118 Call Me Lemony

Listen here.

Today's episode's title is an homage to Lemony Snicket and his Series of Unfortunate Events books.

Latte: I'm knitting the Gratitude Clapotis, and I cast on Dressy and Vanessa Antiopa socks.

Bitter Cup: The lovely Bumblebirch Grove yarn I purchased in Portland is most definitely NOT for socks! I don't know what I was thinking. It will, however, make a lovely shawl. I restarted them in Fiber Optic Yarns Foot Notes in the color Lavender Mist Batik.  Also….I knit several inches on the Vanessa Antiopa socks before realizing that I have to make them in size medium, not small. That never happened before!

Stir: Mary and I split a fleece at the Monterey wool auction and sadly, neither of us know which of her fleeces this is. Maybe you can help! See the photo below. Recognize it? Let me know if you do!

Taste: I review Crochet One-Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant and Edie Eckman. It's enough to make me learn to read crochet charts. I mention Wrapped in Comfort by Alison Jeppson Hyde and also talk about crochet beaded bracelets. You can learn more about this type of crochet bracelet here and also here. 

Chai: I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Clara Parkes at A Verb for Keeping Warm. She talked about her Great White Bale project, and you can read more about that here. I also finally met Wonder Mike host of one of the best podcasts that ever has been produced, Fiber Beat. Mike is organizing the next Men's Knitting Retreat, and if you are a knitting man and want to know more about it, look here. I think you can still download Fiber Beat episodes on iTunes.

Brewing: Inspired by Clara's talk, I think a bit about the future of yarn and what we can and perhaps should do about it. I also talk a bit about the convention of men's and women's clothing buttoning in opposite direction and I invite everyone to rebel and put the buttons and buttonholes on whatever side pleases YOU. 

Events: I will be at the Retzlaff Winery for Spinning, and the Black Sheep Gathering. 

Sofa: I continue to love Grey's Anatomy,  even after nine(!) years. I'm pushing myself through Buffy the Vampire Slayer's unfortunate sixth season. I recommend a very important book,  Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon.

Menu: I was gifted with a big bowl of Meyer Lemons from which I made Super Lemon Ice Cream  from The Perfect Scoop and Lemon Curd Bars from The Joy of Cooking. 

117 Allicopitatase

Listen here.

Latte: I'm working on the Clapotis and I'm getting ready to cast on a pair of Dressy socks out of Bumblebirch Grove yarn in the color way Mineral. This is yarn I acquired recently in Portland where it is hand-dyed. I'm planning to get back to work on several sweaters, especially my hand spun SPAKAL sweater. I was re-inspired for all things spinning by the latest Spin Doctor podcast. I'm especially excited about knitting with my handspun. 

Bitter Cup: I had a mishap while knitting the Twisted Flower Socks. I would like to be better able to read my lace knitting!

Grande: I did, however, finish the Twisted Flower Socks, by Cookie A. This is my second time knitting this pattern and it was a real pleasure. 

Brewing: I have been musing about reading books in general and knitting books in particular. This week, I'm re-reading Clara Parkes's Knitter's Book of Socks. I also mentioned her Knitter's Book of Wool  and Knitter's Book of Yarn. How is reading a knitting book like and different from reading a novel, non-fiction book, textbook or cookbook? While discussing this, I mention the book The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. 

I also have been thinking about creativity that is stimulated by various types of contstraints. I'm wondering how to limit something about my knitting with out "punishing myself". In other words, I'm not swearing off buying yarn or anything like that. I'm not sure where this is going, but it might end up having something to do with spinning. 

I also thought about my yarn buying habits: the good: sock yarn, the bad: buying a sweater's worth for of yarn with no particular sweater pattern in mind, and the ugly. Actually, I don't have any ugly yarn. 

Taste: A Tasting Menu this week, with reviews of Knitting Pattern Essentials by Sally Melville, Knit Your Own Moustache by Vicki Eames, the "Wife of Brian" and The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet Volume II by Hunter Hammersen. 

Events: I will be at A Verb for Keeping Warm to see and hear Clara Parkes on May 15. I will be spinning at the winery and I am almost sure to be attending Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon .

116 All Over the Place

Beth and Emma, at Happy Knits in Portland

Listen here.

Latte: I am working fairly monogomously on Cookie A's Twisted Flower Socks out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts that Rock in Peek-a-Boo-Peony. 

Grande: I finished the knitting on Catkin. I still need to get buttons, weave in the ends and block it. I'm hoping to find just the right buttons at Stone Mountain & Daughter, my favorite fabric store ever, right here in Berkeley.

Brewing: I am very excited about the newest Twist Collective. There are many, many patterns I'd like to acquire, but the three I'm most taken with at this moment are Lilium by Amy Herzog, Floriston by Elizabeth Doherty and Sproket by Barbara Gregory. I'm thinking of frogging a partly knitted Kingscot in red Rowan DK and using the yarn to make Lilium. I will start by swatching.  I also recommend an article from Twist Collective: The Error of Our Ways: A Knitter's Guide to Fixing Mistakes by Robin Melanson.  

I continue to be excited by color and color schemes. I recommend two sites to generate palettes, as well as some apps. I especially like Colourlovers and design-seeds. You can see color palettes generated from great paintings here. Colourlovers has an iPhone app, and there are color apps from places ranging from Pantone to Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. Pinterest is also a great source for generating color palettes. 

Menu: I have been obsessed with making ice cream. To date, I've made Strawberry-Sour Cream, Green Tea, Lavender Honey and Aztec Chocolate flavors. All of the recipes can be found in The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. 

Sofa: I talk about three TV shows and a book: Mad Men has not (yet) pleased me this season. Project Runway, on the other hand, is making me really happy! I also enjoyed Top of the Lake, a mini-series that aired on Sundance Channel. See if you can find it online or on demand. I have also fallen into the guilty pleasure known as RuPaul's Drag Race. Yes, I'm late to the game, but laughing like crazy. The book: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?  by Maria Semple. It is hilarious! I also rediscovered the joys of browsing in a real, bricks and mortar bookstore, in this case Mrs. Dalloway's.

Chai: I have been to many yarn shops! In Portland, I "only" visited about four, and I loved Happy Knits, Pearl Fiber Arts and For Yarn's Sake. I purchased some Grove from Bumblebirch as well as some Cashy Wool from Knitted Wit. In Portland, I had the amazing pleasure of dining at Park Kitchen. If you can get there, well, what are you waiting for? Closer to home, I visited K2Tog, A Verb for Keeping Warm and Lacis. 

K2Tog

Events: I will be at the Clara Parkes reading from her new book The Yarn Whisperer  and talking about The Great White Bale at A Verb for Keeping Warm and I am also almost sure to be at Fleeces Food and Fun: Spinning with the Treadles to Threads Guild. I hope to see you at one or both. 

115 - Many Happy Returns

Listen here.

Latte: I'm working on a Clapotis for a friend and otherwise I have been very monogomous working on Catkin. I have gotten to the slip stitch portion of the project, and it's very enjoyable to create color work this way. You can read a great deal about "slip stitch" or "mosaic" color work knitting here and here. Barbara Walker's A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns also has a very large selection of these patterns.

Taste: I review Knit to Flatter by Amy Herzog. I think this book is an essential addition to EVERY knitter's library. Hurry up and get yourself a copy! Don't miss Amy's website, here. During the review, I also mentioned a very useful book about getting sewing patterns to fit: Pattern Fitting with Confidence by Nancy Zieman. 

Brewing: I talk about color theory and why you might want to play around with it. Grab yourself a color wheel and enjoy! Inspiration? Look to nature! The beautiful fiber colors of Crown Mountain Farms are inspired by nature. Get some colored pencils, markers, paint, colored paper or just fool around with a paint or drawing program on your computer. Make friends with color. If you want to know more about Pantone, look here. For books about color theory, look here, here or here. 

Sofa: I welcome back several of my favorite TV shows: Call the Midwife, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Mad Men. 

Tip Jar: When you gift someone with a book, include your own notations/marginalia. I did this when I gifted Mary with The Daily Soup, my favorite soup cookbook ever. 

114 - Complicated

It's springtime in Berkeley!
Listen here.

Latte: I continue to work on Catkin and Clapotis. 

Brewing: I made an ill-fated attempt to teach someone to crochet, which proved to me that knowing how to do something is not the same as knowing how to teach it! 

I think out loud about the complications involved in actually producing a knitted garment. If you have succeeded, please congratulate yourself! In this segment I mention Ysolda Teague's Little Red in the City and Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English.  

Bite: Questions for you: What should I do with a pill, raggy looking sweater? I loved knitting Carol Sunday's Acorns but after one wearing, it looked like a rag.  Corollary: How do you feel about Knit Picks yarns? Have you used Zauberball or similar singles sock yarn? How have these socks held up for you? I've been wanted to knit these Alchemist socks by Janel Laidman but I am somewhat leery about knitting socks with a singles yarn. 

Sofa: Alert! The second season of Call the Midwife is upon us, and the first season has just shown up on Netflix. Don't miss it!

I talk about two non-knitting podcasts that I enjoy: A Way With Words, and All Songs Considered.

I recommend the upcoming record (and the old ones too!) by Vampire Weekend. The new record is called Modern Vampires of the City, and the new track is called Diane Young. I also recommend the group Explosions in the Sky and an offshoot, Eluvium. The new record from Eluvium is called Nightmare Ending. 

113 Scientific Knits!

Listen here.

Latte: I'm working on Catkin, Ben's mitts and I cast on a second Clapotis.

Grande: I finally blocked and sewed in the ends on Marin. I have issues with it. 

Brewing: I venture into Portuguese knitting with very mixed results.

Taste: I review California Revival Knits by Stephannie Tallent and Fickle Knitter Design Volume I: Leaves by Michelle Miller. Please note that I was incorrect about Fickle Knitter being an indie dyer. 

112 - No Snark for You!

Just one small corner of the Yarn Boutique.

Listen here.

This week, Abby welcomes back Guest Barista Susan, former host of Knitajourney Podcast. You can download Knitajourney episodes here.

Latte: As always, Susan's knitting comes with a story. She is working on some argyle knee-highs for her husband to wear in the Brompton International Folding Bicycle Race. 

Abby is working mostly on Catkin and Ben's texting mitts.

Grande: Susan made a Retirement Shawl for a colleague. We talk a bit about what makes someone "knit worthy". 

Brewing: Abby is frustrated at this point in her "lever knitting project". She's going to persevere, however, and see what happens. 

Susan has a yellow cardigan brewing, but also feels bitten by the sock bug and the glove bug. She is especially taken with Julia Mueller's gloves, and Abby concurs. Susan is aiming for 100 pairs of socks and gloves, and some of these will be made from hand spun. 

Abby confesses to an idiosyncrasy. We talk a bit about snarkiness and its shortcomings. 

Chai: Abby visited a new (to her) yarn shop - the Yarn Boutique in Lafayette. It's a fully (very fully!) stocked shop where you can dig around and find amazing treasures. Check it out when you're in the area!

Sofa: Susan talks about a book called Girls Like Us  about the exploitation of young American girls by pimps and other criminals. You can find more information here, here and here. Abby talks about Project Runway and her feelings about this season's "Team" theme. We talk about snarkiness some more. In passing, we mention Luther, Chopped, Hell's Kitchen and The Wire.