A Good Class

Of course it helped enormously to sign up for a class, and as serendipity would have it, Table Rock Llamas in Black Forest, Colorado happened to have a beginning class scheduled. I talked hubby into taking the class with me. Once again, an experienced teacher makes the learning process shorter and much more pleasant. Stay tuned for more pictures and spinning tales as we learn the right way to do things from Sharon Dalrymple and her teaching assistant, Rosebud. Here's fellow student, Jackie, giving Rosebud a little brush-off.

All Hail the Queen

Elizabeth that is.... even more precisely, a friend's Ashford Elizabeth which she had purchased for her daughter in the 80s. It had been used once, and before I knew it, Lizzie was parked in my parlor waiting for some serious attention. She got it in a hurry, though not without a little frustration. Poor girl was bone-dry and her moving parts squeaked relentlessly. After a quart or so of oil and a ton of frustration, we got her to do her job. With two decades of early retirement behind her, she probably forgot her reason for existence so wasn’t very good at training us, and we weren’t very up-to-speed on how to handle her. In fact, the Ashfords have changed so much that working with this wheel was really akin to having an antique.

Spinning Tales

I suppose it’s inevitable that any truly compulsive knitter will eventually entertain thoughts of spinning their own yarn. There’s a nostalgic part of me that connects with the old crafts and a slower time, an era when life was more involved with the land, and when our survival and well-being depended on simpler activities. I suppose my times in the country bring those feelings to the surface. Well, and it’s a fad now too, isn’t it? Youngsters half my age are into it and posting their goods at etsy and eBay. My little pal, Faith spins some lovely yarns and so does Rachel at Have You Any Wool. For crying out loud, it uses no electricity! How can an environmentalist like me resist that final straw?

Socks for Inez

I've been working on a pair of green striped socks for my friend, Inez Stannert. Inez is not a real person. She's the heroine in the Silver Rush Victorian mystery novels by writing pal, Ann Parker. It took quite a little while to find some green stripey yarn, and this is the new Felici by KnitPicks in the Arugula colorway. It's a lovely, soft 100% merino that's knitting up nicely.

But, I am rather disillusioned by the tangling from the center of the ball, and I even had this obnoxious knot in one!

I'm also a little unhappy that the yarn in the two balls didn't begin at the same point in the pattern. I tried to match them up and clearly failed despite my efforts. These little irritations seem to be a regular occurrence with KnitPicks yarns, and my major complaint with them. Ordinarily, unmatched stripes don't bother me - I think they're rather quirky and stylin'. But, these socks are for a Victorian Lady, and though she's hardly prim and proper, I don't believe she'd wear mismatched socks! I mean.... what would the Reverend say??

Your Local Yarn Shop

Or LYS as we refer to it in knitting circles. No matter what the yarn choices online or through catalogs, everyone has a favorite LYS. That's because there's nothing quite like touching yarn in person, and being in a lovely space packed to the rafters with fibers of every color and texture. Add to that a knowledgeable staff who become your teachers and friends, and it makes for a combination that's pretty hard to beat.

My favorite LYS is still the one where I learned to knit socks years ago. Green Valley Weavers and Knitters was transported from California and made its home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, tucked in a little strip of shops amongst a long row of westside homes. The ownership has changed, but Judy, who taught me to knit socks, is still there along with Carolyn.


The shop has only gotten better, and I just bought another $350 Yarn Club account for $265 + tax. That's a 25% discount on all their yarns just for paying upfront, and my stash gets pretty spoiled because of that clever marketing ploy! If your LYS doesn't have one, you might suggest it to the owner. It's a win/win situation for the shop and for the customers.

It's so handy to drop by anytime and grab a few skeins of something and just deduct it from that prepaid Yarn Club. Here are a few balls of sock yarn I picked up just to try out some different brands.

Socks for meine Mutti

At last I've finished a pair of socks for my German Mama. I'd given my Dad a pair for Christmas, and he really didn't like them because he thought they were too loose. So I was ambivelent to spend all that time making a pair for my mother. I should have known she'd be a little more grateful being a knitter, and understanding the time involved making a pair. These are light blue Opal, and I suggested that if she didn't really want to wear them under slacks, they would be lovely bed socks in the winter. I always wear wool socks to bed because I find it keeps any bit of arthritis at bay. No more stiff ankles in the morning. Mutti thought that sounded pretty good to her.

Long live the Queen!

And, indeed, I am alive even after being away all these many months. Who ever in the world would have guessed that cataract surgery would include such a long recovery. Well, lucky me. Snort! I actually eased back into knitting quite early on, but the computer work took a little bit longer. My eyes still tire more easily than before the surgery, so I have to limit my time knitting, reading, and typing, especially on the computer screen. And truth be told, my knitting has been relatively boring. I'm just throwing yarn mostly for the sake of it, and not trying any fancy moves. Dropping stitches is easy, but picking them up is a real challenge still, so I'm sticking to straightforward works. I'll get some photos posted soon, too. Especially that big box of Christmas yarn from WEBS. Oooo-la-la. Now that was a treat to open.