Thanksgiving Bird Blanket

I sometimes hesitate to post certain photos on Instagram or on this blog, because I would rather surprise my friends with their gifts, rather than have them see it online before they receive it. 

I don't think I gave anything away in this post, but I'm happy to finally share these photos with you, now that I know the recipient has received and opened the package.

Behold, the Thanksgiving Bird Blanket. 

A friend of mine is due with Baby #2 this week, and because I believe every baby needs a gift of their own, I made this bird blanket from the Holiday 2013 issue of Knit Simple magazine. And then I scrambled to get it in the post before her due date.

Since my friend's baby is due so close to our national gluttonous holiday, I personalized mine to be look more like a Thanksgiving turkey rather than just a bird. I also changed a few things, like making the hood seam on the outside rather than the inside of the hood. 

(And yes, that is a slight seed stitch mistake on that bottom row near the tail. I only noticed it by about the fifth stripe as I was working my way up towards the bird's head, and when I calculated out how long it would take me to redo the stripes, I figured the recipient would rather have one weird stitch than a Thanksgiving Bird Blanket AFTER Thanksgiving.)

I like how the 'turkey' looks like he's ready to give the baby a hug.

What Thanksgiving-inspired crafts are you cooking up these days?

Weekend Stash Busting

This weekend, I did what I should have done a long time ago: I emptied out every last bin of yarn and put it all on the floor to assess the stash. (Yes, even those wicker baskets that were hiding out under the coffee table... as well as a few balls of yarn tucked into a Pyrex bowl.)

Here's a glimpse of what I unearthed.

(Remember I said that's a glimpse. GULP.)

Needless to say, I've been stash busting all weekend. I'll share more with you later, but you can expect a stuffed turkey, more granny square slippers and some DIY dryer balls in the mix. 

Seed Stitch

Lately I've been a little obsessed with knitting seed stitch (and stripes -- can you tell?!)

I realized a few months ago while showing off a few of my hand knits to a friend, that I tend to stick with good old garter stitch and stocking stitch. I've also thrown cables in the mix, like with the Central Park Hoodie. But beyond the occasional ribbing for a sock cuff, I haven't really done too much knitting and purling in the same row.

I love the look of simple garter and stocking stitch and of course cables... but I decided I needed to start venturing into more textured items.  

Seed stitch proved a perfect start.

I started off by making my friend (the one who received the Sheep for her baby shower), a cute cardigan for her wee lamb. I thought the cardigan reminded me a little of the sheep in any case. 

The pattern is from the august edition of British magazine Craftseller.  

I also have a slight magazine obsession. It started when I was a teenager and it's never really slowed down. Besides Artful Blogging, I regularly scour the newsstands looking for all kinds of other magazines. A trip overseas? Don't even get me started. The Sailor is even in on the game. He recently brought home a three-month-old issue of FairLady (my favorite South African magazine) that had to travel through West African waters and then Paris before it finally made it to me.

I do on occasion have to restrain myself. But lately I've been splurging on Craftseller.  

For the cardigan, it only seemed right that I used a British ball of yarn I procured in England several years ago. I carefully calculated the yardage and set off making my cute cream cardi. 

Imagine my surprise when I ran out of yarn at the back of the hood -- I ended up using a bit of brown from my stash (you can kind of see the weird brown splotch at the back of the hood) and then I crocheted trim on the bottom and the cuffs and along the rest of the hood, to try to balance the whole thing out.

Despite my poor math calculations -- I still found the seed stitch super easy. 

However, like all kinds of British versus American terms, seed stitch* is actually referred to as moss stitch in the UK. (American Moss Stitch is something different -- of course.) 

Now that the shawl is finally complete, I'm whipping up a little autumn inspired something... in seed stitch, naturally.

* American Seed stitch or British Moss Stitch: Knit 1, Purl 1 on an even number of stitches on the first row, then Purl 1, Knit 1 on the next row. Repeat these two rows to form seed stitch. There is also an American Moss Stitch, but let's worry about that later, shall we?

Shawl Season

Eight months to the day that I started Citron Grand, I finally finished it. I'm still laughing when I think about how the Sailor and I wound ALL of the yarn as we were about to leave for the airport for our cruise. 

I naively thought that I would finish this ENTIRE shawl on the ship.  In SEVEN days.

What was I thinking?! 

A month after the cruise, I hadn't gotten very far (you can see just how far here.) I blame all of the other projects I had going at the same time.

I really had no idea how long knitting a shawl with lace-weight yarn would take. Clearly I had some very high ambitions. (I also had no idea how long it would take to fix a serious mistake. Because of my debacle, I renamed this the Patient Shawl.)

But now it's done. Off the needles, blocked and ready to wear in time for today's day full of sunshine and fresh chilly air. 

The photo in the Ravelry pattern shows only seven sections (the original free Citron is much smaller -- only five pattern repeats). I wanted to go all out and make a BIG shawl with all 10 pattern repeats in Citron Grand. 

Go big or go home, I say.  

In the end, I luckily estimated that I was about to run out of yarn, before it was too late, so I only made it to level 9 of the repeat section. I'm not sure if my gauge was off, or if I lost quite a bit of yarn when I had to rip out an entire section, but I'm glad I caught it before I had to rip out 1000 stitches at a time.

Even though I cut it extraordinarily close, I managed to finish my shawl with just enough yarn to spare. 

THIS is all I had leftover: 

Just enough yarn to keep in case I need to patch a hole years from now. The yarn is Malabrigo Lace in Verde Esperanza.  

And the shawl is definitely big enough to keep me warm. Shawl season is finally here.

Bohemian Bag

I've already established that I usually have more than one project going when it comes to fiber fun. No matter what else I'm working on however, I always like to have a project with a simple repeat pattern going -- something I can do when friends come to visit, or while I'm watching TV in the evening. 

The above shawl, while simple, has such tiny stitches and some serious increases and decreases every few rows. I didn't want to repeat the mistake I made with it over the summer, so I'm working on it when I can focus (although I'm happy to report that there are 10 pattern repeats to make the big shawl -- I just finished #8. Hallelujah. I don't think I've ever worked on any knitting project as long as this one.) 

It's still 80 degrees here during the day, so I didn't really want to start something big like a blanket yet -- I'll save that for wintry, icy days when I need an extra layer on my lap to keep me warm. 

Instead, I scoured through my magazine stack and found this pattern for a shell crochet bag in Vogue Knitting Crochet 2012. (I know, I know, I already made this crochet bobble bag over the summer. But I've also already established that I love bags. Let me have my fun.) 

This thing doesn't look that big, but it can hold a ton of stuff. 

 

I plan to use it as a market bag. Now that it's finished, I can focus on finding a local apple orchard. It may still be warm outside, but I hear temperatures are supposed to drop next week. That means homemade applesauce, apple pie and dehydrated apples for snacking will all be calling my name.

And, if I'm still working on the shawl by that point, at least I'll have a cute crocheted bag to carry my project around town.

PS: Bag handles were thrifted. Wooden handles can be a little pricey, so I like to keep a look out for them at thrift stores. Sometimes perfectly good handles are attached to not-so-nice handbags that should never have made it as far as the thrift store. But at least the handles are useable!

 

I Love Yarn Day and #7vignettes Part II

It's no secret on this blog that I love to knit and crochet. (Don't ask me which one I prefer -- they both have their place...) 

I also love yarn.

Yarn is so tactile... so versatile.

It also seems to multiply completely on its own.

I knew the lure of yarn could easily become an obsession. It's one of the main reasons I resisted crocheting and knitting for years whenever I wandered past the skeins in a store.

My hunch was correct. The stash took over within months of picking up my hooks and needles. In 2012, I made a pact that I would use up a sizable quantity of my yarn before I purchased anything new. It worked pretty well, until that trip to Idaho after Thanksgiving (Read all about it in this post). 

This year, I created some new yarn rules. I allowed myself several purchases, but I couldn't buy yarn to simply stash it -- I needed to have an actual pattern and purpose for the yarn.

No matter what 'rules' I make for myself though, I still love yarn whether it's new or in the stash. Apparently there's a whole day to celebrate that love. I Love Yarn Day kicks off tomorrow! If you're a fiber freak, then there's plenty of ways you can celebrate and share your love.

Not having my iPhone for a week meant that I couldn't actually post any photos to Instagram, so I missed out on October's #7vignettes. There's always next month. Besides, September's #7vignettes fit in perfectly for tomorrow's special day. It just goes to show you that I really do love yarn. Even photographing it can be fun. 

Here are the 'stories' behind #7vignettes from September. 

GREEN: yarn salad topped off with a sprinkling of buttons.

FOLDED: Folded hands.

ALCOHOL: Don't string me along... What are you having? Red, white or whiskey?

PILE: one pile simply leads to another pile. 

BORROWED: my mother-in-law's needles, the scratchiest yarn ever, and her steely resolve as I learned to knit without surrendering.   

ROUND: What's round? A yarn hat cake, of course, complete with optional (and detachable) pompom decoration.  

FRAMED: it's time to take the kid gloves off. I'm not just spinning a yarn -you've been framed. 

If you missed Part I of the #7vignettes, you can view that post here.  

Happy I Love Yarn Day to my fellow fiber fanatics! 

iPhoneless

Do you hear that? 

That sound? Is that a phone ringing? A text message coming through? An alarm clock chiming? 

You don't hear it? 

Well, neither do I.

There has been radio silence here in the apartment this week while my iPhone tries to recover from its own little mishap.

I neglected to mention earlier, that while I had my foot in the obligatory epsom salt soak on Tuesday (as per the doctor's orders) I had another little accident. And this time, it was even more painful and will probably be somewhat more costly than tripping over that stupid rusty wire. 

I dropped my iPhone in that same water. 

GASP. 

(Just take a moment to let that sink in.)

Thankfully, in this day of great technology, I still have a computer that works, along with an Internet connection. (I also have a great iPhone case that bore the brunt of the soaking...) The Sailor is still maneuvering around the waters an ocean away, and yet I could still tell him via instant message what happened. I sent my mom an email to tell her I wouldn't be able to FaceTime with her this week. I called my in-laws from Skype and told them I was alive. I put out an alert on Facebook (as embarrassing as it was...) to say that my phone wasn't working. 

I don't think any of us realize how dependent we are on something until it's gone. I didn't realize that I have no other alarm clock in the apartment until my iPhone died. I found myself holding my car keys in my hands, wondering if it was safe drive somewhere without a phone. It felt so 1992. (Wow, the chances we took. What if something happened? Flat tire? What if we got lost?)

Except in 1992 we looked at a paper map and we just stopped to use a pay phone if something happened. (What's that? There's no pay phones nowadays? Of course there are. Every person you see is a walking pay phone. I figured that if something bad TRULY happened, I'd be around enough other people who had phones I could simply borrow. The Sailor did it once in an airport when his phone stopped working. Strangers are nicer than you think, on occasion.) 

Sometimes silence is good. I think I was getting a little too distracted by my phone. Plus my foot was throbbing. So I sat down and I started knitting this again. 

And then when I went to keep track of my rows, I realized that my knit counter is an app ON my iPhone. I think the bird is actually laughing at me.

<SIGH>

What's the worst thing you've ever done to your phone? And did it recover? More importantly, did YOU recover?

Last Year

This past week, my mom came for a visit.

She hasn't flown in about 15 years -- not since she crossed an ocean to visit me in England while I lived in a house with no heat. 

Thankfully, the temperatures here were warm enough for shorts most of the week -- and when they do finally drop (hopefully not soon) my apartment is well-equipped with heat. 

As I mentioned in my last post though, there has been a morning and evening chill in the air. It was the kind of chill that warranted wearing slippers while we sat on the porch drinking our beverage of choice, depending on the time of day. 

I loved that my mom managed to only take hand luggage on the plane with her and she still found room to bring her slippers. Apparently she's picked up a thing or two from me while watching me pack for trips throughout the years. (Always bring your own slippers. Always.) 

I made her those maroon slippers 'last year' right before Christmas. During my years working in Ukraine, my colleagues and I had a running joke about 'last year'. Every time an event didn't go as planned, or we experienced unexpected glitches, we'd say something like 'Well, LAST year we did this instead...' or 'LAST year so and so did it that way...'  

We were so goofy with our comparisons, but over the years, a lot DID change in the country. One thing was pretty consistent though -- we still wore slippers whenever we visited a Ukrainian home. 

I found myself thinking a lot about last year while my mom was here, because really, so much HAS changed. Last year the Sailor and I knew we'd be moving, but we didn't know where. Last year I became serious about writing a book. Last year, my brother was still alive. 

Last year seems like a lifetime ago and yet last year feels like yesterday. 

I felt a little funny dropping my mom off at the airport. So often, it has been my mom driving me to and from an airport and waving me off as I stumble through security. This time, I watched as she expertly made her way through security, as if she's flown more than me. 

Last year changed a lot. 

I am super proud of my mom for getting on a plane to come and see me only three months after we've moved. I'm also proud of her for keeping up with my whirlwind tourist tendencies this week (We did a lot. I mean A LOT. We may need another holiday to recover from our 'vacation'.) And I'm incredibly proud of how she has pushed through what was undeniably one of the hardest years of her life. Mother's Day looked a lot different for her this past year. 

One thing remains the same, though. She's the most amazing mom I know. Slippers and all.  

Sock Season

Sock season is nearly upon us. There is a slight morning chill in the air, and even though I'm refusing to give up my sandals at the moment, I know the closed-toed-footwear day is right around the corner. 

And when it arrives, I want to make sure I have enough warm socks to wear. 

Like these. 

 
You may already know that I adore slippers, from this post and this one. Despite my love of slippers, for years I shunned socks (even with non-sandal footwear). Now that I'm making my own, I can't get enough of letting my feet feel fancy in homemade footwear. 

I used the same Patons booklet that I used for these socks and also these. These pink wool socks were knit with the worsted weight pattern.

If you're scared of knitting socks, this booklet is a great step-by-step guide and well worth the few dollars it costs. I purchased mine at a local Michaels store when I first learn to knit socks. 

I'm thinking though, it's time to branch out from the standard, simple pattern. I have some lovely squishy perfect fall sock yarn that is awaiting my attention. I may need to try these Calendula Cable Socks next. What do you think?

#7vignettes Part I

I've mentioned before how much fun I have on Instagram. Ever since I joined the online photo community, it's challenged me to take creative pictures using only my phone. I love seeing what other people around the world creatively post! 

I don't really participate in a ton of hashtag projects (yet!) but I do love playing along with #7vignettes. There are some amazing interior designers taking part mainly in Australia, but people submit their photos from around the world. 

I'm not an interior designer, nor do I live in Australia, but I truly enjoying seeing how other people interpret a one word theme in photos. I tried to not only create and take photos that matched the words, but I also created my own 'travel' theme throughout each of the photos in the seven day series.

I'm a little late in showing you all my first round of pics from August, but here they are:

Of course every photo has a story that's also part of the vignette. You can read Day 1's tea/coffee one here, if you missed it. 

The rest of the vignettes are as follows: 

BEDSIDE:  Bride's-eye-view from the cake topper that never made it to my wedding in South Africa, but arrived months later in the post in America. (The bride and groom still haven't clued me in on where they were all that time...) Also at my bedside: a frame holding an anniversary photo of the Sailor and me, at least one book, and always, without a fail, a glass of water at bedtime. 

WINDOW: Travel offers a window of opportunity to experience other cultures. I often feel as though I'm reflecting on past trips abroad at the same time that I'm planning new adventures. 

ELEGANT: For me, elegance is found somewhere between a train trip on the Orient Express from Budapest, coffee in the dining car, watching the snowfall while writing in my journal, and an African safari, sipping sundowners with the zebras. It's hard to choose... 

MONOCHROME: Vintage lovelies that have both traveled through and stood the test of time. Green is glorious. 

EMOTIONAL: The gamut of emotions I've experienced since the age of 10 have all been recorded in my journals... When words fail sometimes the emotions are simply a tear stain, a ticket stub, a sketch or a photo -- even the crumbling petals of a rose. Even in this age of mobile gadgetry, I still travel with my journal -- 61 journals now line my bookshelf. I'm working my way through number 62. 

HANDMADE: I have my mother to thank for instilling in me a sense of creativity and wonder in everyday objects. She taught me to sew and crochet and she showed me the amazing things you can do with paper and scissors (her pinking shears made the photo cut). Years later, my mother-in-law taught me to knit. She told me to keep the practice square as a memento of that first lesson. (It's in the upper right corner.) I knit the blue sweater soon after. The color reminded me of the Sailor's and my handmade wedding invitations and the oceans that separate two of the most amazing women I know. Handmade with love. 

Blocking on the Cheap

{blocking} *
v.
Definition 1. The thing we knitters sometimes forget to to do at the end of making a sweater. 

Definition 2. The thing we knitters remember to do at the of making a sweater, except we don't have that expensive blocking thingy in order to complete the task, so we still don't bother with it. 

If Definition #1 resonates with you, it's time you learned to block. It really can help to shape your garment at the end of the process. 

If you are in the Definition #2 category, and you don't want to spend oodles of money on a giant blocking pad (or you don't have space for something that large), I have an easy and fairly cheap solution for you. Simply purchase an interlocking child's puzzle play mat and save your money to purchase more yarn. Save your space to store that yarn. 

I purchased mine through an online children's retailer. Their website seems to be totally outdated at the moment, and I couldn't find the actual product any more. However, I did find this one from Overstock, available on Sears website. And if you're a pureist and want an actual knitter's product, KnitPicks sells these. 

You can search yourself for 'puzzle foam mats' or look in stores that sell children's' products. Be cautious of exercise quality and gym mats -- some of them are way overpriced. I certainly didn't pay anymore than $20 for my set, including shipping. The set I got has a total of nine squares that are one square foot each. It's just enough to block one sweater. You may need more than one set if you're going to block a larger garment or a shawl.

No excuses knitters. Start blocking.

* (Craftsy has a great tutorial here if you're wondering what 'blocking' really is...) 

PS: Want more cardigan details? Go here, for the previous post with links to the pattern. 

Goodbye Green?

I'm a little confused about the seasonal change. Stores are already pushing harvest themes, but the temperatures were in the 80s today. I'm not sure when Labor Day became the official start of Fall in America, but I'm sticking with what my calendar says: September 22nd is actually when the autumnal equinox is due to happen. In the meantime, I'm going to keep wearing shorts.

In anticipation of slightly cooler weather though, I decided to start knitting a cotton cardi a few weeks ago. This one in fact. And this weekend, I nearly finished it. Remember this gorgeous green goodness? It's just as beautiful to knit with -- seriously. It's Pima Clasico 100% cotton in 'kiwi' and it feels like butter. I managed to get the lot for half price at my local yarn store. (Resistance was futile.)

This is the first seamless sweater I've ever made. While I usually don't mind seaming up pieces of a sweater (I learned to sew long before I learned to knit!) I did find it a joy to realize that once I finished the sleeves, all I'd have to do is weave in the ends, block it and put a few buttons down the front.

The only downside to seamless knitting is that you can't do the sleeves two-at-a-time to ensure that they are the exact same size, especially if the pattern says to knit to a certain length. This time, I just kept track of my number of rows and made sure I repeated the process exactly on the second sleeve.

I'm happy to report that with all of the actual knitting done at this point, and besides having to rip out a few rows because I forgot a buttonhole, there were no major catastrophes (unlike that last blue cardigan...)

I was also pretty excited to use these lovely double pointed knitting needles. I have a ton of vintage needles that I've acquired cheaply and en masse (so many that I use them for photo projects, like this one) but these are some of my absolute favorite. 

I found them at the 'I Knit Weekender' event in London several years ago. (You can view their London-based shop here.) I happen to be in town the same week that the convention was happening and I found myself staring at rows and rows of yarn, books and needles. These tortoise shell resin double-pointed needles came home with me at a bargain.  

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day! I certainly did, although I'm not quite ready for summer to end just yet -- I love green. I suppose I'll have the cardigan to help me with the transition, in any case.

Talking Squash

I know it's still summer, but let's talk squash for a minute. Before you know it, fall will produce a bounty of butternut squash and if you're anything like me, you'll be swimming in soup and stuffing rather than in the pool. 

Here's a treat that can be enjoyed anytime of the year: knitted squash. I recently whipped up a pair of gourds to turn into Veggie Tales characters for a friend's daughter. She apparently is enthralled with brothers Jimmy and Jerry Gourd from the TV series. 

While there is no shortage of vegetable patterns available on Ravelry, there aren't many specifically for Veggie Tales. Instead, I found this free pattern for butternut squash online. 

I made the Jerry doll using the pattern and a small amount of leftover yarn from my stash. I added crocheted eyes with a french knot in the middle, a crocheted nose, and then I embroidered a little smirk. I also gave them both some eyebrows.

Since Jimmy is slightly plumper, I simply increased a few extra rounds at the bottom, and then made him shorter than his brother.

There's no chance these guys will get turned into soup, but I'm going to bet they'll be squashed and cherished in a toddler's hands for quite a while.

Keeping it Fresh

Every few weeks, I try to add a few extras to my blog, besides simply new posts. A few months back, I sorted out my virtual chaos and joined Bloglovin'. Then I added an Instagram tab where you could follow me through photos I take using only my iPhone. 

Today, I added the LinkWithin widget to the bottom of my posts. I've seen it on multiple other blogs that I've stumbled across, and I liked it since it was easy to see related posts, rather than scrolling through the archives. I hope it's helpful here, too! 

I also (insert drumroll) finally entered this decade and joined Twitter today. I figured it was finally time to see what the fuss is about. The jury is still out on whether I'll use it as much as I do Instagram, but if Twitter's more your thing, you can find me there: typingsunflower. (Apparently Twitter doesn't want me to be a bouquet -- they limit their user name to only 15 characters, so I'll be a solo sunflower there. I'm a little late to the party, but I'm sure I'll catch up soon.)

In addition to all of that excitement, I decided it was high time to give you a little more information about The Sailor. I've added a tab above, to give you a whiff of salty sea air.

And, lest you think I've forgotten all about that gorgeous green yarn that I mentioned last week, I haven't. I found myself busier than usual these past few days with non-crafty projects and I haven't had the chance to cast on for my new knitwear yet. In the meantime, I did at least find a new container to keep it all organized. You can see my latest post on the Pyrex Collective III, along with more pics of that fun summery 1961 Bride's Promo here. 

Finally, I've had a few people ask me how they can follow my blog, without signing up for Bloglovin'. If you'd like to get email updates each time I post to Typing Sunflowers, you can sign up in the box on the right where it says: 'follow the story by email'. Once you enter your email address, hit submit, and then you'll receive a message from Typing Sunflowers. You'll need to open that email and click on the link to verify that you would like to receive updates! (The email may end up in your junk mail folder if your privacy settings are high, so be sure to check there if you don't get an email within 24 hours. That last step ensures that you actually signed up to receive updates in the first place -- otherwise anyone could enter any email address willy nilly.) The emails usually go out early the next morning, after I've posted a new entry.  

Have a great weekend, wherever you are! 

Green Goodness

I have been off the grid for most of the week with a bad cold. Thankfully, the Sailor was still around to bring me chicken soup and hot tea. I feel a little spoiled sometimes because I get to have him around for two months at a time. (Nevertheless, summertime sickness stinks!)

I didn't even have the energy to knit anything (!) this week. I'm feeling much better though, so I'm eyeballing this delicious green cotton yarn and planning on sitting on the porch and starting a cardigan over the weekend. 

 What are your weekend plans?

Crocheted Bobbles

I know I said that knitting and crochet are generally equal in my book in this recent post. When it comes to bobbles however, in my world, crocheting them wins hands down. I knit the sheep bobbles, but they seemed to take forever to me, compared to crocheting them. Maybe they're easier to knit for some people.

Here's a sneak peak of the crochet bobbles I've been working on lately:

I'm anxiously awaiting a package in the mail so that I can finish the last little bit. I will share the pattern source and the finished project with you in a forthcoming post, but in the meantime, here's another pic to keep you guessing: 

 Any guesses as to what I'm making?

 

 

Knitting versus Crochet?

One of the best things about moving somewhere new is trying out the local flavor of everything. I was pretty stoked to discover a Local Yarn Shop (LYS) within a few miles of my new home. 

Previously, my LYS was about a 30 minute drive away. Admittedly, I usually purchased yarn at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Joanne's, which were all within a three-mile radius of my old home. I also ordered yarn online, on occasion. Every now and again though, I'd drive all the way to the LYS. The last time I was in there, I brought a friend. She wanted me to make a gift for someone else and we needed time to think about the yarn. (Read: we needed to browse -- without distraction.)

The owner would have none of it. She hemmed and hawed and hovered -- flat out telling me I was in the wrong section of yarn for what I planned to make (despite my pleas that I was simply BROWSING...) She carried on with telling me that no pattern would have me make anything out of two different weights of yarn (Oh really? Tell that to the sheep.) 

At this point, I had about $50 worth of yarn in my hand. It wasn't even for the project I  planned to make -- it was for myself! We still planned to buy the yarn for my friend's project. But the LYS was so bent on telling us what we couldn't make, that in the end, I got so annoyed with the woman, I pulled my friend aside, threw the yarn back on the shelf, and told her we were leaving.  

To this day, I've never been back there. (Note to LYS owners: please let customers browse.)

Thankfully, my new LYS is a little friendlier and they appear to be less bossy. I've been in the store several times already, and my wallet knows it. This week, I went in looking for yarn to crochet a bag. The older lady was super helpful -- offering me a range of yarns, and sensing my hesitation over the price, actually convinced me to purchase a cheaper range -- and then she let me continue to browse the rest of the shop. 

As I continued browsing, however, she and her young colleague embroiled themselves in a discussion over the merits of knitting versus crochet. I can't be sure, but I think what set them off was a knitting magazine that published a crochet pattern. 

Heaven forbid. 

Knitting versus crochet is a long-standing debate. They both serve their place in my crafting world. I'm always thankful that I know how to do both. (If you could see the ladies at my previous knitting club... some of whom had knit for YEARS, struggling to crochet, you'd understand.) 

But the young thing casting on what appeared to be a lace shawl, vehemently slagged off crochet, right as I stood behind her eyeballing the yarn for my bag. (Did I mention I was CROCHETING a bag?!) She made accusations that crochet garments are ugly (occasionally true... if you're looking at a 1970s magazine, but nowadays often false), you can't do cables with crochet (false), and that crochet takes up twice as much yarn (false - it takes up slightly more yarn than knitting, but twice as much is a gross exaggeration). 

While the conversation annoyed me, I can kind of understand. I made up my mind to relearn crochet before I ever wanted to knit. Frankly, knitting scared the pants off of me -- all of that talk about dropping stitches... and wielding two or even FOUR sticks? No thank you... I was going to crochet ONLY.  

My anti-knitting campaign was short-lived. I found a set of knitting needles at a thrift store only a few months later, and somehow I was so mesmerized by the thought of knitting that I decided to buy them on a whim. 

Knitting versus crochet? I couldn't tell you which I prefer. It depends on the season, the item I'm making, and even the yarn. Right now I'm knitting a shawl and crocheting a bag. Both give me pleasure (although the shawl less so at the moment simply because I messed up on it and it's taking me forever to figure out where the mistake happened.) 

But back to the LYS. The girl was actually so rude that I thought she must just be a visitor sitting there knitting with the employee, so I excused her behavior. However, she rang out my purchase! 

I almost said something to her. I almost said she should watch what she says... she could lose some valuable crochet customers. I've heard of LYS stores who are quite rude to crocheters -- and I don't understand why. Why would you alienate a craft that could easily spend more money than your average knitter on yarn? (You've already substantiated the claim that crocheting takes more yarn than knitting... so clearly we crocheters may end up plonking down more cash!) 

But I bit my tongue, made my purchase and smiled as she told me she liked the color I ended up choosing. I thought the next time she's working, I hope she'll notice my cool crocheted bag. Maybe I can teach her to crochet cables in the future.

The Patient Shawl

I'm still sorting out the craft boxes around here, and in the meantime, I've been working on my go-to knitting project: Citron Grand. I mentioned it in this post a long time ago. This week I laughed at myself because it really is taking me forever to finish this thing. It's my first lace project ever and I definitely underestimated how much longer it takes to knit thin yarn versus thick.

Then I remembered that the Sailor helped me to wind ALL of the yarn for the project before our cruise... minutes before we needed to leave for the airport. (I insisted we wind and pack ALL of it.)

 

This too made me laugh, because I barely put a dent in this project on that ship.

Well, I've been back on land for several months and the dent is slightly bigger. I did manage to eek in a few rows during that knitting retreat a few months back and over the past few days, I got a whole other section done. 

And then something horrible happened. Somehow I couldn't get the yarn up over the circular needle 'hump'. (Those of you using cheap-o needles will know what I mean. Those of you who have splurged on sensible needles: I commend you for your choice. May I please borrow your size 6 for this project?) 

Maybe my tension was too tight -- who knows.

All I know is that somehow, the yarn started felting and sticking together and it was next to impossible to get any of the yarn over the hump. 

 
This morning, I spent a good hour trying to fix the mistake by ripping back about 8 rows worth of work. (Hundreds of stitches per row. Hundreds.) I sat on the patio, drank too much coffee, and willed this thing to heal on its own. 

I also reminded myself to be a little more patient. With temperatures reaching near 100 today, I certainly don't need to finish this thing anytime soon. 
 
Knitting has definitely taught me patience. Just when I want to give up on something, I realize that some things take longer than others. Like this shawl. Like moving somewhere totally new. Not everything will happen right away. I still feel like there's so much to do and to sort out in our new home, but I have to remind myself that it doesn't have to all happen TODAY.  Or even tomorrow for that matter.