Tuesday, May 26, 2009



Pretty miscellaneous, this morning.

Socks

I made a good start on a pair of socks for my husband while we were in Strathardle last week. I knew that 45 grams was not going to be enough to finish the sock, and I now think it won’t even be enough to turn the heel and get the foot far enough into the shoe that a change of yarn won’t hurt. So I think I’ll try to ring I Knit today and see if I can get some more. It’s “Jawoll Silk”, and I bought it that happy day when Judith and Jean and Christine and I met there to talk and knit. One of us, I can’t now remember which, was knitting a Jawoll sock at the time.


I didn’t try to phone yesterday because England was celebrating Whitsun, a week ahead of the actual event (=Pentecost) in the Western church and more than that in the East. England moves in mysterious ways when it comes to Bank Holiday Weekends.

Jabot

I posted the question to the Heirloom Knitting List (hoping to tease an answer out of Sharon herself) – someone has suggested that there might be something in Christine Duchrow, whose books I ought to have anyway, so I’ve just ordered them from the Needle Arts Bookshop. I had never been there before. Wow!

Thanks for the tip about that s-shaped gathering line, Tamar. I think I see what you mean.

Princess

I’m nearly finished with repeat no. 41 of the top edging – assuming I’ve remembered to move a peg every time. Here it is: the lettering box at the centre now covered with edging. The recent disaster is near the right-hand edge of the box. If you follow that line upwards, and then move slightly left to the nearest trough in the edging, you will be able to discern irregularities in the zigzag line of little holes, and at the point where the edging joins the shawl.



Those are due to my unpicking – the disaster itself happened at a point in the edging, and I picked back to the trough, and decided I had better stop before things got worse. I think I’m well past the galloping horse test. You should have seen it before I started unpicking.

It’s now possible, since I’m past halfway, to make a rough calculation of how many repeats there will be in all, and therefore how much longer it will take to finish, at roughly two a day. When this week is over and June arrives, I figure that I’ll be within a month of the end – allowing for plenty of time on Blocking Day, and the repair of a bad moth hole somewhere in the original edging.

I’m now perfectly happy about laying her aside, even so near the end.

Annie Modesitt

She’s coming to Edinburgh! When the programme went up last week, I saw that she was going to teach Combination Knitting, a mysterious and interesting subject on which she has written. When I went back yesterday to sign up, it had changed to Tips and Tricks.

If you read her May 25 blog entry through to the comments at the end, you will see that Annie assures my friends Helen C.K.S. and the Fishwife, individually and specifically, that the class will be Combination Knitting. So why change the listing? What about the people who sign up for Tips and Tricks, not having read the comments? A long life has taught me (if little else) to beware of buying something on the assurance that it is really something else. I don’t know what to do.

7 comments:

  1. David actually met Annie Modesitt by complete happenstance last year. He was at an alpaca event and she happened to be teaching at a knitting guild meeting in the same conference center. She bought some of his alpaca socks.

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  2. GrannyPurple12:47 PM

    I took a day-long workshop with Annie a couple of years ago--I no longer remember the topic, but much, much more was covered. She's very generous with her knowledge--perhaps combination knitting has been subsumed into Tips & Tricks!

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  3. Why not send Annie an email and ask her about the class directly? She seems very approachable.

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  4. Maureen in Fargo5:43 PM

    I met Annie at the Knit Out at the Mall of America last year, Stash Haus and I introduced ourselves to her and we all immediately became friends. If you are concerned about what her class will include I agree that you should email her and ask. I've never taken a class from her but from all I've heard I'm sure her Tips and Tricks would be great fun and very informative no matter what it included!

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  5. =Tamar7:23 PM

    Ditto GrannyPurple. It may be that someone thought combination knitting wouldn't take very long to teach and asked her to add more. In any case, I would think she would be happy to at least demonstrate combination knitting to anyone interested, even if it's in the lobby (or bar).

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  6. Anonymous10:27 PM

    That was me knitting a Jawoll sock at IKnit and very smart it's looking (not yet finished, fete knitting and hats for the grandson have intervenend!) So nice to knit too.
    Also just to say how impressed I am by the Princess, basolutely beautiful, what a triumph

    Christine

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  7. Take the class, I recently took a class given by Chris Blysma and had similar misgivings after signing up. The name of the class and discription was not detailed on her website. I went, and it turned out to be wonderful, she presented much about mixing colors, really opened up a lot for me. I expect that Anne Modesitt with her talent would offer much in that same way (not color, but technique). I really enjoy your blog.

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