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I'm too tired to make a real post, but I just wanted to update everyone on the goings on around here. 1.) The closing went smoothly and Adam & I moved into our new house in Houston last week. My family's glad I'm back home. 2.) Got some sad news on the day we got here. My grandpa "Hombre" passed away :o( and I've been a zombie this week trying to wrap my head around it. I haven't touched my knitting in a couple of weeks, nor have I touched anything related to my store, the boxes needing unpacked, or the book I was planning to submits designs to. Meh.

5 Lucy Neatby classes in a row was total information overload! I thought I knew a lot, and then along came her DVD series. Then I thought I learned all there was to know from those, but the classes were even a step beyond that.

Hello Cinderella: An Introduction to Intarsia
This lesson definitely gave me food for thought. I can now weave my tails in as I go, perfectly disguising them and preventing me from having to do all of them at the end. The most interesting use of this technique involves needing to carry a yarn across a large number of stitches, and weaving the float in with each stitch until you get to the place where the strand originated. Intarsia was never something that excited me before, but I will definitely be adding it to my project list some time soon.

Short Row Wizardry
I had done tons of short row shaping before but I have now perfected my technique. Small things that never occurred to me before now seem so obvious. Japanese short rows seemed to be the class favorite, but I am a fan of the wrap-and-turn now that I know how to do it properly. Not only is there a right and wrong way to knit the wraps, slipping the first stitch of the new row makes the extra rows totally invisible.

Cool Socks - Part A
I am proud to say I can now do the Channel Island cast-on without any trouble at all. I love it for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it looks best when done tightly yet it still has amazing stretch. I am also newly intrigued by the garter stitch short row heel. The different skill levels of our students in this class didn't throw Lucy's game off at all; she came prepared with a side-project for those who had finished the main assignment.

The Contented Stitch: Self-Sufficiency for Knitters
My only complaint is that we should have scheduled this class first. It really dealt with the physical characteristics of knitted fabric that help you understand why certain things happen and how to correct them. I had heard of the mysterious "alternative purling" but I didn't realize how much it would help me. The good news is I have an arsenal of tips to improve my knitting; the bad news is that I now plan a total re-do of my completed TKGA master knitter swatches.

Hallelujah Grafting
I cheated a bit and learned most of this stuff from the DVD's, but it was still very exciting to be able to make a seamless cabled wristband. She gave us a great tip about shoulder tops: Bind off one edge but not the other. That way you can do a perfect graft that will connect the pattern, and the 1 bound off edge creates stability without adding the extra bulk of 2.

Lucy introducing us to the contented stitch:

Displaying a double-knit scarf:

Short-row shawl:

Me, Lucy, and my pink streaks (that I may end up keeping):

Preparations are complete! I now have both pink and purple streaks in my hair and all my swatches knitted for Lucy Neatby's workshops this week. Starting tomorrow, I will be working at her 5 classes held at the Woolie Ewe. If you're coming, say hi to me. I'll be hard to miss.

Before putting in the fluorescent Manic Panic dye, I had to bleach the streaks out to a yellowy blonde, and my husband immediately quipped "You look like Amanda Overmyer." Now that I have the pink in, my threat level has been downgraded to a respectable, "You're too old for this."

(Thursday afternoon as soon as the classes are over, we are leaving to drive to Houston to meet with our home builder and the inspector. Hopefully they don't take one look at me and back out of the deal.)

Since I'm trying to pass my Master Knitter test, I figured I would do some test swatching to find out the truth about my gauge. I've suggested this technique to a few customers before and I decided to try it for myself. Make 2 swatches (in my case 3), cast on 12 stitches and knit every row or purl every row (I also knitted backward) for 24 rows, then bind off. The smaller the square, the tighter the knitting. This is what mine look like:

My square of backwards knitting is the tightest, followed by plain knitting, and the loosest by a long shot is purling. This would explain the mysterious "rowing out" on the wrong side of my stockinette fabric. I'm going to play around with more swatches until I get 2 that are the same size, so's I can become a master. My next step is to purl with extra finger wraps to see if that tightens me up a little.

The redesigned website and swank new logo have now been revealed for all the world to see. I love my little yarn ball 'R'! (See below) I hope you like what you see. I will gradually be adding new brands and items as I move to doing this site full time.

Murphy's Law has struck me, and my site update that was supposed to be done a week ago is taking much longer than anticipated. If you'd like to purchase a pack of Wabisa-Beads, please email me at natasha@grittyknits.com! I will bill you through Paypal, or give you a discount coupon to purchase them directly through me when I get the kinks worked out.

Give me Wabisa-Beads or give me death!

The web update should be coming any day now… once we sort out a couple of bumps along the road. When the switch happens, www.GrittyKnits.com will take you directly to my store, but you’ll still be able to get to my blog by clicking around. If you’d like to get a discount on some of my grand opening merchandise, be sure to sign up for my mailing list. I’ll be bribing you to buy from me with coupons and what not.

I managed to swing by the vendor area at DFW Fiber Fest today. Since this is my last April in Dallas, I figured I better check it out while I can. There was some good stuff there but not a lot I felt like buying, other than this awesome hand-carved crochet hook made by Dodo’s Designs:

There were many others in the shape of flowers & animals, but this one was my favorite.

I finished my first pair of wearable socks this month and have already started on another pair. (“Business Time” socks, inspired by Flight of the Conchords, which I am currently obsessed with.) I’ve never been much of a sock knitter but since they’re small enough to keep in my purse, I always have a project with me. I had no idea that I had been wasting so much free time not knitting; it only took me a week or two to complete the pair.

I am VERY excited that the Woolie Ewe will be hosting 3 full days of classes with Lucy Neatby May 6-8. I will be working those days, so hopefully when the organization and customer wrangling is done, I will be able to catch most or all of the teaching. I am also putting hot pink & purple streaks in my hair, and encouraging other attendees to do so as well. If you’re a Lucy fan and a Ravelry member, come join my Neatby Knitters group.