to help showcase the items.

My sister, Dianne, brought her new small loom and had it warped and was weaving by the end of the show.

We ended up making a few minor changes in where everything was located. But mainly it was putting out the yarn where it could be more easily viewed. It was a lot of fun and I want to thank everyone that stopped by!

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2008 FALL TKGA Conference in PORTLAND

Hey, just got my email advising to set aside the dates, and LOOK! Its in Portland this year! Way Cool. This conference has not been as populated (I hear) as the Stitches conferences, but the teachers are the same ones and the class sizes are great. I've learned a lot in these classes and its been wonderful to spend a whole weekend (or longer) concentrating on knitting.

2008 FALL KNIT & CROCHET SHOW
TKGA National / CGOA Regional Conferences
September 12-14, 2008 (Fri., Sat., Sun.)
Education - September 11-14
Shopping Days - September 12-14 (Preview Shopping Thursday evening for pre-registrants)
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, OR
www.KnitandCrochetShow.com

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TKGA Fashion Show and Master Knitters

Thanks to Judith for taking the photos for me! I really appreciate it. One of the things I like about going to these type of conferences is that the people you meet are always friendly and willing to help out.

I was working backstage during the fashion show, so did not make it out on stage when the rest of the group got "pinned", but did receive the pin at the end of the evening.





I think that this photo is with the Master Knitters getting pinned. (I was backstage). So sorry, I don't know the names of the other new master knitters. More people are making it through the program, which is a good thing!

And here I am modelling the Stormy Sky sweater (pattern available at the Fiber Rhythm web site: http://shop.fiberrhythm.com/zencart)

Here I am with Margaret Fisher, who was doing the honors. Handshake and pin hand-off for the cameras. (People told me I should model the bag with the sweater, so I did, even though I didn't officially enter the bag into the fashion show, I figure if Laura Bryant said it was ok, it was ok, since she and Nancy were emcee-ing).

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TKGA/CGOA Knit and Crochet Conference

I'm here at the Knit and Crochet Conference in Oakland. Having fun so far.

I took a Design workshop from Nancy Nehring on Thursday afternoon and that was chock full of good information about publishing craft books and articles and how-to stuff. Well worth attending and very encouraging for people who might want to get into the business.

Today I slept in! (Thats the vacation part of this trip). Last year I had my schedule chock full of classes-- every availble time slot was filled. This year, I decided I needed to build in some buffer time. So that was good. I just finished taking the Slip-stitch knitting class with Joyce Renee Wyatt. Also full of good information and you can tell that Joyce has been teaching for awhile. Good progression of simpler to harder swatches to do and encouraging comments along the way. I have done some slip-stitches before, but there is always something new to learn.

Tonight is the TKGA meeting and then dinner with new friends. Tomorrow I will be taking the Stash class with Laura Bryant and I'm really looking forward to that. I've had quite a few bits of Prism yarn in my stash over the years... beautiful stuff.

Also tomorrow is the Chic Street fashion show (my Stormy Sky sweater will be in it) and I am really looking forward to that as well. I get pinned as a Master knitter and it may seem a bit corny, but I am proud to have finished the program.

I did finally get the Mystery Stole back on the needles. I had to buy a crochet hook for the beading though, as I couldn't find the right one when I was packing earlier. The one I got is really nice and works great.

I also am very interested in a project that I hadn't heard of before. Its the International Fiber Collaborative (http://www.internationalfibercollaborative.com/) and they are putting together an installation of fiber-crafted 3' x 3' squares that will cover an abandoned gas station. Thought provoking. I emailed my sister Dianne and it looks like Fiber Rhythm will produce at least one square for them. We'll discuss more when I get back home.

More later!

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Wednesday night Musings

I'm working with wool again (and for the next couple of projects according to plans that are not written down anywhere, so can easily be changed). I'm finding my eyes start feeling itchy after I've worked with it for awhile. I really hope this isn't actually related. Maybe its something else in the air.

I have a ton of wool in my stash (well, maybe not literally). It would be such a shame to have accumulated those lovelies over the years and then have to say good bye without seeing what they can become. My hands are fine after working with it--so no rashes or anything like that.

Ah well-- this should be a relatively quick project. And then I'm off to TKGA conference in Oakland. I am really looking forward to that. I'm taking mostly classes that don't require homework (and no, that was not my requirement). And this time I'm leaving a couple of class time slots open. I did get a little classed-out last time.

I'm taking (in sequence) the Designer Workshop with Nancy Nehring on Thursday, the Slip Stitch Knitting with Joyce Renee Wyatt on Friday afternoon, the Yarn Stash Workshop with Laura Bryant on Saturday (I still have quite a bite of Prism stash around), and a Big Hook Introduction to Tunisian crochet on Sunday (another stash-buster technique).

Maybe after I get back, I'll get the bug to actually catalog my "inventory" of yarn. Could be sobering. Definitely have to wait until after the conferences are done, else I might not be able to enjoy the "marketplace"! Last year I got a great lace stole among other things.

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As part of the master knitter program, you also get to design a hat. Here is the one I finished, after many trials and errors.





A triplet of cables goes up each side







The top has a diamond pattern surrounded by waves and bobbles.





The back has a classic celtic braid.


Let me know what you think!

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My how time flies!

I can hardly believe that it has been 6 months since I posted last!

So much has happened in the meanwhile. I completed the Norwegian sweater out of the Bambu 7 yarn and absolutely LOVE IT! The trouble is, I've had to send it off for review. So last Monday I mailed it off along with all of the swatches, questions and answers and reports to The Knitting Guild of America.

So here it is in all its glory. I call it "Stormy Sky". On the back the Celtic cable goes all the way across, and it repeats on the arms un-interrupted, so is a continuous knot (no ending) pretty cool.

My twin sister and I started our own business in April/May called Fiber Rhythm Craft & Design. I'll be selling knitting patterns there and we both will be selling hand-woven items. (www.FiberRhythm.com)

More posts on that to come. Also, after I let my son get a chance to get on the computer, I'll post here again with info about how the steeking went for this sweater.

Glad to be back!

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Norwegian Style sweater update

I have finished the sweater design and begun knitting the sweater bottom ribbing. For this project, I wanted to get all of the instructions written out first, so that I can proof the instructions as I knit the garment. So earlier this week I finished typing up and printing the directions out.

I did finally decide to double the yarn and knit on US size 4 needles (still need to take a picture of the swatch). This should be much easier on the TKGA reviewers. Still, the sweater is over 300 st around the body. Knitting time is limited, since I do work. I'm excited about finally starting and hoping to be done by early February. I may have to travel for work for a couple of weeks towards the end of January. Although that usually means airline knitting time, it really ends up being less knitting time overall since work gets pretty all-encompassing while travelling.

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Design-a-Knit border pattern for Norwegian Style Sweater design

I used Design-a-knit to create a border pattern:

The original version had the blue within the grey on rows 9 and 10. Because they are so close in value, I decided to use the navy instead. I also changed the background colors on rows 14 through 17 which should be more interesting.

I knit a swatch up through row 13 of the original version. I was very happy with rows 1 thorugh 8. When I finish the sample of the revised border, I will post another photo.

The plan is to use this at the bottom of body and sleeves just above the ribbing and in reverse at the top of the sleeve and the bottom of the upper-body pattern. (Lice stitch in between).

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Norwegian-style design

I'm off to start designing my own Norwegian-style sweater (part of the TKGA level III requirements).

I am going to make it with Bambu yarn though so that I can wear it whenever I want. I rarely get cold enough to need wool here (Portland, OR).

Here is my collection of Bambu (blues and greys).

The Bambu that I have makes a really nice, soft drapey swatch. Trouble is, the swatch is using size 1 needles (US)! So tiny stitches.

Interesting that with the flash the blue on grey in the bottom shows up. Just looking at the swatch with out the camera lens, you can hardly see the pattern there. I also did some playing with which yarn to hold in which hand for more "pop". I'm going to use accent color in my left hand and background in my right, as I normally do.

I did try an unpatterned swatch with doubled yarn and size 4 and 5 US needles. The 5 is drapey-er, but a bit holey and the 4 just seems too tense. An informal survey (of my family) results in the size 1 needle version.

I was thinking cardigan earlier, but now I'm thinking pull-over because the less steeking the better with this slippery yarn!

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