jazzzzzed!

huge congratulations to a great pal, olgajazzzzy, on winning the front cover spot with her stunning design for an exciting new book due out next year.

i first met olga when i was trying to figure out how to recreate the ferragamo knit handbag. not only is she a genius at decoding designer knits, she is also a gifted knitwear designer in her own right. her passion for knitting and keen fashion sense keeps the rest of us jazzzzzed with inspiration. on top of all that, she is one of the nicest, most helpful people i've met in blogland.

go jazzzzzy girl!

planes, trains, and addi turbos

nine of us boarded amtrak in rochchacha for a pilgrimmage to the rad lace and subversive knitting exhibit at the MAD museum in NYC last weekend.


eight hours of knitting, gabbing, and eating ensued. (modalura girls rachel and jackie O tried their hardest to remain anonymous.)



after tossing our bags in the room at the W, we made our way to purl soho. the shopkeepers did their best to look the other way as we ravaged their perfectly organized bins of wild wooliness.



sated with yarn, but starved for carbs, we headed over to magnolia. NB: magnolia cupcakes are best eaten before embarking on the new york subway system. unless, of course, you prefer to consume your cupcakes via deconstructed buttercream formations on the top, bottom, and sides of a bakery box. mmmmm, cardboard.

the next day, we visited the rad lace exhibit. if you haven't seen it yet, go. you'll never look at lace or knitting in the same way again. for example, one installment was an arrangement of junk the artist found on the roadside: chairs, shelving, shopping carts. each item was tightly wrapped with bright white tape to create a huge, three-dimensional piece of lace.

another piece i loved was a chandelier knit from fiber optic strands. no light bulb required. the strands come to life with light when they're bent, which happens during the knitting itself.

the worst part is you can't touch anything. of course, that's all we knitters want to do! the museum guards were on us like a hobo on a ham sandwich. the one consolation was a participatory installation where visitors could knit a couple rows on a bunch of hats they're sending to soldiers in iraq.

twinkle dust

i have so much to blab about. just got back from a knitting roadtrip to nyc. but more on that later. right now i have to show you my first twinkle FO, the shopping tunic. my biggest, bulkiest fear was that i would look ridiculous with a big bulky cowl in front of my big bulky boobies. but i think it's gonna be okay. the heels seem to hoist everything up and i'm hoping the narrow jeans slenderize the line a bit. i refuse to believe twinkle is just for girls with model-sized boobies! (not that there's anything wrong with that.) i also kinda like it with the belt. still have to block, but overall, i'm pretty excited about this.

random notes: the pattern called for seven hanks of the twinkle soft chunky for all of the sizes; i used just three for the small... i made the cowl two inches shorter... i knit with the sweater in my lap for three hours and ended up with kelly green twinkle dust all over me... the fabric created with size US19s is very stretchy... on the needles, the tunic seemed to be impossibly long, but the length was fine when i actually put it on.

i promise to do my best

oh joy! rapture! i taught 12 brownies to knit yesterday. i had to choke back a tear as i watched their little fingers grasping those wooden needles and going in through the window, around to the backie, out through the window, and off jumps jackie! i went in thinking that rhyme was the corniest thing going, but it worked like a charm. by the end of the first row, they were all muttering it under their breath, their faces twisted in concentration and subsequent relief as each jackie jumped off the needle.

i've taught many adults to knit, but this was my first time teaching a bunch of kids. i gotta say, i was amazed at how quickly they caught on and how tenacious they were in the process. like a lot of grown women i know (who shall remain nameless) they didn't beat themselves up when the fabric wasn't coming out perfectly. if a loop ended up being five inches long, no biggie. they just kept at it, making the stitches happen however they happened. brownies rule!

project greenlight

due to a stupid pattern-reading mistake, i had to rip out most of the twinkle shopping tunic progress i made last night. the good news is, it only took me two hours to get this far. damn, this stuff knits up fast! the other good news is i got a chance to try it on before it hit the frog pond. now, i am not a skinny mini by any means. i'm more of what you might call a curvy girl. i made the medium size for this. and gals, i am seriously considering going down a size. this thing is str e t c h y!

the twinkle yarn is incredibly soft and fun to work with. it's pretty loosely plied, so it feels very light and fluffy and not overly bulky.

btw, lots more info and chat about twinkle big city knits and twinkle yarn can be found here and here.

kiss me i'm twinkle!

just snagged myself two bags o' twinkle soft chunky in a st. patrick-approved shade of green. managed to score them as they were being unloaded here. magically delicious!

addendum: just knit up a little swatch for the shopping tunic. so far, so good on US19s. along with the super-saturated emerald green, one thing i really like about the twinkle soft bulky already: the edges lay flat and don't curl. also, the swatch feels as light as a feather. as for ease, it appears to have quite a bit of soft stretchiness widthwise; not so much lengthwise.

also, i found this reassuring note about twinkle sizing on the classic elite website:

"some designs have a seemingly small bust measurement but they are designed to be fitted in that way. a woman will find in her closet that a boxy jacket will have a different measurement than a lycra sexy dress although they both fit her. throughout the book, sizing is consistent: XS=31"-33" bust, S=33"-35", M=35"-37", L=37"-39". twinkle sweater design is less about fancy stitches but more about creating a modern shape in a sweater."

wild thing

after our wild woolies' success at an awards show the other night, the local paper decided to do a profile on the shop behind it all, wild wools yarn. the owner of the shop, lucinda snyder, not only has a keen sense of color and fashion, but she and a partner, rachel chaffee, are the designers behind the up-and-coming modalura. (which, by the way, was recently named the featured designer for blue sky alpacas.) i'm so proud to be affiliated with such a wildly talented chick!

see eunny conquer the world!

congratulations to eunny jang on her new gig as editor of interweave knits. not only is she a true class act, she's also the elizabeth zimmerman of our generation. go eunny!

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shameless self promotion

i can't help it, i'm pretty excited about this.

FO: anna stockings

pair number two of this adorable lace stocking pattern from rowan. tied with long, chocolate brown strands of satin ribbon that make them feel just this side of special. i think they'll be cool to wear with these tweedy shorts, with a skirt or with a just-above-the knee knit dress. or maybe even peeking over the top of a pair of mid-calf boots. knit up in rowan 4-ply soft, a dreamy, lightweight yarn that shows great stitch definition while holding its shape nicely.

the perfect knitting chair?

via design*sponge and pan-dan

alas, it is (sigh) crochet.

the perfect knitting chair: part 1

a, b, c, or d? actually, it's none of the above. the bottom line (ok, pun intended): i need a new knitting chair.

when we lived in our first apartment, we had a futon that folded up into a small couch. back then, i considered it to be the perfect knitting chair. it was wide enough to cross your legs and/or set down a pattern book next to you; it was firm enough to provide good back support and moderate butt comfort. it was low enough that you could get in and out of it with ease. and it was ugly enough to be hauled to the curb the moment we bought our first house.

lately, i've been thinking about that futon. mostly as i've sat knitting in one of the chairs above, pondering what i love (KNIT) and hate (TINK) about each and every one of them. it's all part of my quest to find the perfect knitting chair--a quest only a true knitter will appreciate.

CHAIR #1: THE TRAD & TRUE.
KNIT: sentimental value--one of our first joint furniture purchases.
TINK: armrests get in the way of long needles; cushy down seat is good for sitting, but not for knitting.

CHAIR #2: THE MINIMALIST.
KNIT: mod, upright design gives good back support, lack of arms gives total lateral freedom.
TINK: seems a little small and the seat may be a tad too hard for marathon knitting sessions.

CHAIR #3: THE GRANNY.
KNIT: sentimental overload--this was my grandmother's treasured chaise; it's good to put your feet up.
TINK: fugly fabric (sorry gram); those dang arms again; not easy to sit crosslegged.

CHAIR #4: THE HABERDASHER.
KNIT: great back support; groovy upholstery.
TINK: the thing weighs about 500 lbs. and i'm not sure i could convince my hubby to schlep it up a flight of stairs into my knitting room; you can only sit one way.

coming soon: pull up a chair and help me sort through some "perfect" options.

bootylicious

don't you just want to eat them? i don't even care if i get cotton mouth. daily fiber intake and all that. but i will gather all of my will power and, instead, knit them up for my friend's bambino. naturally, they're from one of the tastiest shops on earth.