‘taming the tails’

i haven’t doneIMG_0525crop a video

since ‘the fiber factor ended’,

but on monday the 7th,

the tohutohu mystery kal,

in collaboration with

and sponsored by lys

‘string theory yarn company’,

begins and so i made this new video tutorial to go along with clue #1.

you don’t have to be part of the m-kal

to find this helpful.

you just have to be a person for whom

yarn tails are awkward or frustrating to deal with on your works in progress.

so here’s me, in the dappling late afternoon sun,

out by the old chicken coop (that held squawking chickens when i was growing up).

it’s not a perfect video. it’s not meant to be,

just a warm weather afternoon conversation between two knitters

(aka: me and you).

hope that you find it helpful or it makes you smile, or both.

schooled

we all remember,

the #2 pencils, in classic school bus yellow, right?

i still buy my kids new packs for school each fall.

the thing is, that when you write with them

you don’t feel the edges

of the hexagonal shape, you only feel

the control you have of the overall pencil.

now, i’d tried square knitting needles.

a friend liked them and raved about the control she felt over the stitches

when using them.

i used them for a bit,

but they always felt ‘square’ in my hands.

i could feel the four edges against my fingers as i worked with them.

never could really get used to that feeling.

the extra control i felt of the stitches using them was so great,

that i was sad to lose it when i went back to regular round needles,

but, the squareness through me.

then this past january

i met pam and her husband in their booth at vklive.

the company name intrigued me (indian lake artisans)IMG_0441sat

and they had needles and yarn out to test, so i knit a little.

i expected to feel the edges, just like with the square needles,

but i truly didn’t.

i giddily tried some yo’s and ssk’s.

sure enough, the control was there in spades.

i walked around the exhibit floor a bit more and came back

just to be sure that my wanting them to be wonderful

wasn’t coloring my vision of their reality.

2nd, and 3rd time around

(i am so not an impulse buyer),

they felt just as nice in my hands and i had all that extra grip, too.

i bought a pair of size 10’s on the spot

and used them, and my yarnit,

to knit a little hat in cey chateau over the course of the weekend.

sometimes it all just comes together.

these needles feel to me like finding an old friend in a stranger.

that’s rare, i know,

but when it happens, it’s gold!

if you want to buy yourself a pair

to see that what i’m talking about is true,

use the code ‘talitha’ (all lowercast letters) at checkout

on the indian lake artisans website and they’ve agreed to give us all free shipping.

i’ll be placing my order by the end of the week…

‘vision’ taken from 20:8 of job.

gifting

i do not spin.

i have no desire to learn.

this in no way keeps me from swooning over handspun yarn.

the way the thin strands get plied together,

causing the colors to intertwine…

i’m fascinated.

last weekend karen of seven sisters arts

was at lys in the loop while a group of us were sitting and knitting.

her yarns are gorgeous.

i could have listened to her chat about how and why she dyes

what she dyes all afternoon.

i did get a couple of skeins of ‘corona’

(more on that later),

but then her roving caught my eye.  in particular

this one colorway that ran from purple at one end, through pinks and

into orangey tones at the opposite end.

again, i do not spin,

my friend sharon does, though.

since it was just barely past my birthday,

she agreed that if i bought the roving, she would spin it up for me.

that was an easy ‘absolutely yes!’.

now, once sharon sets

her mind to something, it’s best to stand back and stay out of her way.

she’s fast and she’s skilled.

just a week later,

and an 1/8 of it has gone from roving to handspun.

ssa roving to handspunit’s 12 to 16 wpi, but i’m swatching with size 8 needles.

do you know why so large a size?

so i can use the indian lake artisan needles that i have here.

ha. that’s why.

not wanting to use anything else.

guess i need some more sizes, and soon.

‘stretch’ taken from 11:13-15 of job.

touchy feely

i’m still in ‘pondering’ mode,

still trying to find the words to explain just why

the indian lake artistans needles

have struck such a chord with and in me.

you know how sometimes, something fades away,

but so slowly, that you don’t realize it’s gone

until you get a glimpse of when it was still around

and then the ‘missing it’ is sort of fierce?

i feel like that (if it makes any sense at all).

i took this quick shot today and posted it over on instagram.

IMG_0345urbsee how the warm tones of the wool and the wood

make the foreground of the photo look all cozy and welcoming?

while at the very same time, all the ‘other stuff’

(in this case, the things waiting to be taken care of on the kitchen island)

sort of fade into the background?

that’s how i feel knitting with these maple needles in hand.

it’s like i’m in the foreground of the photo and the ‘stuff’ has just faded away.

now don’t get me wrong, i’ll knit with almost anything.

(i’ve used pencils and bobby pins for cable needles in a pinch)

and i always enjoy it,

but there’s some other layer to the process.

it’s a layer i had when i first started knitting,

and it got lost in all the ‘stuff’.

then somehow with these handcrafted wooden needles in my hands,

it’s not lost anymore.

that’s what i couldn’t find clear words to say yesterday.

i’m not sure that i’ve succeeded at being any clearer than mud

about it here today, but there it is.

now, i hope you enjoy your knitting tonight as much as

i know i’m going to enjoy mine.

‘feelings’ taken from 29:11 of proverbs.

tipsy

when i was a new knitter,

i used wooden needles.  bamboo to be exact.

it’s true that i like the feel of wood and stone, of solid natural things.

i like to keep these things around me. just always have.

then i got a taste of the sharper tips on addi and chiaogoo needles.

i found it oh so hard to go back

to the rounder tips of the bamboo

after that, especially for any kind of stitches

that were to be manipulated

(like lace or cables).

so, i went on with the ease of the metal needles.

the knitting was faster and smoother going,

even if the metal did feel cold and dull in my hands.

then this january, i discovered the handcrafted circular needles

that indian lake artisans creates.IMG_0655sat

these tips rival the lace tips on my addis,

and the feel of the wooden needles in my hands is a bond,

a connection, that my chiaogoos can’t give me.

so far, i own 3 sets of these circular needles

and a set of double points as well.

love them.

i love them all.

there is much more to these, much more i want to say

because these needles make me happier to knit with

than anything else i’ve used in a very long time.

so, i’ll continue tomorrow,

but i do want to say this one last thing today:

indian lake artisans has agreed to give you free shipping

if you use the code ‘talitha’ (all lowercase letters) at checkout.

maybe i’ll have to take advantage of the code

to get a few more sets myself…

did i say how i love these?

i so do.

‘agreed’ taken from 3:3 of amos.

living

congrats to ‘holly of oregon’

who won the nice and knit lifesaver stitch markers.IMG_0600satbecause i love surprises (who doesn’t love surprises?)

i’m thowing in a couple of small tip books, too

(because who doesn’t love tips?).

if you had your heart set on these markers,

you can jump on over to nice and knit to get your own set.

and in the next month or so,

the ‘kelp’ cardi

that i’m currently using my set

of these stitch markers on, will be a real

and final pattern.  then you’ll be wanting some

nice and knit yarn of your own.

trust me, it’s fab.

‘living’ taken from 12:10 of job.

savoring

as if knitting with

the ‘kelp’ worsted from nice & knit

isn’t amazing enough, i bought a tin of their

‘lifesaver’ stitch markers. they’re the ones i was talking about

back over here.

in their generosity,

katie and kara, threw in an extra tin of markers

so i could give it away to one of you.IMG_0493crop

yeah!  how i love to know that one of you will be extra happy

to win such a sweet treat.

to enter to win, go and check out all the

rich, vibrant colors that the gals have dyed up,

then leave a comment below

telling me which color you’d most want to

have with you

if you were stuck on a desert island

and you could only have one colorway (oh horror!).

ready? go!

(you have until tuesday at noon,

eastern standard time,

to leave your

choice.

i’ll pick a winner by rng

and announce it here that same day, by 5pm).

can’t wait to read what color and why…’

‘island’ taken from 27:25-27 of acts.

first and last

nothing feels better to me than

casting on and working the first few stitches of a new design.

nothing, that is, except having gotten through all the joy of the knitting

to the very last few stitches.

here they are, the last ones, with the math and the sweatIMG_9202unsatand the wondering if it will really work or not

behind me.

new pattern (and color photos) coming soon

just in time for tnna on may 30th.

‘wondering’ taken from 24:21 of genesis.

on the box

first go back and read the very end

of this post (like the last 4 or 5 lines).

il_570xN.765395143_6vv02now, some things seem to go achingly slow.

i have this great yarn and a sweater

design-in-progress

that i have knit and unknit 3 times now.

i want it to be all that it can be,

and it’s just not that yet.

other things go surprisingly fast.il_570xN.765394729_r755

i say that because

as of today

there are 4 new knitter’s tins

in the sexy knitter’s shop

(or them sold as a set of all 4).

now lookit, they have my very own knitting on them!

il_570xN.765272808_h7b0yup, true fact. but 2 weeks ago

that was just a dream.

wow-ee!

you can check them out here.

they’re only available for the month of may.

after that you’d have to talk you local yarn store into

buying them wholesale to get one.

i’ve got 1 of all 4 coming my way next weekil_570xN.765395975_aye0

(how could i not?).

3 have the sayings on them,

but one is just knitting.

you have that option, too.

i’ll post more photos

once mine arrive.  for now i just keep clicking on the link

to see them all there in a row of listings

being absolutley real.

so yet again,

wow-ee.

‘dream’ taken from 5:3 of ecclesiastes.