On Point

I just finished listening to the On Point with Tom Ashbrook podcast called the Resurgence of Knitting. Franklin Habit and Susan Strawn are both interviewed and I found it quite fascinating. You can find it on iTunes or here.

New Stash

I spent all day Friday at Madrona Fiber Festival soaking in as much information about Fair Isle Yoke Sweaters as humanly possible, for me anyway. After class I headed over to the marketplace and did a small amount of shopping. This year I took cash with me and had no plan except to not go over my cash budget. It worked! I'm happy with my small pile of purchases and plotting what to make with them. My favorite new thing is handspun from Spincycle up in Bellingham. I always look at their stuff but have never purchased any. I picked up a skein of chunky weight Polworth in Rusted Rainbow. I also snagged a skein of worsted weight BFL in Greed that is far more acidly yellow than my camera accounts for and very soft. My friend, Ariel, went to the market on Thursday and picked up a skein (by request) of GothSocks in a red/black colorway called Imma Bitch. Fun! I heard that the booth was swamped on Thursday at market opening and I'm glad I put in a request since she had practically nothing left by Friday afternoon. Last but not least, I won a door prize for a Fly Designs gift certificate and spent it on a skein of Cashmara in Blood Red. Cashmara is a super soft sock weight yarn in a 80 superwash merino/10 cashmere/10 nylon blend. I believe it's going to be the Gambit scarf from One Skein Sock
Yarn Wonders.

Final Stretch

If you've read much of my blog at all you know that I'm an avid fan of knit designer Cecily Glowik MacDonald. A few weeks ago she added a project to Ravelry called 'My Big Cowled Friend' and I began to pattern stalk. Last week sometime she added the pattern to Ravelry and I bought the pattern, picked out some yarn, and cast on. The pattern is Hollyhock and I am in loooove. It's a top-down sweater that starts with an enormous cowl. My Imperial Stock Ranch Columbia 2-ply is ultra squishy and sheepy and is a pleasure to knit with for the last long stretch of stockinette body. I'm hoping to finish this weekend with photos shortly thereafter.

Leoponails

My new favorite blog about fashion has a cool post on leopard print nails or "leoponails". They look completely awesome!

She also mentions: knit hot pants, bow ties, harem pants, top knots, and print mixing.

Oh, and fashion that looks like lady parts. I am not the only one with a mind like a pervy twelve year old boy.

Chadwick

My new favorite shawl, Chadwick, has been my constant companion the last few days. The colors are cheerful and the mix of stockinette, stripes, and garter make it fun to wear.

Pattern: Chadwick by Stephen West from West Knits Book 1 (also available as a single pattern pdf download in Ravelry)
Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy Sock Yarn in Pewter Monochrome & Sundara Sock Yarn in Toasted Orange over Pistachio
Needles: US #5 Addi Turbo Lace
Mods: None. Knit just as written and blocked to measurements.

Between the two skeins I may have enough yarn left to knit a pair of socks.