TNNA San Diego 2016

This past weekend I went to TNNA in San Diego with Nancy and friends. We had a great time checking out all of the new products and gadgets. One of my favorite events is on Friday night, called Sample It. The vendors with new products show off what they have and it's available for purchase.

I loved the Twizzlefoot from Mountain Colors when I made the the Willow Cowl which is a gift for a friend. When I saw the other colors they had, I had to pick up a couple of skeins.



Retromantic Fripperies had beautifully designed wood products and I tried out my new coasters by making a delicious coffee using Trader Joe's Coffee and Cocoa blend, Half & Half, and Kahlua.

The Fashion show was fun and showed off a lot of beautiful knitwear. I'm planning on making some Tee style tops that I can wear on a regular basis. I would like to have at least 3 or 4. One of my favorites I saw at the show was the Mariposa Tee on display at the Zen Yarn Garden Booth.

Anzula's booth was a favorite with a huge display of all their colors and yarns. My friend Hanna is holding the favorite colors in their new laceweight yarn called Meridian. It is a blend of Tencel, Alpaca, and Nylon.


I had a lot of fun meeting Rhichard Devrieze of The Yarns of Rhichard Devrieze. I have big colorwork plans for all of his beautiful colors!


Purl & Loop introduced the Stash Blaster 8.0 weaving loom that is the perfect size for sampling different weaves and colors. I bought these for my boys and hope it's something they'll enjoy. I helped them warp it with some leftover stash and they've started.


I got some accessories from the Hiya Hiya booth that I'm really excited about using. These are Crystaletts Pins with Tag-A-Stitch markers. I think they'll be fun to use and helpful on more complicated projects.




I am also happy about these Nirvana Needle Arts Row Counters. They lie flat on my knitting and once I turned them a few times, loosened up and are easy to use.


I was so excited to purchase an Ashford Blending Board and am looking forward to creating many beautiful rolags to spin! Nancy and I bought this together and will be sharing it. I think it'll make both of us spin more just to get to make more rolags.


On Sunday I attended Vicki Twigg's class on Sunday at Common Threads to learn about the Twigg Stitch technique. It is a twist on reversible knitting and a fun way to play with colors.



Common Threads will be closed Saturday, January 23 for Caryl Nelson's memorial at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Del Mar. Here she is with me and Nancy on Nancy's wedding day in November.

April's off to a good start

I really enjoyed the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild meeting this week where the theme was “Vintage Knitting”. I especially appreciated the work that went into preparing bags for the guild charity knitting. My two sons are helping knit scarves for a local woman’s shelter. The little scarf kits were lovingly prepared by the guild so it was very easy to start the project.


I am super excited about the new Louisa Harding yarn Noema! Nancy and I picked out sweaters and cast on together. Nancy is working on Flutterby and I'm working on Felicity. Knitting Fever Inc. is hosting a knitalong on the Louisa Harding Lovers Ravelry group for Noema yarn and patterns from April 1 – June 30. I totally want to win more of this yarn!


I am fascinated about the idea of a Master Spinner Certificate from Olds College in Canada. I was looking at a project completed by somebody who had earned a certificate, and learned about an author named Mabel Ross. I borrowed her book “Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners” from the library. It has been an excellent resource for technical spinning. I'm currently working on a Sheep 2 Shoe kit from Blue Moon Fiber arts in the Lapis colorway.

I've ordered Mabel Ross's DVD from Village Spin & Weave and an Eszee Twist Tool from Camaj Fiber Arts. I'm hoping to learn the more technical aspects of my spinning and be able to produce a bigger variety of yarns.

The Knit Surfers Episode 19 - A March Update

Here is Episode 19 from Nancy and I!

So I've had a mild flu for the past week and although I didn't feel very well, as long as I stayed in bed and didn't move around too much, it was bearable. This left me a lot of time to knit and I worked on the Rose Window shawl a lot. I've finished the 3rd chart so there's only one more to go. I'm so happy with how it's come out and the ease of the knitting due to the wonderful tool I have, The Beadle Needle. It has saved me HOURS of work and made the knitting so enjoyable.




I've finally got my gauge right on my Social Network socks. What an ordeal! I had to start the sock 3 times before it finally looked like I wanted it to. I'm not sure what happened in this particular case, but apparently I'm back to going down needle sizes to achieve the correct tension. The sock on the bottom is lined up with the original sock so you can see how much bigger it was. MEGA too big!
 

I went to the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild March meeting where the speaker was Grace Akhrem. She's a knitwear designer from Los Angeles with a lot of amazing patterns.

I really like her use of finer gauge yarns and short rows. I've put a couple of patterns in my Ravelry queue to see if I have anything appropriate to use for the projects.

Episode 11 from The Knit Surfers

Episode 11 - Welcome to 2015

Happy New Year from The Knit Surfers!

It snowed over the New Year’s holiday in San Diego which is extremely rare. It’s actually pretty warm today, in the high 70s so if you’re a local, layer up!

Feeling a little under the weather? Try some Apple Cider Vinegar. It’s very easy to make and actually tastes pretty good. Kelie puts 1 Tablespoon of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and 1 Tablespoon of Honey or Agave in the bottom of a glass. Then fill the glass up with water and enjoy. She drinks it even when she’s feeling well to help keep her immune system strong.

Rich in enzymes & potassium Support a healthy immune system Helps control weight Promotes digestion & ph Balance Helps soothe dry throats Helps remove body sludge toxins

Helps maintain healthy skin Helps promote youthful, healthy bodies Soothes irritated skin Relieves muscle pain from exercise

The first meeting of the North Coast Knitting Guild was yesterday and the guest speaker was Sara Stolz. She is a very charming lady with a lot of enthusiasm for adding color to the world around her through yarn bombing. She is the mastermind behind the yarn bombing in Old Poway Park and has done a lot to introduce the Poway community to the art of knitting. Many enjoyed the trees decorated with many birds and the sweater specially designed for a tree in the park. Sara also showed us pictures of art she has created around her property including tree sweaters, tree stump chair and table, and painted objects. It was really fun to see!

Nancy teaches Textiles at FIDM and has access to many trend reports, so we talk about Spring Color trends and what you’ll be seeing in upcoming fashion.


Nancy talks about our very own “King’s Road”, El Camino Real. She talks about the history of El Camino Real, the 21 Missions in California, and the bells that were installed by the City of Encinitas to mark the route.


What’s going on at Common Threads:

Knitalong – Samen Shawl by Stephen West: We just ask that you purchase your yarn for the shawl from Common Threads, the friendship, camaraderie, and pattern help are free! Stop by to sign up!

Nancy’s Project:
Heart Blanket by Noro – All seamed up, just needs a border and some ends weaved in. Kelie thinks that Nancy’s post on Facebook of the blanket, inspired the upcoming knitalong hosted by Knitting Fever Inc., Noro’s American distributor. They have offered a coupon code for a free download of the heart blanket pattern on Ravelry if you buy the yarn for this project at your local yarn store. Common Threads has the code and is ready to use it! The Knitalong starts January 14, 2015, so if you’re thinking about this project, come on in. If you’re not sure about committing to the full blanket, try making a pillow instead.

Kelie’s Projects:
Hitchhiker by Martina Behm – Finished and wonderful!
Fire Drake Shawl by Abigail Phelps – Finished! Made out of her gradient handspun, with beads added for sparkle.
Fairy Snowcaps by Romi Hill – Finished! One is for a chemo hat and the other is for Kelie. She used GGH Tara yarn which is Cotton and Microfiber. It’s soft and washable, perfect for a person going through chemotherapy.
Rhodonite Love Socks – Finished! This is made with Kelie’s own toe-up recipe but using charts from Cookie A’s book Knit.Sock.Love.
Kelie is currently working on her Gurli Mittens and a pair of Prairie Boots.

Happy Birthday to Camille! We love you and hope you have an amazing birthday!


On Ravelry:
Nancy – Knitsurfer
Kelie – Khalila

Lots of fun projects happening

Fire Drake Shawl by Abigail Phelps using my handspun laceweight in a gradient colorway that goes from Orange to Red to Purple. It’s a lot of yardage and going to be very big.



Cable Braided Necklace by Olga Buraya-Kefelian - can be done in any weight yarn and take under two hours to complete.


I'm excited to make God’s Eye stars with Son #2's class for their holiday party on Friday. Here is a quick tutorial link for how to make them.We went to the the STEAM Maker Faire at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Hitchhiker Shawl by Martina Behm using leftover Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball.

Here are my Gurli mittens and all the links: Latvian Braid, stranded colorwork, convertible mittens, and the Knit Companion app.

The Knitters Guild Holiday Luncheon

Today I got to wear my newly finished sweater to a place where people would truly appreciate it! Stacy took this picture of me in front of the Morgan Run Club & Resort.

The lunch was amazing! There were two options to choose from, Salmon Ceasar Salad and a Chicken Salad Wrap. I chose the Salmon but also got a taste of the Chicken Salad and both were delicious. They also served bread and butter, coffee, and dessert. 

One of the fun parts was the raffle drawing. You bought tickets and put them in the boxes of the prizes you were interested in winning, but it was hard to choose because they were all pretty awesome. I did not win anything which was a bummer when you would REALLY like what you put in for. The raffle drawing prizes:

I got to hang out with some wonderful friends and had so much fun talking about knitting, yarn and projects. Here are Julie, Me, and Isabelle:

The view from my table:

The fashion show was also really fun to watch and I really enjoyed seeing all the amazing projects. Cute Stacy modeling her vest:

The only thing I wish had been different was that I had to leave by 2 for school pickup. I don't know why I didn't plan for the lunch to go long, but I really didn't think it would go past 2 when arrival was at 10:30am. I had to leave before all of the prizes had been drawn and before they gave away the cool yarn centerpieces on the table. I also would have liked to socialized a little more afterwards and taken a couple more pictures. I guess next time I'll plan better!

To Gift or Not

With all of the holidays fast approaching, I've read a lot about knitters gearing up to knit gifts. And a lot of knitters who are gearing up to not.

The Knitmore Girls are hosting a Grinch-along where they are encouraging knitters to just enjoy the holidays and knit without pressure. If you take a picture of your non-gift knitting fun and post it on their Ravelry group or Instagram, you could win a Grinchy knitting bag sewn by the Knitmore Girls. I will definitely be posting in this thread, because I have a couple of projects that are for personal fun and won't be given as gifts. And I want to win a Grinchy bag because they are so cute AND it will be from the Knitmore Girls.

Yarn Floozies has a really fun Knitting Time Calculator, that will help calculate the cost of a hand knit gift. This is more for people making requests and not really gifts, but I really liked the idea behind it. It might help to give me a reality check should I decide to knit an I Heart Noro blanket because it's obviously full of knitted love and everyone I love should have one.

If I were to decide that I want to plunge headfirst into some serious gift knitting for the challenge and adrenaline rush, Curious Handmade has a really nice free Holiday Gift Knitting Planner. I think this is a cool idea and I think the Yarn Harlot plans out her knitting time similarly on a spreadsheet.

I don't have any plans to bust out a bunch of hand knits for this holiday season, but I always say that. And then I get everything planned out for my family and decide that just maybe I could squeeze a gift or two in. This usually happens the beginning of December. We'll see if it happens this year.

I have been inspired by some of the Advent calendars and Holiday decoration knitting patterns I've seen on the Hot Right Now Ravelry list recently. One of my favorites is this Knitted Gingerbread House from Frankie's Knitted Stuff. I love her patterns and this house has a hinged roof so you can fill the inside with candy. The other pattern she has coming out is an Advent Garland with 24 different decorations on it. It starts December 1st and ends Christmas Eve. I love the idea of knitting one little ornament a day and having a cute handmade garland to hang up on Christmas. I might just have to do this one!