All done

I finished the Herringbone Neckwarmer by Craig from Loop. I really like it! It was a quick and easy knit, I love the buttons, I love the yarn, and I love the pattern. The only thing I don't like is my right hand edge (top edge in the pic below). For some reason, when I finish a knit row and go to start a purl row, I have this ginormous loop of yarn at the end of each row. Sometimes I can purl tightly enough to wrap it up and hide it, but as you can see I'm not successful at this all the time. I think it looks sloppy, and I don't like sloppy! Anyhoo, I'm happy with the neckwarmer anyways. I used one skein of Sheep Shop One. I love this yarn (did I already say that?). I also love the buttons. Both the buttons and the yarn were purchased at The Lamb's Wool in Lansdale, PA. They have a nice selection, especially for you spinners and weavers out there!

I think I'll be starting another Tiramisu shortly. I also need to wrap up some WIPs that have been hibernating for quite some time now.

I'm going to bed. Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Scarves

Here it is, in all its glory: The Chevron Scarf, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

I used two skeins of Koigu KPPPM: one in blues, purples, and greens, and one is greens, peaches, and pinks. The colors are gorgeous; these pictures just do not do them justice.

This yarn is really soft and drapy. I just love it.

I actually blocked this scarf like I was supposed to. If I hadn't, it would look like a really colorful, expensive rope. The chevron pattern tends to pull the scarf in on itself, and the blocking really worked wonders. I guess that's why people do it. ;o)

This is the Herringbone Neck Warmer by Craig Rosenfeld at Loop in Philadelphia. It only takes one skein of Sheep Shop One, and I bought two wooden buttons to finish it off. Had I been able to knit today, I probably would have finished it. Gotta love big needles. This yarn is gorgeous. It almost has a pearlescent quality to it, and the colors are really saturated. This is also going to be one very warm neck warmer.

I have off tomorrow. Yay. I don't have work or school, so we are going to head on over to NJ to spend a day with my padre. It's going to be cold, and he has a wood burning stove. Guess where I'm going to park my behind all day?

Good night y'all. Sleep well.

I met Doris Chan!

Oh, today was so much darn fun. I went to Loop, one of my favorite stores of all time, and I got to meet crochet guru Doris Chan! Look! There we are together!

She is a totally cool lady, and I bought her latest book, Everyday Crochet, and she autographed it for me. I also met and talked to three really neat ladies, Yvette, Kate, and Mary, and I saw Craig, the owner of Loop, and Elizabeth, one of his esteemed employees who also happens to dye some gorgeous yarn. Doris showed me how to do foundation single crochet, which is when you create your foundation chain and your first row of single crochet at the same time. It is efficient, easy, and it pretty much ensures that your inital chain isn't too tight. I also discovered (or rather, Doris discovered), that I wrap my yarn differently than everyone else. Who knew?

Here's Doris's magic hands showing Craig how to do something (I think it had to do with joining motifs). You can see Craig's Babette there on the table, and yes, it is made out of Kersti. These pictures don't do the colors justice, it is gorgeous.

This here would be Koigu. Lots and lots of Koigu. Be still, my beating heart.

I love Loop, and I love the fiber arts community in our area, and I love Philadelphia, unlike some people I know (Sahfi!).

***

After my fabulous afternoon at Loop, my friend Sahfi met me there and we went and had lunch, then went to a French meet-up. I spent some time in Paris about 10 years ago, and Sahfi lived in Montreal for several years, and we are trying to improve our rusty French. I think it would really help if we had our French meet-up in a bar. My French improves drastically when I'm drunk (at least I think it does). The group is organized by this nice guy named Pascal. He is Quebecois, and I'll be damned if I can understand half of what he says. But he is patient with all of us, and it's a great opportunity to get together with like-minded people and just have a lovely time downtown.

***

So what are you all doing for Halloween? I'm playing hooky from my night classes and taking the Banana trick-or-treating with a friend we met at the pool this summer. It will be fun. She is going to be, in her words, a 'pretty pink princess'. I swear, I don't know where this child came from. When I was a kid, for Halloween, I was (in no particular order) a clown, a firefighter, Wonder Woman (one of those horrid plastic costumes with a mask that didn't allow you to breathe that cost $5 at Woolworth's [remember Woolworth's?]) a ladybug, a black cat, a witch, a fairy, and a Catholic school girl (that last one was post-college when I lived downtown and was single). I haven't dressed up in quite some time. Probably because I generally feel pretty freakish most of the time these days.

***

Have a good week!