New York Day couldn't have been better. My late arrival to the airport and the unusually long security line at DFW could have spelled disaster, but I made it onto my plane and landed at LaGuardia almost 45 minutes early, giving me time for more yarn store visits than I had planned on. Here's my day in a nutshell:

1. Museum of Art & Design - I was pleasantly surprised by the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit. It looked like an entire museum full of art I would have made during my angsty teen years, had I known how to knit at the time. With the exception of a few pieces that I deemed as semi-lame (the childishly misshapen cat-shaped lace and the coral snakes), almost everything in the exhibit made me say to myself, "Damn! I wish I had thought of that." Though the terms "lace" and "knitting" were indeed used very loosely, anyone with an artistic eye will find enough to enjoy. I bought the accompanying book in the gift shop which has infinitely more things in it to make me jealous. I've always lived by the motto "a good artist borrows; a great artist steals," and rest assured, I will be borrowing AND stealing many ideas from this book.

2. The Point - Here begins my realization that they weren't kidding when they said most yarn shops in Manhattan are small. You could fit this entire place into the Woolie Ewe's break room, and they manage to squeeze in a yarn shop, a cafe counter, and tables to sit and eat/knit at. It was nice enough but not a whole heck of a lot of selection (in food OR yarn). I had planned to have lunch here, but the menu didn't have much on it but quiche and sweets. The close quarters caused me to bonk into all the seated patrons' heads with my purse, but I did find one gem that I couldn't live without: an 80/20 Merino and Cashmere blend made by Punta Del Este Yarns. I have worked with similar fibers in Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino and Rowan's Cashsoft, and I can't wait to see if I like it as much without the 30% microfiber.


3. Purl - Again, smallest shop EVER. It was fairly crowded when I went, making my purse-bonks even more frequent and unavoidable, but they had some great stuff. I had my eyes open for display ideas to bring back to the Ewe and this was the shop that gave me the most food for thought. (I actually TOOK NOTES so I wouldn't forget anything. NERD!) The yarn I got here is a Merino/Baby Alpaca/Silk blend called Terra with a very intriguing dye-job. It reminds me of the kind of car paint where it's one color sometimes, but when the sun hits it the color changes. The yarn itself is blue, but it's "coated" in purple. I like this yarn enough that I might consider harassing Jill & Sue to carry it.


4. School Products - Lived up to the hype, and single-handedly sent me soaring over the budget I had set for myself. I justified over-spending by buying a few things with the intention of dyeing and reselling them. I went cashmere kah-razy in here. Got a few skeins of bulky cashmere, one of which was Donegal (I always thought I hated tweed until I saw this. Turns out I just hate tweed that isn't made of cashmere.) I also got a humongo-ball of merino (980 yards!!) with little popcorns on it that I can't wait to dye. If I wasn't so tired I probably would have done it already. I wish I could teleport this store to Dallas. Not that I don't love the Woolie Ewe, but School Products's selection was so different from ours that the stores could combine with almost no overlap. Mill ends and one-of-a-kinds and will-never-find-agains. I was in heaven. My only complaint is that Broadway smells like pee. All the more reason to teleport to Dallas; the worst we ever smell like is cut grass!


5. Downtown Yarns - I had more time than I expected so I called my husband to give me directions to my backup store. I'm glad I made it because this store was hands down the most friendly and inviting. The two people working there were happy to show me things and look through my loot from the other stores. I get the idea that they'd be the best place to go if you needed help with a mistake or advice on a project. I found some stuff to spin and a neat stripey ball of yarn that I may combine with a solid color and finally try out those illusion-knit socks I've been eyeing on the internet.


p.s. In closing, I would like to declare today the official Woolie the Ewe day! To all those with a 2007 Stitch 'N' Bitch page-a-day calendar, I would love to see your Woolies!

p.p.s. Two new yarn sets up in the store! Delight and Chimney

Tomorrow I leave for my one-day New York trip. First stop when my plane lands at noon is the Museum of Art & Design for the exhibit. I have heard some not-great reviews of it, so my expectations are as low as they can be. If I plan for the worst, I will be pleasantly surprised if there's anything remotely worth seeing, right? Then I'm off to The Point cafe. The whole knit shop/cafe combo seems like a great concept and this particular place came recommended by Debbie Stoller herself so it's gotta be good. Then to Purl Soho, which has an awesome website but everyone from The Ewe who's been there says it's roughly the size of their pantry. Of course, The Ewe's customers are spoiled by our three-thousand-and-something-square-foot awesomeness, so the smallness comes as no surprise about a Manhattan shop. Finally, I shall finish off my time at School Products. I hear they carry lots of mill ends and one-of-a-kinds, so I am really hoping this particular location does NOT suck. Then I will try not to miss my 8pm flight back to Dallas.

When I get home, I will have a full review of all the places I went, a new free pattern, and a few yarns to add to the shop. I have to go back and check my calendar, but I'm pretty sure Woolie the Ewe's day in the spotlight is coming up soon in the Stitch 'N' Bitch page-a-day calendar, so maybe I'll throw him a party.

My self-designed Cashmerino sweater is SO close to being done. I cast on for the front panels last night and I bet I can get it done within the next couple weeks if I don't let myself get distracted. Progress so far:


I used this project as an excuse to learn how to work my knitting machine, only I am going to end up needing a full 3 balls more than the pattern called for, which doesn't make any sense. Regardless of the fact that it's machine knit and converted to flat instead of round, I was getting gauge, so I should have matched yardage. Boo on the possibility of having to use a different dye lot to make the back, Yay on the fact that this will be the awesomest sweater ever made when I get it done:


I am toying with this yarn called Solo (made by Online/Linie) and I brainstormed until I figured out how to make the fabric double-sided. Basically I knit across with color A, purled in the same direction with B, then turned and purled with A, then knit with B. Check it out:


And the post office finally decided to forward my mail from the old apartment, so I am now the proud owner of PUNK KNITS skull needles. Go buy some!

I feel so much more productive at the new apartment. Even though I haven't done much spinning, I've already knitted 3/4 of a baby blanket for Angela and 2 sleeves and half a back of my self-designed Debbie Bliss sweater. I predict I will be able to finish it within the month. I'm doubley excited because Jill asked me to teach a class on mock cables and I want to have it done by then so's I can wear it when I'm teaching.

Plus, I made curtains for every room, including these AWESOME Gritty Knits logo panels that now adorn the window in the office:


In other news, Adam and I have become re-interested in photography lately. I am especially intrigued by something called the "Through the Viewfinder" technique, using a combination of a new digital camera with an old Kodak Duaflex to produce vintage looking pictures. We don't have much around the apartment to photograph other than our cats, so I started playing around with yarn photos. Here are a couple examples, and I'm sure my future shots will be better once we invest in a good macro lens:



Also, I broke down and got a knitting machine, but NOT FOR KNITTING! I swear! I will not use it in place of hand knitting or crocheting. I just wanted a way to knit giant pieces of fabric for some wall panel art type things I have swimming around in my head. I even got Adam interested enough to swipe a few rows. Does this make me a traitor? Or a cheater?

Speaking of cheating, I bought some commercially spun sock yarn and dyed it. It will be up for sale soon in the store. I could never spin even enough or small enough to make socks from, so this is a happy medium. Hand painting is fun. It makes my apartment smell good.

One of the only things I dislike about the apartment is the small, non-rotating microwave. How am I supposed to dye giant vats of Kool-Aid if my vat won't fit through the door?

I'll be offline until we get moved into the new place next week. Emails and store sales will be delayed until some time after the 17th. Wish me luck!

I will be going to the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting show in New York after all. After being crestfallen that roundtrip tickets to New York were pricing out at $1400, my fabulous husband offered me his miles and got me the ticket for free, plus a $5 fee of some sort. Quite a bargain, I'd say! The whole trip will cost me no more than the price of a cab to and from the airport. No hotel necessary, since I foolishly plan to fly out early in the morning, and fly home in the evening. (I wonder if I will have time to squeeze in one of those silly Sex & the City bus tours...)

Another good friend recently found out she is pregnant (Congratulations, Angela!) so I will have to come up with a slew of new patterns for baby items. After I get over this cold, of course. (My second one of the year already. Keep 'em coming, perhaps 'most colds per year' can be my ticket to a Guiness record.)

Why do I feel compelled to shrink my needle size? No matter what yarn I am using, the recommended size always seems huge to me. It's not a matter of my loose knitting--I can get gauge. It's just that for some reason I don't want to be able to see through my fabric, not even when I stretch it. While toying with swatches for my sweater, I realized that this is going to become a problem if I start to design a garment with the intent of sharing the pattern with others. I had my Cashmerino Aran on the recommended #8 US and it felt so loose it was almost comical. If I had it my way, I'm put aran weight yarn on a #5, but I compromised and will be knitting the sweater on a #7. (Except for the sleeve ribbing, which needs to be a bit tighter of course, and will indeed be on my beloved 5's.)

Here's my mini test-sleeve with the final stitch pattern:


After hearing Debbie speak about her design process, I was gung-ho for following every bit of her advice to the letter. But then it occurred to me that she and I had a different set of priorities, and I should base my designs on MY experiences, rather than imitating hers. For instance, I wanted lots of cables in my sweater (as an homage to some of the cable-heavy garments from her trunk show that I fell in love with) but I have two very playful cats who have stolen, hidden, or destroyed every cable needle I have ever owned. I solved the problem by stylizing some mock-cable designs that are done completely without the use of extra needles. Secondly, I have an unfortunate tendency to look frumpy. Loosely knit fabric that hangs without stiffness or structure only intensifies the problem. To attempt to solve this, I allowed myself the needle size shrinkage I spoke of earlier, in order to tighten the garment up slightly. The only item on which I forced myself to leave my comfort zone was the color I chose. It will be turquoise blue instead of the jet black I truly want. I figured I needed a lighter color or else my awesome non-cables will not be seen.

Change of subject: As if I really need another item on my to-do list... Adam got a Nintendo Wii this weekend and I simply must write a pattern for a knitted crazy bunny from Rayman's Raving Rabbids.


p.s. Potter Puppet Pals will meet their maker (in my washing machine) on Tuesday; please cross your fingers that I don't screw them up.