The Horror of It All

It's hard to fathom, but we're awash in Koigu. She sent more than I asked for, so we're inundated. 621 new skeins of KPPPM and over 100 of Kerstie (some got backordered), plus patterns. I'm sure we'll have some slutty picture of all of the yarn up shortly, but at least it's here. Oh, and we got some India Ribbon in today in three new colors, while the rest were backordered again). The joy of the KPPPM is that only 163 skeins are from full dye codes (20-23 skeins each)--the remainder is batches of sixes to tens across countless colorways. Mmmmmmmmmmm. That means we now have over 1,300 skeins of KPPPM on hand. That rules.

Manna For My Eyes

From the UPS main page, I present to you ............ The Voyage of Koigu

Date	Time	Location	Activity
Sep 10, 2003	6:53 A.M.	COLUMBUS, IN	OUT FOR DELIVERY
	6:00 A.M.	COLUMBUS, IN	ARRIVAL SCAN
	4:11 A.M	LOUISVILLE, KY	DEPARTURE SCAN
	1:31 A.M.	LOUISVILLE, KY	IMPORT SCAN
Sep 8, 2003	8:53 P.M	MOUNT HOPE, ON	EXPORT SCAN
	7:12 P.M	OWEN SOUND, ON	EXPORT SCAN
	7:11 P.M	OWEN SOUND, ON	ORIGIN SCAN
Sep 5, 2003	7:06 P.M	OWEN SOUND, ON	EXPORT SCAN
	7:05 P.M	OWEN SOUND, ON	ORIGIN SCAN
Sep 4, 2003	12:17 P.M	CA	Billing Information Rec’d

We tend to see our driver between 11 a.m. and 12 noon, but he has mentioned the possibility of coming by earlier in the morning, if he has the chance. I have to give him major props, as we've been getting a ton of new stuff in for the past couple weeks and he's still got a very cheery disposition---after I profusely apologize for the increase in his traffic on this route, his parting comment is always "it means job security for me--I don't mind". Now there's a winning attitude! Cheers to UPS drivers everywhere! Especially when they're laden with goodies from yarn companies.

Tuesday, the Busy Day

On Sunday I introduced you to the new ladies around these parts, directly from beautiful downtown Rochester, Minnesota (Two Old Bags headquarters is there). The gals have been getting around quite a bit of late, with one headed to Mississauga, Ontario; another up to Franklin, Indiana; and a few more to Edenton, North Carolina; Hope, Indiana; and even two making the trek to Floyds Knobs (outside of Louisville--yes, it's a real town in Indiana). I tell ya, these gals are on the loose! Beware for sightings near you, or have us send some your way.

Eva (my great knitting buddy and friend extraordinaire) took a Lucy Bag home with her on Sunday, reported being on round 75 on Monday morning, and checked back in today with a finished project. She's proud to announce that her Lucy was the debutante at the Rotary Club meeting in Franklin today. Eva scares me at times, having produced an entire felted bag in a few hours (she works full time as well, mind you--she's the Wendy of felted bag knitting. So I present to you, in fine finished format, the shorter (not tall) ball bag version of Lucy, completed barely 36 hours after Eva picked up the pattern


Completed with just a tish more than two skeins of Cascade 220 in 9412, Scottish Tweed (she used just a tiny bit of her third skein and thinks she could alter it to make it in two skeins, but remember, your mileage may vary......individual tension is just that). It's a beauty of a bag and I see why it's a popular pattern. VERY GOOD JOB, EVA!!!!!

Last night was Sock-It-To-Me in Bloomington, and I had to start yet another sock. We're contemplating doing the "strong heel socks" from KNITTER'S, so I started mine. Plus it was a good excuse to work up something in the new Handpainted Wildfoote we got in last month. We have all five colorways, and I had wanted to knit with this one right away (this or Rhapsody, a combination of blues and purples) to see how it worked up. I like it better than any other rainbow yarn I've worked with to date, and I think the smooth stockinette part of the sock is quite pretty. Check it out for yourself


The sock is no different form any other cuff-down sock you've ever knit until you get to the end of the leg--there's no heel flap and the heel turn is different and supposedly thicker/reinforced through the use of a new technique. I'll see about that.......and report back, of course.

It's a busy Tuesday because we've had a steady stream of folks in and out, the UPS man brought us three boxes but the Koigu is held up in customs overnight (but will be in Louisville tonight and here in the morning), and Matt's attempting to paint in the Saigon room today (he primed yesterday and changed paint color today, so paint will go up shortly). And yes, I said we received boxes today....three of them--another HUMONGOUS box from Cascade (on the heels of two boxes yesterday) and two boxes of Lana Grossa yarns. Behold


Of all of the new Lana Grossa we received today, I think these are my favorite


That is Telaio Print, an amazingly fun yarn that is a railroad yarn with a strand of fuzzy chenille-like stuff wound in and out. I've already coveted a ball of it to turn into a scarf tonight at the Nashville (Indiana) knit night at the public library. Between the sparkly goodness of the railroad part and the fuzzy fun of the other strand wound inside, it should make a very unique finished project. And get this--the yarn is only $9 retail ($8.10 from us). Too fun! The other thing I want to covet from the box is the new Meilenweit 100g balls of sockyarn that came (I wish I had them last night when I started the strong heel socks, so I could play with THAT new stuff, too....). I like the five colors that came in today of the jacquard print yarn--and a ball should make a pair of socks. It's going to be $10.80 from us ($12 retail). Too fun!
If you're in the area and not too busy around 7 p.m., join us at the library in Nashville. We'd love to have you join this recently-organized and fun group of knitters. Until tomorrow (when the SEVENTY ONE pounds of Koigu arrive.............)...thanks for reading!

And Now For A Public Service Announcement

Before I get on to the meat of today's post (and some serious braggin' on folks), I should share these two snippets with you. I've been touting two new publications, The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville and the most-recent issue of Knitter's Magazine, as I think Sally has some fantastic designs (clear back to her Sally Melville Styles book) and this issue of Knitter's is the best one in over two years (it doesn't hurt that my favorite type of knitting is texture/Aran/cable stuff). But, as with many knitting publications, there's always something that slips by the eye of those who've become so familiar with it from having read it for the past 463 months. (I'm no stranger to this....my dissertation has a glaring error on page 57, where I'm discussing the results of some statistics I ran on different types of cognitive style preferences I used for my experiment, and there's a diagram that shows results on all five; instead of describing the analyst style, I refer to it on the bottom of the chart as the analist style, and it escaped the watchful eyes of six different folks other than myself---my entire committee AND my partner at the time). So I'm rather forgiving about some typos, with good reason.......

Purl Stitch--the bottom of p. 19 ends with (for example, and the top of p. 20 starts a new sentence. The sentence should end:

(for example, across an entire unshaped shoulder), then bind off the second piece on a right-side row also.

Knitter's--the far right column on p. 36 is just plain wrong for turning the heel. Print this off (cut/paste) and replace the text in the magazine with this:

Turn Heel

Work short rows 1-4 as foll:
Row 1 (RS) K across first dpn (center of heel); k1, ssk, k1, turn work.
Row 2 Sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 3 Sl 1, k4, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 4 Sl 1, p5, p2tog,p1, turn.

Back to my point today--some serious braggin. Tonight is our monthly "Sock-It-To-Me" sock knitting group, held over in Bloomington (our former digs) at a great Barnes & Noble. We invade their tables area around 7 p.m. and revel in the joy of socks. There's always a group knit-along (they pick the project/pattern one month, then we get busy the next month) and there's also folks who come and do their own thing, knitting whatever sock they want. It matters not which camp you're part of, as any sock knitting is good knitting! Last year, in July, the group project was "holiday stockings", with most folks picking something out of a book they got from us, "Holiday Stockings: 18 Treasures to Knit", which has patterns for Aran, felted, gansey, Bavarian, whimsical, pet, mini, and various other ethnic and fun designs. It's a great book and I've made several things out of it. But one of our friends, Patsy (spinning guru around these parts) took on a great project--a scandic design for her husband (that's his heritage) to replace a childhood stocking long since gone. Well, many months of knitting in secret (it was to be a surprise for Jim) yielded this amazing finished project


Mind you, that's knitted with 2-ply Jamieson & Smith yarn on US 0 and US 2 needles in a stranded design. The picture hardly does it justice, and the finished stocking hangs with pride (for good reason) in their home in Bloomington. And yes, Jim was shocked in a good way by the stocking. It's amazing knitting and Patsy can stuff it FULL of treats this year (it's a large stocking, too--I believe it was about 14" tall). Check out that heel--it included fair isle knitting back and forth, or colorwork using PURL stitches. She went all out on that baby........and did it very well!

Next on my bragging list is Mary, who hails from North Carolina and is a good customer and GREAT friend and kindred spirit. Mary contacted us several months ago wanting Matt's color wizardry to make a felted bag from a pattern in Knit It!, the annual pattern magazine by Better Homes & Gardens and Lion Brand (joint effort, published every December; the bag is in the 2002 issue). It was a fun bag, and one of our locals made it, sans the flowers, when she first learned to knit this past March. Well, Mary has a definite sense of personal style, with a flare that I love (I'm all about intense color), so look what she made from her first batch of yarn and patterns from us


The bag with flowers is just amazing (and very fun to carry, she says) and the others are great felted projects (that's also a slim-line tote from Two Old Bags and of course Suki from Knitty. I was looking at the picture and thought--"what a great oil cloth tablecloth she has there" when I first saw it. Then Mary called shortly after sharing the picture with us, and she apologized for not getting the picture off to us sooner, but that she had been busy with other projects. One of those projects was painting that table in the picture. A closer look and I was SHOCKED at how beautiful it was (a pretty tablecloth, sure, but FAB hand painting!!!). As someone who can't even draw a stick person (I was forbidden to do so when playing hangman in grade school), I am in awe of this woman's skill and artistic ability. Ain't she great??

I tell you, we are amazingly blessed to share our days with such a great group of talented, fun, risk-taking, kind, generous people. Both locally and afar. Thanks for being a part of my journey.

Come Meet Some New Friends of Mine

In yesterday's post, I warned you that today we'd be meeting some new ladies here at ThreadBear. They're brand new to these parts, so this blog is the only place you are able to meet them--they're not over at the website just yet, but they will be eventually. So for now, let's make the acquaintence of some really fun folks.

May I present to you Rebecca, Lucy, and Harriet


They're traditional gals, alot like most of the other folks around here that come to us by way of Two Old Bags. These functional ladies rely on traditional materials and techniques--wool yarn and felting--but they have a little bit of a wild streak. Especially that Rebecca, with her felted bead handle and felted flower embellishment or Harriet, with her unique handles, or that stylish Lucy, in multiple sizes. They're great additions to the family, and we're thrilled to have them with us.

Pleased to be introduced next, we have Betty, Jilly, and Pamela


These ladies are making waves around here, from there unique construction to use of diverse materials. We like the way they've shaken things up a little bit, as it was a little stuffy inside of late. That Betty is a trendsetter--she uses some of the latest ribbons and textures for her sense of personal style. One of her moods sports tied handles, while another uses large buttons or a big buckle. Jilly is a little more conservative and worked in a tight stitch, but she can sport a more relaxed style (felted handles) or an up-do (wooden rings). But Pamela--you need to keep your eye on her--she uses some of the flashy ribbon yarns out there today, and she works the crowd at formal dinners or big gala events. You should see her when she's decked out in her India-themed best! Ooooh-la-la!

Speaking of keeping your eye on someone, this last group is all about being a wild child. Come meet Evelyn, Annie, and Andi


Never one to follow the crowd, these three are the rabble-rousers sent to shake things up a bit. Evelyn likes to be seen in nothing but ribbons, including her flashy tassle she'll waggle at your for attention. Annie and Andi have seen it all--they're both a rags-to-riches story. They started out life as cotton fabric and ended up your close friend, someone you can count on with a no-nonsense attitude and very practical outlook on things.

But wait, what's that in this last picture? Isn't that alot like what Rebecca is sporting? You betcha, it's Wooly Jewelry


Ever wondered what to do with those leftovers after you finished that project? Why not make an accessory to match your accessory (or garment). A few beads, a little somethin' to string it all on, and a closure and you're set. I'm not even gonna mention the concept of felted balls....................nope, not gonna go there.

And with that, I leave you with a little insight into some of the new folks around these parts. If you have any further questions, drop me a note and I'm glad to try to answer them. After all, isn't that why I'm here? BE WELL!