Clapotis II

This is Clap #2 and the first one I've knit for myself. The colors are washed out in the photo but in reality it's much darker - more blackish bluish than lavender-gray. The yarn is BMFA Luscious Silk in the Thraven colorway from the Raven series. I knit it with a little less than two balls and made it slightly narrower and much longer. It's my new favorite thing I've made for myself.

The new podcast is up here and it should be up on iTunes soon. Sorry it took so long, circumstances arose between the two of us and things have been hectic. Enjoy.

Covet! Wednesday

Blue Moon Fiber Arts has some gorgeous new colorways since they've redone their site. I'm a big fan of Typhoon Tina but Purple Rain and Rolling Stone are right up there in covetousness. Is that because of the name or the colorway? I'd say both, I'm still waiting on a Bowie-inspired colorway to rock my socks.

Madrona Loot

I'm still reeling from Madrona. Got up at 7 am grabbed a giant macchiato with an extra shot and drove myself down to Tacoma in time for my 9am class - Lace Basics with Evelyn Clark. This was my first knitting class in the less-than-a-year I've been knitting plus it was my first Fiber Festival/Retreat of any kind. A little overwhelming at first and my mind is still wrapping itself around everything I learned in class: old norwegian cast on, splicing yarn 4 different ways for different fibers, and how lace charts work and how to read them. I'm not going to run out and start knitting shawls right away (I prefer stoles anyhow) but I feel like I have good information and some great advice on techniques to get me started. I like Evelyn a lot and felt really comfortable asking her questions and fondling the shawls she passed around the class. Incredibly beautiful stuff and a great aid for teaching, besides who doesn't like to show off their knitting accomplishments? Class was really great for me and it made me want to return next year and take a few classes and stay the night and totally immerse myself in knitting. Drool.

After lunch with some of the ladies from my knitting group we trotted on over to the market place where a bit of damage was done to ye olde pocketbook. I reigned myself in a bit and only looked at things I couldn't pick up at my LYS. Blue Moon Fiber Arts broke me down and I picked up a skein of sock yarn from the Raven Clan Series and two skeins of Luscious (100% silk) for a Clapotis. The icing on the cake was Tactile - a fiber arts studio from the Bay Area that does naturally dyed yarns and fiber. I think I touched every skein in her booth and ended up with two skeins of sock yarn to make a stole of some sort. The woman running the booth was so nice and we chatted about natural dyes and how they work and I gushed over how intense and varied and beautiful the colors came out. I can't wait for their online shop to open, I think they're a new favorite. All in all I had a fabulous time and can't wait for next year to immerse myself in learning new things and buying new yarn.

In with the In Crowd

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Blue Moon Fiber Arts just opened up their 2008 Rockin' Sock Club for registration at 10am (PST) this morning. I printed out that membership form and stuck it in the work mail within nanoseconds. I'm pretty sure the hairs on my arms stood up and I might have suffered a slight heart attack. This is heady stuff, I have now attained (if everything goes right) the holy grail of sock clubs. Now I just have to wait it out until January when the first shipment comes. It's a good thing I have some (read, a crapload) of knitting to do until then. Oh, and the Holidays are coming up too.

In other news Jessica is on Stash and Burn this episode so check it out. FYI, I'm feeling pretty darn lucky about my knitting group and the rockstar knitters who are a part of it.