Fancy Arms

The stats...

Start: 9/13

Done: 9/27

Yarn: Manos #'s 36 & 68

Needle US #8

Pattern: from AlterKnits by Leigh Radford

I finished these guys Tuesday evening. I settled on 2 different ribbons; the blue silk which is laced in them now, it's a direct color match, right down to the striation of the shades of blue, and the purple ribbon that I was using to "test" the gloves. I kinda like the purple, I find myself saying that more & more these days. Certain shades of purple have been calling to me. Anyway, I quite liked the purple ribbon with the blue & green of the gloves. I like the idea of changing the ribbons with my mood! Now I am ready to start another pair of these, they were fun!! I have had requests for these as xmas & birthday gifts.
Chris' lap-top bag is dragging along! I feel kind of bad complaining about it. I don't want Chris to feel bad, but since he never reads this I will just say it, this is the single most boring project I have tackled yet!! I am just barely past the 1/2 way point, & I have 21 more inches to go. Note the size reference, the stitch gauge laying in the middle of the vast expanse of stripey yarn! When I hold it up in front of me, it looks the front panel of a skirt. I am very happy with the colors, the stripes, and all that. I just wish it would knit itself!!!
My throat still feels like I swallowed a porcupine! Remeber those comercials with the kids that drew pictures of their cold symptoms? There was one where the kid had a running faucet for a nose, or the kid that was breathing fire out his mouth, and he said "my FROAT is on fire!" I am just glad that I am getting this sickness out of the way now! Monday is orientation, Tuesday is a mandatory job fair, & Thursday is my first day of class!! Nervous!!!!
Today I am laying low, knitting some more stripes on the laptop bag, & working on the secret tweed hat.

The Yarn Bandit!!

I think I am sick. My throat hurts, my skin hurts, & I feel like I am running a fever. I left the house earlier to go get some more airborne. I was gone 10 minutes, 15 tops. I suppose it was just a matter of time. I have been knitting for about six months now, and after all, he is a cat, just doing his mischievous cat duties!!!
I came home to the sight of Rosco laying on the couch, drunk on yarn! His eyes were glazed over, he was breathing long & shallow, you could HEAR the pur from across the room, I SWEAR to you all, he was smiling! There was an evil satisfied grin on that cats face!!!
There was a single strand of pink yarn that began wrapped around the darling Rosco, as I followed the strand, then immediately my brain shifted, trying to remember if I am knitting anything pink!!! Did he frog something that I have been working on??!!!! I couldn't remember! AAAACCCK!!! So I follow the strand from the living room, to the dining room, into the kitchen, and down the stairs into my sewing/crafty room. YEP...pink yarn is strewn everywhere. Just like in cartoons, it's wrapped around the legs of tables, under & over things, a big huge pink cobweb of cat doom. As I walked & took pictures, Rosco was at my feet, then one step ahead of me, he began to yell at me... He was offended that I was undoing what he had spent all of five minutes creating!
The stunner for me, & I am not sure why I was so surprised, was that he had gotten up on my cutting table (3 1/2feet high) , INTO a basket overflowing with neatly wound yarn cakes (i.e. no loose tempting ends that may tempt kitty to screw around with them), way down in the bottom of the basket, and chose a bright pink cake of lamb's pride worsted. He hunted this particular yarn!!! It wasn't laying around in his sight line! It's good to know that of ALL the colors to choose from, my big gay cat went for the hot pink! : ')
He followed me around the room, squawking at me the entire time that I was unwinding his handy-work. I just kept unwinding, telling him to "stick a sock in it" every few minutes! After a few moments had passed, I was just hysterically laughing! And know my throat hurts worse than it did before. More hot tea for me!

Back to School Shopping!!!!

Heidi & I went shopping today, Target & then the mall! like, oh mi god!!! Totally! Fer SURE!!
I got this RAD coat! It's cheapo Target, but oh so cute!!! Black, pink & sooo amazingly soft!! It fits like a dream too! Not too shabby for $50. Did I mention that it's as soft as silk!!! Please ignore my dorky face in the picture! I asked Chris to only photograph the coat.
Then I got a new pair of kicks at Old Navy! $9.50!!! Yes, I said $9.50. They are green & adorable! I didn't even know it, but I appear to be on a bit of houndstooth rampage!

My-So-Called-Scarf... DONE!!!

I finished something!!!! this yarn has been such a pleasure to work with! And it just looks so damned good!!! This stitch is really fun to knit!

The stats...
Start: 8/28
Done: 9/23
Yarn: UniKat # 01 22377
Needle US #15

I am almost done with my Lace-Up Fingerless Gloves from ther AlterKnits book. (the first photo is the best representation of the actual color)
I have one glove completed, & I just need to finish the thumb on the second glove, weave in a couple of ends, block 'em & lace 'em up! I am so in love with that blue manos (# 36, mallard)!! I went shopping yesterday for ribbon. That has been the single most difficult part of these gloves!! I did find a couple of possibilties. And as it turns out, the "stunt double" ribbon that I was using to test out the gloves with.... I kinda like it the best so far. I will try to get some pics up of the ribbons later today or tomorrow, so you can all share your thoughts with me.


I am still plugging away on my secret tweed hat project for the shop, the world's most boring project (laptop bag), purse straps for skully bag (haven't even started), the long forgotten leaf stitch scarf, and about 3 samples pieces for the shop. And I have a very very long list of things that I MUST get started on!!

DONE: Tulle Drop Stitch Sample

Tulle Drop Stitch Sample
Originally uploaded by punk rawk purl.

Feeling a bit under the weather today. Kinda flu-ish. Here is a bit of knit to share. I didn't have enough tulle to start another repeat of the drop stitch thingy I had going. So I made pom pom's. I am a sucker for pom pom's. Besides, I was really curious to see how they would look in tulle... I think they look cool!
OK... I am going to go to work now. Maybe immersing myself in yarn at work will make me feel better.

The Best-est Yarn Pal Ever...

Yahaira is THE COOLEST, SWEETEST, RADEST yarn pal EVER!!! She knits the most amazing things, I am in awe of her. A few weeks ago she sent me a very cool yarn-o-gram! And today I check the mail, and find yet another happy red envelope! I had no idea, totally not expecting it whatsoever! Oh how I LOVE surprises!!!! Especially when the surprise is yarn, gorgeous beautiful, lucious yarn!!!!! For my birthday Little Ms. Wonderful sent me a little treat, a skein of collinette point 5 in mist! She does not know this, BUT... I have been drooling over the collinette for a couple of weeks now, (we sell it at the shop I work in). It's like she read my mind! While at work I keep petting it, cooing at it, flirting with it a bit, but I have remained shy, not sure how I could possibly make that sexy yarn look as good as it does in its natural skein state. As with the cotton & microspun that Little Ms. Wonderful sent last time, this once again is nudging me outside of my yarn cocoon. My mind is already swimming with plans for Miss Mist Collinette.
Yahaira, THANK YOU!!!!! You are so sweet!

A New Vintage Knitting "Toy"

Last week my lovely friend Nomi sent me an email alerting me to an ebay posting for this sweet little knitting basket/ tote. She pointed out how cute this would look in my house, with my color scheme. And she was correct. I had been wanting a new basket-y kind of thing to use specifically while I am knitting at home, I am tired of the yarn rolling around on the couch, collecting cat hair... Right, like I needed an excuse to want to purchase a new knitting related thing!
You gotta love ebay!!! I got this cutie for $6.99. The seam has come open a tiny bit on the inside, otherwise, it's perfect. There are no stains, smells, or other freaky ebay surprises! OH! It also can be used as a handbag.

I finally started the Lipstick tulle sample for the store. I went with a drop stitch pattern. I like it more than I thought I would. It was impossible to get a photo that truly represents the damn thing. You will have to trust me, it is 1983 Cyndi Lauper kinda fabulous!!! I never thought I would like working with this stuff. And I surely never thought it would look as cool as it looked in it's skein form. Wrong again!

A Very Busy Girl, & Working @ a Yarn Shop

I have runaway & joined the cast of SouthPark. You can do it too!!! Just go here to create your self portrait, SouthPark style!!

I FINALLY felted the two Â?newÂ? bags, & also RE-felted an older one. Because I have a front loader, & it takes multiple cycles to achieve full on felti-ness, I have decided to wait & felt multiple items at once, I have guilt about wasting water. I may just bite the bullet & go to the laundromat!! UGH... bad memories! The Â?sweater matching bagÂ? is done, & it's very cool!
The skully birthday tote is mostly done. ItÂ?s felted, but still needs straps. I went ahead & presented it to the birthday girl, to get her input on desired straps, & because I just couldn't wait any longer! I will post a picture after the straps are on. As for felting the intarsia, the skull came out fine, not much distortion at all, though there are these weird semi bulky Â?ridgesÂ? that run down along the sides, which I do not understand because the whole thing was knit in the round, there are no seams, & I didnÂ?t carry the red yarn around. I just dunno, any ideas?
I sent the "older" BHB through a couple of cycles. There were still some visible stitches & I wanted to firm it up a bit more. It worked like a charm, less stitchy & much sturdier. I should really just try felting my next project at the laundromat in a top loader... I'll bet I will save a lot more water that way!!!

Last week was really busy for me, so I didn't get too far on my pending projects:

• lace-up fingerless gloves- had some minor troubles with the pattern. I emailed Leigh Radford & she got back to me in less than an hour! I was really impressed! She was very sweet about helping me out. So I have the gauntlet done & am starting the hand
• laptop bag-I need to knit 44 inches of 75 stitches in stockinette. This is the easiest thing I am doing right now, but also the most boring. I am at about 17 inches right now.
• my-so-called-scarf- eh.... it's going. I am still totally excited about how cool it looks, & the idea of wearing it, it's getting colder everyday. My problem is that I just get bored about half way through some projects.
• leaf stitch scarf-ditto the terms of m-s-c-s
• rowan polar cape-still haven't sat down & worked out the pattern yet. Going to try & do that today or tomorrow, then walk through it with Janis when she has the time.
• Which brings me to... working in a yarn shop & the NEW PROJECT!!!!

I am loving my new job. And not just because I am surrounded by gorgeous yarn all day. The people that I work with are so amazing!! Yesterday we had a staff meeting, gearing up for the holiday season, swapping ideas, & general biz stuff! These women are so creative & fun!! One of the two Sarah's had the great idea of doing a staff project/knit along. We kicked around various ideas, such as, same pattern/different yarns, same yarn/different patterns, & a few other gems. I don't remember whose idea it was, but we settled on a tweed hat! We would each choose a different hat pattern & a different tweed yarn. Once we are all finished (3 week deadline) we will display them in the store. HOW FUN!!! It is a store project, so the materials are provided for us. I picked out mine, Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran in the dreamiest blue!!! I will keep the pattern a secret til later.

I Am Now A Complete Woman...

I am now capable of winding skeins in a single bound! Isn't it so cute, so wonderful, so Japanese! Let me tell you though, this is one cocky swift, the plastic bag inside of the box states that it is "ALMIGHTY Handy Reeling" & the instruction manual states that it is the "ALL POWERFUL Reeling Machine"! Based on it's self boasting, I expect this machine to not only be the best swift in the whole world, but also give me my daily horoscope, scrub the toilet, feed the cats, cure my dry skin, defrost the freezer, & if I rub it the right way, grant me three wishes! It's already set up in my sewing/crafting room. There it sits across from my ever obedient ball winder. They sit, clamped to the sides of my gargantuan table, gazing at one another across the stacks of fabric, yarn, & craft books. They just sit and wait... wait for me to link them together through the love & power of YARN!!! They will have the same love coursing through them both, winding faster, faster, ... and OH WOW even faster, until WOOSH... The swift spins free, a load taken off, and the ball winder is happy, satisfied, proudly given birth to a fat and beautiful cake of neatly wound yarn.
My friend Nomi presented me with some seriously GROOVY bday gifts, 3 issues of "McCall's Needlework & Crafts" magazine from 1972-1974, they are ALMOST as old as me! We leafed through them Wednesday at knit night, while we sipped wine & ate the last of my birthday cake. There was some hootin & hollerin, cause there is a whole lotta granny squarin goin on in there! And, floor length knitted and/or crocheted skirts, matching mother daughter pantsuits. Yes, I said PANTSUITS!! I think I will treat the few of you who read this here blog & post a fashion great at the end of each post.
Speaking of birthday cake, and I promise this is the last I will mention my birthday until next year, I received the sweetest cake ever. And I am not talking sugar sweet. I have worked only worked there for ONE WEEK, and when I came in on Wedenesday, they gave me this gorgeous gourmet birthday cake. I actually cried a teeny bit. I work with the sweetest warmest people. I have never felt so welcome, so fast. There hasn't been any awkward "getting to know you" moments, I feel like I have been working with these people for awhile. This has been by far the best birthday in years. I have so many positive things going on for me & it is overflowing & making everything around me wonderful! sappy I know! p.s. the words on the cake... chocolate!!

Birthday Post!! Learn to Crochet & Shriners...

Happy birthday to me! My big birthday treat to myself is that I am going back to acupuncture after a years absence. With all of the changes taking place these days, Chris in school, me working & starting school… it is a good time for me to go to center and balance my Chi! Hehehe I LOVED acupuncture! I have my first appointment today!


No real new knitting news. Went to the stitch and bitch last night at Julie’s, it was a pretty big turnout, and a lot of fun. I mostly worked on the laptop bag for Chris. I did spend a few moments looking at, and talking about my fingerless lace-up gloves, the first 4 rows just don’t look right to me, and my cast on looks funky. The pattern has you cast on, knit a row, then start eyelet pattern in St st. But the next row becomes the RS row, & the previous row was a knit row… it just looks weird. I may go ask for a professional opinion today. That means you Janis! : ‘)

The laptop bag is looking good, I am really happy with the color scheme. I have a hard time with random striping, as with most things I tend to over think it. After learning intarsia, & to weave in the tails as I work, it is making changing colors when striping so much easier. When I’m done with the bag, I’ll be DONE with the bag!!! No weaving to be done! ☺
This little ball of pink beauty is Prisms Tulle in Lipstick. It reminds me of Cyndi Lauper, circa 1981!! I am knitting it up for a store sample, yes I get paid to knit samples. I cannot decide how I want to work it to best suit it! My default is a drop stitch kinda thing, that just seems so overdone as far as novelty ribbon yarn goes. Opinions??!!

Yesterday I had a crochet lesson. It was subsidized by article pract. It was for the employees who wanted to learn crochet. The instructor was a cool chick named Suzanna, who had some of the coolest crocheted items I had ever seen. I must say, crochet was much harder for me then knitting was at first. When I was first learning to knit, I pretty much just picked up the needles started knitting. But crochet was a little strange, for one thing, I had to hold the yarn in my left hand (I am a thrower when I knit), and then there is that little thing about only having one stick to work with!! : ) In the photo of my crochet swatch that big hump on the end is supposed to be a bobble, other than that, my swatch was relatively uniform and square. Susanna said that I had really good tension, so at least there’s that. It was a lot of fun. I definitely need to practice a lot more.
And the Shriner badge is here, just because I like it, a lot!! It's from one of the Estate sales over th eweekend.

Happy Monday! Weekend Update & so on...

Knitting news...
I finished the skully tote!! I LOVE the way the mitered bottom came out, I think I will be using it again!!! I just need to decide what kind of straps to do, I don't like the ones in the pattern. I ran out of the black WOA, literally had a foot of black left after binding off, talk about close call!!! I don't want to do red straps. I could order more WOA, though this gift is due on the 19th. Here are my thoughts... I am thinking of punching grommets into the bag (post felting) so that the straps can be changed periodically. I could gift the bag & tell her the straps are coming... is that lame??
I still have yet to felt the completed BHB that unintentionally matches my sweater from High School! I am waiting to felt a bunch of stuff together at once.
I bought yarn to start the Lace-Up Fingerless Gloves from Alterknits, see below for more info on that.
Last night I cast on for a felted laptop bag for Chris's new laptop, also from AlterKnits . I've got about 12 rows so far. I wanted to pick up some Lamb's Pride, but none of the colors we had at AP were saying "Chris Dove". So I am using some of the WOA that I ordered a couple of weeks ago ( I had ordered the red & black specifically for the skully tote, & a random assortment for no particular project.) I am really happy with the color scheme I chose for the bag, not too shabby for using stuff that I had laying around. I will post a pic once I get a little more worked.
I am at a stall with my cape project. I just haven't had the time to sit down & crunch #'s & plot it out. It's been a long time since I have been legitimately busy, I love it!!

Saturday my friend Nomi and I had plans to get together and knit. On Friday as I was driving through town I saw several signs for estate sales coming up that weekend. So, when I got home I called Nomi and asked if she would be down for cruising some estate sales before we sit and knit. Happily she said yes!

Now, I've always had mixed feelings about estate sales. On the one big and important hand you can get really cool stuff at a pretty cool price. On the second less important, but creepy hand, its just kind of... Well, creepy, digging through some nice little old ladies stuff while she's still warm in the ground!! Plus it makes you very aware of your own mortality. It makes me stop and wonder, When I die will total strangers be rifling through my stuff, bargaining for silk scarves, cookbooks, & vases?"

We found two actual estate sales, one small but good yard sale, & one car wreck of a yard sale, (it was like a tacky flea market booth of cheap beauty products, bad acrylic scarves, and lots of white pleather Pee Wee Herman shoes). From the estate sales, we got a pretty good amount of vintage knitting and sewing items. I bought three different circular needles, still in the original packaging, a yellow and green silk zebra scarf (that is the complete zebra head, not just zebra stripes), a Shriner badge, a size zero crochet hook, a pair of "Miss Mary Marker" knitting needles all for $1.50. I also got an entire card of super cute brown & turquoise floral ribbon for $0.vintageintgae chrome cake server, & some HILARIOUS vintage cookbooks.

Then of course, we had to nourish ourselves after all of that shopping. We went and had very yummy Burmese. Nomi and I have only known each other for a few weeks, but the obsession with constantly talking about either food or knitting has made us good friends. After Lunch we had to feed our appetite for yarn. We walked over to Yarn!, Nomi wanted to buy the Fall issue of Interweave Knits before it was gone for good. She bought the magazine & took a peek at the sale bins... Say no more, she also left with 4 balls of dreamy yarn (don't remember what kind).
And while I was there I fell in love with #36 Manos, which will be my future lace up fingerless gloves. After I got it home I decided that #36 should really meet #68, & it hit me that they should never be apart! So I am thinking about how I want to configure the gloves with both colors, I don't want to do stripes, I don't think it would suit the delicate aspect of those gloves. I am thinking a thin band of #68 at each end. What do you guys think?

Thank you Janis!!! & Birthday Intarsia.

Well, this is it, here it is... TA DA!! My very first attempt at picture knitting, or as it is known better, intarsia. It is definitely a bit wonky, but overall I am pleased with the outcome. I intentionally chose a felting project that was knit in the round. I am hoping that the felting process will hide the wonky bits. This is also the first time I that I have knit anything from a chart. I knew it would be easier to read a chart in the round… Or will it be like learning to drive on an automatic, when you get behind the wheel of a stick you’re screwed because you have learned the easy way first!? ugh

I had been reading up on it, watching the knitting help videos, discussing it on various knitting forums, but for some reason this one technique had me choked up. Every other new technique & challenge I have been relatively fearless with. Socks… I just turned the heel, no big deal! But intarsia just grabbed me by the chi chis, and I surrendered.

I owe a big fat thank you and hug to Janis. Wednesday night at the knit together she ever so patiently showed me over and over and OVER again how to switch yarn colors, add a new color, and all of that. I would get it long enough to finish one round. But by the time I got to the next round, my brain and my hands had forgotten EVERYTHING. Janis was a dream though; she just kept showing me again & again. That woman has some serious patience! I left that night thinking I would never "get it"!! I was afraid that I would show up at Janis’ shop, strands of yarn tangled in my hair, talkig to myself, begging for more help.

SOOO… Fast forward to Thursday morning… I sat down with my morning cup of tea determined to "get it". Now, there are 28, rounds of intarsia in this project, & the pattern called for the skull on both sides of the tote. Ummmm… Screw that! After round 4 or 5, maybe 6, the wheels turned, something clicked, and that big bright light came on! My brain stopped interfering, and my hands just intuitively knew how to twist the yarns, and the more difficult part for me, carry the unused color along until it was time to use it again. By gum it all... I was intarsia-ing. Mind you, the first 4- 6 rounds have an obscene amount of yarn strands chaotically hanging from the inside, while rounds 7 & up are neatly (some a little too snug, I'm learning) carried along every 4 stitches or so.

This skull tote bag is a birthday gift for a very dear friend. She is not a knitter, but, boy oh boy... she had better love this damned bag!!!! :' )

I am a rooster gal, my Grandma had roosters all over her kitchen. Janis is a chicken lady, but I know she will appreciate this....

Happy Early Birthday To Me!!!

If anyone ever wondered just who was the coolest, hottest, best-est boyfriend in the whole wide world, allow me to tell you. It's MY boyfriend!!!! Tonight he gave me two of my gifts a week early. Now, we all know already just how amazing loop-d-loop is. BUT, AlterKNITS which was released a few days ago, & I have been DYING for, is FU**ING amazing. I LOVE this book!! There is really cool shit in here! Very inspiring, very alternative, & not alternative in a blink 182 lame-o kinda way!! There are tons of patterns for really cool sweaters, shawls, scarves, hats.... etc. AND, patterns for purses, laptop bags, crepe paper crowns, lanterns, a screen door, a corset/bustier, leather wrist cuffs, baby stuff (don't worry only a couple, & they are cool), a felted bulletin board, & my fave, a dress form decoupaged in yarn labels!!!
And sprinkled throughout there are pretty cool "creativity exercises". Like describe your knitting action hero, or color class experiment, & lots more. Some of them are meant to be shared in a group, while others to be explored alone!!
YUMMMY BOOK!! YUMMMY boyfriend!!!! XOXOXOXOX to Chrissy!!

Yarn-O-Gram

Yarn-O-Gram
Originally uploaded by punk rawk purl.

My Yarn-Pal from across the country has sent me an awesome little package. It's "L" themed. (Lamb's pride bulky, Lion brand Landscapes (love this yarn, love love love this color), Little bit of microspun (sooo soft & silky!), & Lost banded ball of red cotton).
I have never knit with anything other than wool, she is coaxing me out of my safe little woolen security skein. I am so excited! I cannot wait to sink my needles into that microspun... any ideas???
THANK YOU again Yahaira!!! You Rock Sister Sticher!!

Work, Felts, Cats, Hurricanes...

QUOTE OF THE DAY-just because I liked it.
"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been
hurt, and dance like no one is watching."
---------------------------------------
Yesterday was my first day at work! I worked a 5 1/2 hour shift, and although the time passed pretty quickly, I actually felt a little tired afterwards. PATHETIC!! My feet didn't really hurt, which is one thing I WAS expecting. I had a lot of fun & am really looking forward to working there. The entire staff, including the owner are truly incredibly sweet people!! I cannot even begin to describe how good it feels to spend 5 hours in a beautiful yarn shop & get paid to heavy pet with the dreamiest skeins, hanks, and balls!!!! mmmmmmm heaven! Total yarn-gasm!

Tacky yarn news... Yes, it's true, Target is now selling yarn. Novelty yarn. 99 cents a skein, 65 yards, 100% nylon. They had "funky fur" & I didn't catch the name of the other, but it was a ribbon kind of yarn. There were six shades of each, 2 pastels, 2 different oranges, & 2 different silver greys. Pretty boring. I did buy some of the "funky fur", Just for the novelty (har har) of having Target yarn. The truly sad thing is that they were also selling "needles". Packaged in clear plastic tubes, you could see the "needles" were warped, splitting, just in general, all funked up! I can imagine children, or adults, deciding to give knitting a try, buying cheap ass Target supplies, and getting so frustrated when the needle snaps into a million pieces & never wanting to knit again! BAD Target! Shame on you!!
On the lighter side of knitting news...
I am still struggling with intarsia, no I haven't actually attempted it. I don't know why I am being such a chump, I am overthinking it, I am sure. I have been fairly fearless in most other areas of new knitting techniques. It's just one of those things that I would feel better having a pro watch over my shoulder for a couple of rows. I am making this BAG, which will be felted, I thought a good idea for a first intarsia project, just felt over any goofs!
Other felts, the amazing coincidental sweater matching bag has been done for a while now. I am waiting to start and finish this skully bag & felt all at once. Because my front loader isn't very agitate-y, it takes many loads to achieve maximum felt-age, & I hate the idea of wasting water.

You watch the news, read the papers, hear about it on the streets, everywhere. You THINK that you have some kind of grasp on the magnitude of it all. Then you meet someone who has been there & reality reaches down your throat & just chokes you the hell up...
A woman came into the shop yesterday & bought a skein of yarn, purple manos, that doesn't have anything to do with anything, it just stuck out in my mind. Maybe it will be similar to when I worked at a cafe & came to know people by their drinks, "oh look, here comes double non-fat, hold the foam, extra chocolate latte"! ANYway... This woman... is a Katrina victim, survivor, not sure how to address that. She made it out here & is staying with an old friend, I think from high school. I would hazard to guess that this woman was in her mid to late 60's. She escaped with her knitting bag & her cat, and was just kind of matter of fact about the fact that she had absolutely no clue about her home or other belongings. What does that say about knitters. We got all misty eyed hearing about this.

Knitting MECCA

Knitting MECCA
Originally uploaded by punk rawk purl.

Yesterday I went to the antique faire that I had mentioned last week. Rachel had never been before, & really had no idea just how frickin HUGE the event is. Upon arrival we came across a booth of vintage linens & wool blankies! Rachel bought some adorable embroidered napkins, I asked for the price of a pristinely clean & totally unflawed plaid wool blanket, in the very same colors as my living room, I was told it was $25. I decide that it was early in the day, & if it was still there at the end of the day I would offer $20. We returned 3 1/2 hours later, on our way out, the same woman told me it was $30. I told her that earlier she said $25. In a shitty tone, she told me "Well, you should have bought it this morning then!" As we walked away, she shouted again, "Well you SHOULD have bought this MORNING!!" I will not be stopping by her booth again! BEE-OTCH!!

Somewhere between the napkins and the blanket bitch, we saw many sights!! We had a method, walking up & down the aisles, scanning each side, back & forth, zig zag, etc. All of a sudden Rachel shouts, "OH MY GOD" and takes off running. I turn around &... lights shine from the heavens above, angels sing, & my heart stops beating... A table bursting forth of vintage needle goodness... Mostly aluminum, some wood, & sort of resin like plastic. For the next 30 minutes or so, Rachel & I stood hunched over the table, the conversation went something like this... "Here's a short #2 in tealy blue!" "oooh, look at this long #5 in maroon" "hey lemme know if you see a long #1 with an arrow tip in lime green" "ok, take a deep breath, relax!" At one point Rachel said, "okay that's it, I'm done, I'm walking away." She was back at my side rifling through needles in less than 30 seconds. For the first 15 minutes or so we didn't even have any idea what the prices were. $2 a pair. so we stood there with fistfuls of needles, counting, and recounting, I said "HA! I only have 8 pairs, I will make it an even $20, I get to pick out 2 more pairs!!!" I also bought some really pretty resin/plastic #'s 11 & 13, my loot is pictured below.

We were spent after that. We were drunkenly walking about. We went for lunch. Another friend had suggested the sausages as the best deal they were good, but obscene!! Rachel, the smart vegetarian opted for the gourmet pizza.

After lunch, we came across vintage buttons, some not so fab vintage yarn (I did buy a couple $1 skeins of a cool acrylic blend Bernat tweedy stuff), and lots of other stuff that was cool but we were just too tired to dig through! We did find some great recycled silk yarn from Nepal, (where the freaky salesman (he was wearing m.c. hammer pants, a 1/2 shirt, & a white & black pleather Michael Jackson Thriller jacket) grabbed me FIRMLY & accused me of being there earlier & stealing his cell phone. He wouldn't let go of me until my friends showed up, backing me up). I did however muster up the strength to try on, and buy a vintage dress that fit & was as clean & fresh as the day it was originally bought, 50 years ago!!



All in all, it was a very good day!! check out my flicker set titled Alameda Antique Faire for more pics of cool non knitting related antiques!!

Katrina... Screw you Bitch!!

I saw this on a fellow knitters Blog, and what a great Blog it is!!
I had never heard of this website. What a great service this site offers to us "crafties" on a day to day basis. And what a great way for crafty folk to help lend a small, but helping hand to those in need. So knit, crochet, paint, decoupage, sew, glue, staple something up... and show that bitch Katrina that she can't fuck with us!!

Unintentional Coincidence!!!

Unintentional Coincidence!!!
Originally uploaded by punk rawk purl.

I had TOTALLY forgotten about this sweater until my friend Heidi, said "that purse reminds me of those vintage stripey sweaters..." And it hit me that the purse I am currently knitting is exactly the same as a vintage sweater that I have had since high school!!
This will be a felted bag. I was intending it to be a xmas gift. But now I feel kind of obligated to keep it so the sweater will feel like it has family.

I had the best time last night at the Wednesday night knitting group. Lots of laughing & good seedy stories. Those gals are a ton of fun!! I feel very fortunate to be a part of the gang there.


I am really excited!! This Sunday I am finally going to make it back to the Alameda Antique Faire. I haven't been in awhile, 6 months or so. I am going to go with my new friend Rachel, who I met at the Wednesday night knitting group. I have heard that there are vintage knitting needles & notions to be had. WEEEEEEE!!!!

I have decided that the Polar will be a cape, not a capelet, but a full sized, to the hip, cape. I have lots of ideas for cute little details, like instead of using i-cord or ribbon to tie it closed, I will knit buttonholes at the neck line & use some of grandma's antique buttons & chain to hold it closed, that way I can change it up when I am feeling funky fresh. I am going to try and make up my own pattern. Janis, my knitting hero, Has offered to help me figure out the hard stuff.