Mid-to-late October update

It's been a while, no? Much has happened since my last post - both in my personal life and in my knitting life. In certain ways, my personal life has had an impact on my knitting life. More on that later, however.

Instead of making the trek to Baltimore for Stitches East, I availed myself of the goodies at the annual fall anniversary yarn sale at my LYS, Woolwinders. (Alas, I wasn't able to make it to the annual mid-October sale at the DC yarn stores, Stitch DC.)

My dad was nice enough to accompany me, waiting so patiently that even Jacqui (the owner) commented on it. He has been very tolerant of my "little" hobby ever since I knitted shawls for my grandmothers. I was quite restrained in my purchases, limiting myself to (a) 4 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton for the Eyelet Cardigan pattern I purchased at Loop in Philly over the summer, and (b) 2 skeins of RYC Cashsoft Aran for a ribbed hat.

I promptly got to work on the ribbed hat, completing it within a couple of days. I had planned to save the Eyelet Cardigan project as a reward for finally finishing my mom's "Blaze" cabled sweater, but the fates had different plan...

My boyfriend and I faced a bit of a crisis a week or two ago. I'd prefer not to go into details, but we came to the mutual decision to take a bit of a hiatus. Naturally, I was upset by this turn of events and needed something to distract me.

So I attacked the Eyelet Cardigan, finishing the knitting of the garment pieces within a week. All pieces - front left, front right, back, and two sleeves - are now sitting in a Woolwinders shopping bag, awaiting blocking and seaming.

I still didn't feel much better, so I decided to indulge in a little retail therapy, knitting-style. Loop, a cute little store in Philly, was having a sale on bamboo yarn from Be Sweet. At $6 per skein and a savings of 40%, the yarn was just too irresistible. So I purchased 6 skeins - 3 and change for a(nother) Kite Kerchief (pattern by Alchemy), and 2 and the rest for my sister to fashion into a lacy, drapey scarf of some kind.

I then waited impatiently for my shipment to arrive. (To my dismay, it took a full week from the date I placed my order for the yarn to travel from Philadelphia to Gaithersburg - way too long, in my book.) The yarn finally arrived today, however, and I am quite pleased... For the most part.

Yarn: Be Sweet Bamboo
Content: 100% Bamboo
Yardage: 110 yards / 50 grams
Gauge: 6 sts/in on US 3. 5 sts/in on US 6.
Care: Hand wash. Lay flat to dry.
Color/Lot: 633 (lavender)/2627.
Quantity: 6 skeins total (3+ for me, 2+ for my sister).

The yarn itself is quite lovely, with a nice sheen similar to that of mercerized cotton. The company, Be Sweet, has a fantastic story behind it as well: all yarns produced by the company are hand dyed and balled by women in South Africa as part of a job creation program in "an economically depressed rural region with a 75% unemployment rate." A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the yarns go back to the community - something we can all enthusiastically support!

The yarn reminds me of Rowan Cotton Tape, which is essentially woven tubes of cotton that lies flat. Be Sweet Bamboo is also a woven tube that lies flat, albeit of bamboo rather than of cotton. I can foresee having to untwist the yarn every so often while knitting so that the yarn, and thus the knitted fabric, is not too twisted and distorted.

Flat tubes of bamboo.

If the sample swatch is to be believed, the knitted fabric will be slinky and fluid, with nice drape and a substantial - though still light - weight.

Yarn & swatch.

The only qualification is that the color, lavender, is not my favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's a very pretty color... It's just not very "me." Still, I think a Kite Kerchief shawl made from this yarn will be lovely, and perhaps make a nice gift one day (if I can bear to part with it, that is).

Okay, one other qualification... The yarn splits pretty easily, so I'll have to be very careful as I knit. I probably won't be able to knit by touch alone, at least not initially.

To Stitch or not to Stitch...

Five months after the fact, I am still experiencing Maryland Sheep & Wool withdrawal. I am simultaneously disappointed and relieved that I must wait another seven months for the next one. Disappointed for obvious reasons, relieved because I would find myself in the red were I to find myself in the candy store that is MdS&W.

But coming up in just another week is Stitches East, a smaller fiber festival (with no livestock) at the Convention Center in Baltimore. Two of my favorite MdS&W vendors - Tess' Designer Yarns and Brooks Farm Yarn - will be at the Stitches East Market. There is a Marketplace class that I would love to take (Knitting Both Ways).

However, factor in the various costs, and Stitches East becomes a rather, well, costly expedition: Metro fare ($7.80) + MARC round-trip ($14) + light rail ($3.20) + knitting class ($30) = $55. So the question now becomes: Is it worth spending $55 to go to Stitches East, or would it be more worthwhile to spend that money on yarn at my LYS or online stores?

Dilemma.

Crafty Bastards

Yesterday, my sister and I went to Crafty Bastards, an annual arts and crafts fair in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. I only found out about this event a week or two ago, but my sister had been looking forward to it for quite a while.

Above: 4.5 ounces of 70/30 merino/tencel roving from Snargle Handpaints in colorway aquamarine

Overall, we were a little disappointed. Too many people. Lots to see, but not a lot to buy. Way too many people. However, I did manage to find not one, but two crafty fiber ladies at a single booth - Woolarina and Snargle Handpaints. In the booth was displayed a glorious array of brightly-colored roving, handpainted yarn, handspun yarn, spinning kits (with roving and spindle), and knitted items.

Above: Half on the spindle, half braided.

My favorite items were a sunny yellow-and-orange roving, a lovely pair of mittens handknit from handspun bulky red-and-green yarn, and a cute knitting sheep tee from Woolarina, and a silky-smooth shades-of-blue merino-tencel roving from Snargle Handpaints.

Little sis convinced me not to get the sunny roving - whatever would I do with bright yellow-orange yarn? I was tempted by the mittens, but at 30-something/40-something bucks, they were a little out of my price range. I wasn't sure I would ever wear the Woolarina tee (I'm not a big fan of sporting logos and such on my chest). So I walked away with only one purchase - a 4.5-ounce braid of 70% merino, 30% tencel roving in a pretty colorway called aquamarine.

Above (from left to right): Drafted roving; you can see the sheen of the roving, thanks to the tencel content; in natural light.

I started spinning the stuff the very next day. The merino-tencel is a dream to spin. It took me just over 24 hours to spin half the braid of roving; the spun yarn (approximately 350 yards of thick-thin DK/sportweight) is hanging to dry, and the other half is on the spindle as I type this. Now, what to do with the yarn...

Above (left to right): Handspun yarn on the swift; very very curly prior to being washed & dried.

Challenge to the future challenge

Hmm, slight problem.

The Auntie Yarn (TAY??) is a chunky weight yarn, meant to be knitted on 10-12 needles, but...
The Minimalist Cardigan pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn, to be knitted on 7 needles.

Tricky.

Maybe the yarn could be used for the knitted bag instead, hmm...

While I'm at it, the other Auntie yarn (hereby christened The Other Auntie Yarn, or TOAY??):

Hohenloher Wolle | Magic
60/40 merino/acrylic

US4-5 needles

I can't say I'm terribly fond of the color, but as it was a gift and I have 4 skeins of the stuff, I'll have to find an appropriate project for it. Stay tuned.

Welcome back (me)!

After mainly using this blog as a place to post and store photographs, I've finally decided it's about time to revive (or just "vive") the knitting blog. So here it is, no longer the tired, old "Stitch'n'Bitch/MsJunebug3" blog, but rather the new, (I hope) improved "Monkey Business Handcrafts" blog!

What better way to embark on a new beginning than to take stock of past accomplishments, works-in-progress, and future challenges? So, working in reverse order (aka starting with future challenges/prospective projects)...

Future challenge #1:

I need a knitting bag. A bag dedicated (almost) solely to carrying my knitting projects - and a few essentials like wallet and cell phone, of course. I have been on a perpetual search for the perfect knitting bag for a long time now. Everywhere I go, I am subconsciously on the lookout for a bag that could potentially act as the ideal knitting receptacle.

I can't say that my quest has ended (or whether it will ever truly reach a conclusion), but I can say that after the September 24th 2007 Knitting Daily landed in my email inbox with a link to a preview pattern from Pam Allen's latest book, Bag Style, I'm a step closer.

Chunky weight [#5 Bulky]
Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Chunky [75% wool, 25% alpaca]
110 yd [101 m] / 100 g, 3 balls
US 10 1/2 [bag], US 9 [handles]
17 sts & 19 rows = 4" in patt st on larger needles

All of the patterns in the book are for knitted (and possibly crocheted??) bags of varying sizes, styles, and uses. This one, the Knitting Needle Knitting Bag, incorporates a lovely berry stitch in a chunky yarn for a quick, easy knit, with a set of actual knitting needles to lend a bit of structure to the top. At just under 19" wide and 9" tall (not including the needles or straps), it's also the perfect size for a small, portable project (like a pair of socks).

Future challenge #2:

My dear Auntie brought back from Korea a nice lovely bag full of worsted-weight wool yarn produced by a manufacturer I had never seen.

Fantasia Ski Yarn | Alpaca Print

70/30 alpaca/wool | 53m/40g
15-16 sts & 19-20 rows = 4" on US 12-14 needles
10 skeins = 530m

Whilst flipping through the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave Knits, I figured out the perfect garment to match with the yarn: Ruthie Nussbaum's Minimalist Cardigan.

Lily Chin Signature Collection Park Avenue [60% merino, 40% alpaca]
109 yd [100 m] / 50 g, 8 (9, 10, 12) skeins
US 7 needles
20 sts & 28 rows = 4" in moss st, after blocking

The yarn was and still is meant for a knitted-by-me item for my mother, and though Auntie originally intended it for a vest, methinks the cardigan will be a better use for it... No?

Then again, I'm not a big fan of vests in general...

[To be continued...]

Sheepfest: Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2007

Last weekend was the 34th (and my 1st) annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (MdS&W). The anticipation leading up to this premier fiber festival excited me so much that I could hardly sleep the night before. Even so, I sprang right out of bed at 7am (unheard of, under normal circumstances) and walked out the door a little after 8am. The drive to the Howard County Fairground took longer than I would have liked - close to an hour. As soon as we took exit 80 off Rt 70, we saw cars crawling along, bumper-to-bumper.

Traffic leading from the highway exit to the Howard County Fairground.

The entrance to the Fairground.

As soon as I walked onto the Fairground, I experienced overwhelming sensory overload. Stretching in all directions were rows of booths, all bursting with colors and textures. The mingled scents of roasting meats (yum, lamb gyros!), frying dough (yum, funnel cake!), and various animals (umm, not so yum) assailed my nose. My fingers literally itched to bury themselves in mounds of fibers and yarns. A feeling of inexpressable joy and excitement swelled inside me, stretching my mouth in a wide grin and cementing my feet to the ground as I tried to decide which way to turn first.

One of my favorite vendors - Tess' Designer Yarns.

I finally managed to settle upon a direction (left) and let myself walk into the Tess' Designer Yarns booth first. Tess' was already packed - not only with skeins upon skeins of colorful, hand-dyed, variegated yarn and knitted samples, but also with people, mostly women, nearly all in a state of dazed euphoria; I was indeed surrounded by kindred spirits. After somehow identifying a few items I was interested in, I managed to wiggle through the crowd and tear myself away to continue my exploration.

Along the way along, among, and through the barns, I passed lots of eager people...

Line at the Fold booth, stretching right out the door.

...lots of fluffy little animals...

Pygora goats at the Sheep Thrills Fiber Farm booth.

Funny looking critters, aren't they? A pair of alpacas.

The goat likes to jump & climb.

...lots of fascinating booths...

A lovely selection of merino and merino-tencel roving at the Opalessence booth.

Sheep fleece sale in the Main Exhibition Hall.

Gorgeous example of Fair Isle knitting at the Yarns International booth.

...and lots of demonstrations.

Fluffy lil English angora bunny, whose fur will then be spun...

...by the Spinning Lady into yarn on her spinning wheel.

Me, happy... Sheep being sheared, not so pleased.

Before returning to the Tess' Designer Yarns booth, I finally managed to locate one of my very favorite vendors - Brooks Farm Yarn...

Brooks Farm Yarn booth - one of my absolute favorite vendors of the MdS&W.

...where I couldn't resist a lovely skein of 100% mohair yarn from the Widows & Orphans rack.

Brooks Farm Yarn: 1 hank of Primero 100% kid mohair yarn from the widows & orphans sale rack... Isn't it pretty?

Along the way, though, I did make a few more purchases:

Opalessence: 8oz of teal merino-tencel roving.

Golding Spindles: 2" very lightweight drop spindle.

The teal merino-tencel blend roving had so silky-smooth a texture and so lustrous a color that I couldn't resist. As for the Golding Spindle... Well, those are considered by many to be among the best drop spindles available. The brass ring concentrates the mass on the outside of the whorl for a longer, more even spin. This one is so tiny and light that it is perfect for spinning lace-weight yarn. I can hardly wait to attack the merino-tencil roving with the Golding!

After I did one last lap around the barns and booths, I allowed myself to return to the Tess' Designer Yarns booth, where I made a few purchases of both yarn:

Tess' Designer Yarns: 2 skeins of sock/baby weight superwash merino for a baby sweater (for Gregg's friends who are expecting).

Tess' Designer Yarns: A close-up.

...and pattern.

Tess' Designer Yarns: Pattern for a lovely beaded shawl... And I got to meet the designer!

I was very excited to meet the designer of that last pattern - a lovely beaded shawl designed to be made with a gorgeously soft alpaca-silk Tess' yarn in subtle shades. We were able to chat a little bit about knitting, the pattern, and life before exchanging contact information. Best of all, she is an alum and former professor of mathematics at my own alma mater - Columbia University!

Alas, the glorious day had to come to an end, but I couldn't leave MdS&W without at least one impulse buy...

Misty Mountain Farm: 4oz of merino combed top.

And now, all that's left is to wait (rather impatiently and eagerly) for the next Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, always the very first weekend of May!

Icarus Shawl

Mine!

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