Happy Knit Year!

Happy New Year!

Many thanks to all of you who visited over the past year. I can't believe the year is hours away from being over. Of course, truth be told, I am looking forward to turning a new page. This year, I learned a lot about my self and I would like to think I became a better knitter.
My mom had my brother and I write goals every year for as long as I can remember, and of course that stuck with me. Here are my knitting goals for the year. Happy New Year to one and all!

• Knit a cabled sweater
• Knit the Spencer Sideways Redux sweater
• Knit a pair of socks
• Actually write down a pattern
• Work my way through my stash
• Spend less than $50 a month on yarn until I have worked my way through my stash.
  

Eryka

Question of the Week Winner! Rooie

Please join me in congratulating Rooie, author of Two Pointy Sticks and a Heck of Alot of String blog, in winning the Question of the Week contest. She will receive a $25.00 gift certificate to KnitPicks. Many thanks to all of you who participated! As promised, the information you shared will be put to good use....I promise...you will just have to check back to see how!

What I learned in Knitting School Today

Hi,

New Colorway
Karen sent around an email today: "I was just looking at the Jimmy Beans Wool website (my favorite online yarn shop). They have their own limited edition colorways of Lornas Laces Yarns: the new colorway is called Roadside Gerry, after Annie Modesitt's husband Gerry." This is part of a new special collection called Color Commentary. Others featured in the collection include Franklin Habit (Panopticon) , and Amy Singer (Knitty).

If you have a minute, drop Annie a line.

Stop Fraying - NOOOOO!
I made a scarf for colleague that I have really enjoyed working with over the past few months and it turned out really pretty. I made it out of baby alpaca, so it is super soft and has a wonderful drape. Only problem is when I weaved in the ends they kept slipping out.

So I fixed that. Stop Fraying. Yep, I put glue on it.





So now it looks like someone used the ends of it to clean their nose. I was mortified! So, resigned to my fate, I decided go buy more yarn this evening and start over. My mom, being the practical person she is, suggested that I just cover up the "markings" with flowers. That will save me a lot of work!

Etc.
If you would be so kind as to visit Knitsy you will read a new profile of a fabu shop called Day of the Head.

As promised, I will post the winner of the question of the week tomorrow. Have a Happy New year. We can discuss our knitting goals next!

Bye!

Now this is just wrong...Knitting for Psychos

Recently, I saw a picture of Russell Crowe knitting, which of course totally amazed me. And after doing a little more searching, I found out that it was an urban legend.

So that got we wondering about other urban legends in the fiber community. Well, I haven't found very many, but I did find...this creative site from Slightly Warped, under the heading "Knitting for Psychos." Yes, these are knit...objects. Visit if you like.

I simply couldn't resist this one..

Here are some pics of Kobe falling asleep on my lap.

Kobe at Christmas

Since Ava is in Korea with her mom (my SL Jane) until mid January, my family and I are going to celebrate Christmas when they get back in late January. We will actually be celebrating three events: Christmas, my mom's birthday, and the inauguration.

So, while I still have a holiday to look forward to, I have had a very quite, knit-filled week. I did get a present for Kobe and, boy, did he have fun with it!

His first present was the card board roll that is left over after you have used all of the paper towels. You would have thought I had given his prime rib! He had so much fun tossing that thing around the house, waving it back and forth and of course chewing on it.

When I told my mom about it, she remarked that I should have gotten him something more. So I did.

Yesterday, I went out and got him a $10 dog toy. He carried it around for about five minutes

... then went back to playing with his paper towel roll. what can I say? He knows what he likes!

Knitsy! Question of the Week: Craft Shows

Sunday, December 28 is the last day to enter the content. Thanks to all who have participated thus far.

Do you go to craft shows? If so, which ones?
Also, do you go as an exhibitor or as an attendee? Tell us why?

Eryka


P.S. - I forgot to mention this earlier, all respondents will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Gift Card from Knit Picks! The drawing will be held on December 31.

MKG Guild Meeting vs the Snow

While it is only Tuesday, I have missed two knitting events this week. On Monday night, we had our knitting group meeting, but unfortunately, I had to go to Little Falls, Minnesota for a check presentation with a colleague.

Tonight was actually the Minnesota Knitters Guild meeting, and I was so looking forward to going. Especially since I missed last night. Unfortunately it started snowing this afternoon and I had a choice: battle the traffic and go to the guild meeting or go home. Well, the snow won and I came home.

I posted another entry on Knitsy. Check out as well if you have a mind to do so. Thanks!

Eryka

Knitsy ( A New Portal for Knitters on Etsy)

Hi,


Yes, I started another site, but I really need your help with this one! As new member of Etsy, I noticed something. It can be hard for a knitter to get noticed, so I thought it would be a good idea to create a portal where people can go when they are looking for handmade knit garments, but they don't want to wade through tons of other wonderfully handcrafted items to get to the knits.

Plus, when items are listed on Etsy they appear in the order in which they were posted, which is not bad, but it certainly decreases the window in which your audience can see your wares. So I started Knitsy. So if you are a knitter and you have an Etsy Shop, please drop me a line - eryka@spareroomknits.com - and I will add profile you on my new site. I have one up now and I plan to add as many as I can, these are the shops that I think are interesting or sell really killer garments. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Eryka

Knitting Joke

I thought this one was so funny that I had to share it with you all. Many thanks to Anacleta Knits.

"A woman is knitting as she drives (which is totally unsafe, and I don't advocate it). Pretty soon, her speed has crept all the way up to 95 mph--and she passes a parked police car. The car gives chase. Officer Bob turns on his siren, but the woman, oblivious, doesn't notice him. Finally, he pulls up alongside her car and yells, "Pull over! PULL OVER!"

She looks at him, looks at her knitting, and yells--

"NO! It's a CARDIGAN!"

The Longest Bind Off!

Hi,

I'm sure we have all experienced it. We are a mere step from finishing a project when something new catches the eye. I finished binding off this scarflette on Monday but I need to do the final crochet trim. And yet...here it sits, underneath the third project I have started since them. Why do we do this? Is it the thrill of creating something new?

I should just suck it up and finish this tonight. In fact, I think I shall.

Eryka

Stopped in for Needles...and Discovered Fur!

On my way home from work yesterday, I stopped into Needlework Unlimited to pick up a pair of size 10 and 11 circulars with a 36 inch cord to accommodate some larger projects, and I was immediately seduced by the fiber!

Right now - through December 10, they are having a trunk show of Paula Lishman's Fur Yarn!

This is a great opportunity to not only touch the sumptuous yarn celebrated on Sex and the City, you can also buy neat little scarf or poncho kits and whip up a fabulous gift for someone special ( read: yourself!) . But remember, the trunk show will only last a few more days, so get in there while you can!

As for me, I had to be satisfied with touching. Instead I purchased a skein of Twinkle Soft Chunky yarn in Raspberry and a lovely variegated yarn from the new Plymouth fall line called Expressions.

In fact, I forgot my camera so, I had to go back tonight to take pictures of the fur yarn. During this trip, I picked up a couple of skeins of Rowan Biggy Print in two colorways, Biscuit and Thunder. I think they will make some fun neck warmers.

See Ya,
Eryka

Knitting in Bombay..Bistro

Last night several ladies from our knitting group met for our "first Monday" knitting night at Bombay Bistro, which I think is the best Indian Restaurant in the Twin Cities. It was a small group of us, so we really got to connect with each other:

• 
  Liz worked on a beautiful rippled pattern baby afghan
  
• Leslie & Carrie worked on sweaters
  
• Peggy worked on a a cabled shrug in a fabulously expensive alpaca yarn from Peru
  
• Christine (Peggy's daughter) worked on a teal cardigan with a love honeycomb cable pattern. Of course she also served as the resident expert and help both Carrie and Leslie resolve some issues they were having with their projects
  
• And I worked on this new neckwarmer...Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and I didn't get pictures of any of it!

But it was after dinner that the magic really started. What started as standard conversation, evolved into an actual meaningful discussion about race and inclusion in the U.S. Now, I have engaged in these conversations in the past, but there was something different about this one.

Primarily, I felt as if defenses were lowered: everyone was willing to listen and everyone was willing to share. I really learned something last night. I never understood how hard it is for White Americans to even begin to deal with issues of race. It was a painful conversation, but it was a good one. I feel much closer to the women in my knitting group and I feel I am a better person for it.

Eryka