Intentional Tourist

Detroit may be known as "motor city" to most of the USA, but to this knitter it may prove to be an oasis of wool...a virtual paradise of innumerable knitting stores. My husband has been working a contract job in Dearborn since February and has been hinting that he would like me to visit. Now I wouldn't want to insult any Detroit residents, but visiting this industrial city has never been on my short list of cities I wish I had time to visit. That is until I purchased my 2009-2010 copy of Fiber Mania. The listings for yarn stores in the Detroit metroplex were more than you could shake your needles at. I immediately booked my flight and this past weekend I visited the Detroit area, 2 yarn stores, and my husband (not necessarily in that order).

My husband is a very patient and loving man when it comes to my passion to visit yarn stores and fondle wool. He only has a couple of requirements. First, a good yarn store should have a soft chair or couch where weary husbands can catch a quick nap or two while we wander through aisles, look into bins and baskets, and ooh and ahh as we stroke and pet the sensuous fibers. This makes good business sense for a LYS owner as the more time knitters have to look around, the more yarn we just have to have. Nothing puts a damper on a good yarn outing than a husband tapping his foot, looking at his watch or gasp...following you around making comments like "I thought you just looked at that one."

His next requirement is geared more towards me. I'm currently in a sock knitting frenzy and absolutely adore sock yarns. Being a good wife, a wife that wants to share her knitting prowess, and having a husband that likes wool...naturally it follows that I would make him socks. Sock yarn for the most part is bright and cheerful. It screams "look at me" "that's right I'm a hand knit vibrant unique sock that wasn't bought at the big box store." This is the type of yarn I like to knit. I told my husband that I would knit him socks as long as they weren't dull, boring, somber black, navy or brown. "That's not somber...it's DIGNIFIED" was his reply. Luckily I've managed to find a few skeins for his socks that while not exactly bright and cheerful, they aren't staid solid colors either.

Old Village Yarn Shop in Plymouth was the first yarn store we visited. Note-this LYS did not have the requisite comfy "husband" chair so for the most part he stayed outside on the sidewalk. Old Village Yarn is a nice cozy store crammed to the rafters with yarn. Bins and sheves made interesting little paths that encouraged you to go deeper into the aisles to see what treasures lay around the corner. I bought 3 skeins of sock yarn there. One for my husband, a semi solid blue/gray araucania ranco solid, and 2 sock yarns for me.

Knit a Round in Ann Arbor was the 2nd store we visited. This is a wonderful store and they did have the "husband" chair (although he spotted the wine store across the way so he never set foot in the store) Knit a Round is treasure trove of wonderful yarns. Large windows in the front fill the store with natural light allowing you to see the dizzying array of yarns in all their splendor. The owner of the store is very friendly and helpful and even volunteered to mark my book with all the "absolutely have to visit" stores and which ones had gone out of business. I bought 5 skeins here. One for my husband, a very nice Opal memory striping yarn in shades of brown with flecks of green, 3 skeins for me, and 1 for a friend.

I highly recommend both of these stores if you visit the Detroit metropolitan area. I plan on visiting my husband and Detroit again and will update readers on my continuos fiber quest.

Knitting in St. Peter's Square and Other Thoughts

pictures: upper -Baldacchino, lower - St. Peter's Square



Our Christmas pilgrimage to Rome and the Vatican City is over and I'm left with the unbelievable memories of a trip of a lifetime. We spent a short 8 days in Rome but managed to visit St. Peter's Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Wall, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, Basilica of San Clemente, Abbe Tre Fontane, numerous local churches, Coliseum, Pantheon, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, and other sites too numerous to mention. The people were friendly, the food and wine incredible, and the highpoint was attending midnight mass inside the basilica.

Knitting fosters a sense of belonging and community and I found this to be true internationally as well. While in line in St. Peter's Square for midnight mass, I was knitting away on my Malabrigo Flying Vee scarf #2 that was to be a belated Christmas gift for my fellow knitting sister. The older woman in front of me kept glancing sideways at me and finally asked me if I spoke Italian. I replied that I spoke a little and did she speak any English. She didn't so we communciated in my limited Italian. It turns out she was also a knitter and admired my circular knitting needle which she had never used. She liked the idea that her stitches wouldn't fall off the needle. She was especially intrigued by the fact that they were square (I was using my new Kollage square circular needle) which she had never seen. The scarf I was knitting was the Flying V Scarf pattern by Iris Schreier. She liked the way it was on the diagonal and wanted to know the pattern. Whew! How to explain this in Italian?? My class didn't cover knitting terms. I knit the left hand Continental way but by using an exaggerated pantomimed English wrapping style along with my Italian I was able to demonstrate the pattern enough that she was nodding and taking notes! I took care to explain that in the beginning, the scarf would look like 2 triangles but that this was "va bene". She took notes on how to end the pattern and then we listened to the sweet acapella caroling of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word who were just ahead of us in line. I like to think that somewhere in a small town outside of Rome there is a knitting group starting their scarves as demonstrated by my new international knitting sister.

Before we left for our trip I scoured the internet and Ravlery for knitting stores in Rome. From reading on Ravelry and talking to my Italian teacher who is from Milan I found out that knitting isn't as popular as it is in the US. I finally located a few stores to try and find if we happened to be in area but unfortunately we never had time to actually find them. However, on one of our walks I noticed a basket of yarn outside the store. It was finely spun kid mohair and I ventured into the store to look for more. I have to admit it was the most unusual "knitting" store that I ever found myself in. The store was a small very cramped space with a few baskets of yarn behind the counter. What was ususual was that the rest of the store was filled floor to ceiling with unusual lingerie apparel and "specialty items". Even though I love to look at yarn, I couldn't bring myself to stay and fondle their yarn! I'm now thankful for all the abundant LYS in my area and that I don't have to shop for yarn in Victoria's Secret.

With the New Year upon us, it's time to make some resolutions. First resolution - do something with my stash. My stash has grown to 4 large rubbermaid totes and I'm starting to fill the cedar chest. My stash resolution is to organize! I want to be able to find the yarn I need for a project without rooting through all the tubs. This will also be a good opportunity to look it all over (gloat gleefully at my stash) and decide if I really want that particular yarn or not. I will set any rejects (sob, sniff) aside and plan a stash swap/trade day with my knitting sibs. Second resolution - finish some of the projects I have in various stages of completion. I'm surely not the only one with unfinished projects, am I? The Ralvelry Olympics was a good incentive to finish some projects so maybe I should think about having a "finishing" deadline and reward myself with a visit to a LYS. Projects to finish: my Italian sweater - I only have the neckline and 2 sleeves to knit..I got sick and had to withdraw from my Italian class so my incentive to finish wasn't there, my pair of socks redux - I finished one and it's a wee bit too short for my long toes so the incentive to complete the other isn't there...perhaps I could gift them to someone, and I also need to finish my black and gray cardigan - this is the furthest from completion so I will need a big incentive to finish it.

Happy knitting to everyone and Buon Natale and Buon Fortuna! Ciao.

Therapy Knitting

Ciao! Io sono una studentessa a di Università Dallas e studio italiano. As you can see, I am busy learning Italian for our upcoming trip to Rome over the Christmas holiday. In an effort to squeeze in more knitting time as well as do my homework, I find myself counting my stitches in Italian. Uno, due, tre...venti..now how do you say 64 again? If nothing else, I will be fluent in my numbers!

My knitting friend and mentor is taking Italian with me and she found a pattern for a short sleeved sweater from Crystal Palace Yarns called "Italian Tee Shirt". We are both currently knitting our "la mia maglietta italiana" with the hopes that they will be finished in time to wear for our final. (Hopefully our professoressa will be so impressed with our knitting skills that she will grade on the curve.) We are using Jaeger Roma yarn and if you have never knitted with this yarn before, BUY some today. It is lovely to work with and very, very soft. Melissa's is in a gentle shade of green called "leaf" and mine is in a reddish-pink shade-reminiscent of stawberries- called "summer berries".

Last night, my knitting friend and I went to Thursday Therapy at Yarn Heaven. While both of us have visited the store and purchased yarn, this was our first foray into a group therapy session. Cherie and I learned to knit at the same time (not quite a year), and I was a little apprehensive about going to an established group knitting session with seasoned knitters. I took my felted footies to work on and Cherie was working on her 2nd pair of socks. We had so much fun. Everyone was very friendly! Several of the women were working on a sweater that was knitted top-down, others were working on scarves and various projects in different stages of completion. Knitting is very therapeutic and as I heard the soft click of needles and let the ebb and flow of several conversations wash over me, all my fears vanished and soon I was joining in. As we knitted away, I realized that we were joining our stitches with theirs in a warm blanket of friendship that allowed the outside world to fade away and we became one.

Silence Descends Once Again

Silence has descended once again in our home. Our oldest son has returned to Norman after a quick visit and our youngest has returned to the seminary. You would think that I would be used to it by now but I'm not. I find myself walking down the hall to ask a quick question or share a thought and then find the empty rooms. Doing the last load of laundry is bittersweet as I find myself folding their clothes and taking them to their rooms. Yes, the laundry is finished but their rooms are empty. Children are a gift from God and He has blessed my husband and me with two wonderful sons. I give thanks every day for them and treasure the moments we have together. Two of my friends are experiencing these same emotional moments this year. My oldest and dearest friend has just delivered her youngest to begin his freshman year at college and one of my newest knitting friends dropped her daughter off on her first day of kindergarten.

We are all finding solace in our knitting. Somehow the gentle click of needles and the textural sensation of fiber is helping to ease our sense of loss. I have cast on a new cardigan jacket as I want to learn how to make sleeves so I can knit sweaters for my sons, Fran stopped on the way home from college to buy yarn to make sweaters, and Cherie is also knitting away. Knitting our children a garment created with love is our way to hold on to them even when we're not there. With each knit and purl, we knit our love, our hopes, and our dreams for our children.

Impressionists and Knitting

This past weekend, my knitting friends and I had a fun-filled art and fiber ladies only outing. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is holding a special exhibit featuring 92 paintings from the Impressionist Period. One of my all time favorites is Renoir's Two Sisters. It's one thing to see this painting in art books and quite another to actually see it in person. The vibrant colors leap off the canvas and literally take your breath away.

After a quick sandwich lunch, we stopped at our first yarn store. Words can't describe the dizzying array of yarns that met our eyes when we opened the door to Yarns Ewenique. Every square inch of space is devoted to yarn and we oohed, aahed, and fondled our way through every delectable skein. Cashmere blends, silk, wool, cotton and sock yarns in every color combination begged to be stroked and there were many cries of "oh my gosh, you have to feel this yarn." As our next knit-along project will be to learn how to knit socks, we each purchased colorful sock yarn for our stash. All right, I confess that I also bought 7 skeins of Rowan's Soft Tweed in a beautiful shade of blue as well as a pattern in addition to the sock yarn.

Our last stop for the day was Jennings Street Yarn. This store is also in Fort Worth and has a large selection of yarns. They arrange their yarns by color regardless of the type or manufacturer. This took some time to get used to as I personally find strolling through a shop and dipping my hands into the different yarn bins part of the fun of visiting a yarn store. I enjoy the melange of jewel like colors that visually stimulate my senses and encourage me to explore rather than being steered to a particular color range.

All in all, this was a fun outing. It doesn't get any better than friendship and fellowship with my knitting sisters.

Olympic Knitting

At long last I have fulfilled a secret dream. I AM AN OLYMPIAN! I am a member of TeamTexas in the Ravelympics. My event is WIP Wrestling and I have "wrestled" my shawl into a finished project. Cue the music as I walk proudly to the podium to join my fellow "wrestlers" and accept a gold.

Knitting should be an Olympic sport. After all, it takes athletic ability and strong wrists to wield two pointy sticks, it takes drive and dedication to push yourself to finish just one more row, and sometimes it takes years of practice to win the medal. Knitters of the world, I salute you!

I have one more WIP to wrestle into a finished project before the Olympics is over. I finally located all the lovely peacock blue Bam Boo yarn that I could find (a grand total of 7 skeins or 539 yards). I should earn a medal for the time and effort involved in tracking down these skeins. I found the first 5 skeins of this luscious yarn in Norman on clearance. I was sure that it would be enough to make something. Little did I realize that it was barely enough to make the front of a sweater. I immediately went into search mode trying to find at least 2 more skeins. I had friends looking in different parts of Texas, I called all the local yarn stores, my husband looked for it while on a business trip, and I emailed as many online yarn stores as I could find. A very nice shop in Minnesota "The Knitter's Palette" felt my pain and emailed that they had the yarn and it was even the same dye lot. I am now knitting my way to the gold medal platform with a nice sleeveless v-neck sweater. I have 14 days left to "wrestle" it into a finished project, that's 336 hours of total knitting time available if I don't sleep or eat. I better get knitting.

Adding to the Stash or Confessions of a Yarn Junkie

I have a confession to make. I...am...a...YARN JUNKIE. Yes, that's right, I have become a serious yarn junkie! My stash is now overflowing three tubs and I still dream of acquiring more lovely skeins. I carefully plan my routes to include stores that carry yarn and I cruise the internet sites for yarn. My passion for yarn acquisition has even been pushed onto my husband.

My husband travels quite frequently for business and most recently it has been to Seattle. The first trip he brought me a present. Visions of yarn were dancing in my head when he handed me the brown bag. It was not to be, inside the bag was a package of Smoked Salmon Chowder and a chocolate bar. I ate the chocolate, gave away the soup, and tried to remind myself that it was the thought that counts. The second trip, I made sure to let him know that FIBER in the form of yarn was always a wonderful present. He had time on his hands so he visited Pike Street Marketplace. Pike Street is a wonderful place, full of crafts, flowers, flying fish, but no yarn or at least none that he could find. Oh well, he tried I said to console myself. He redeemed himself later that week when he called and said he was on his way to All Points Yarn in Des Moines, WA. He had discovered the ad for the yarn shop in the coffee shop paper and noticed that it was conveniently located near his favorite restaurant, Anthony's. Visiting a yarn store was a sacrifice he was willing to make as he could reward himself with fresh Copper River salmon and the knowledge he was earning brownie points in the considerate husband category. When he got to the store, he put me on speaker phone so I could talk to the owner about the yarn I was looking for. Unfortunately, they didn't carry it but I talked yarn with Morgan (the owner) and finally told him to show my husband sock yarns and help him pick out some yarn. They picked out a lovely Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka which has joined my stash where it patiently awaits the day I learn how to knit socks.

We went to Norman over the 4th to visit our son again. I had heard about knitting podcasts and thought they might be fun to listen to on the way up. My loving patient husband burned a CD with 2 hours of knitting podcasts of "Stash and Burn". He is a stamp collector so he also burned 2 hours of "Stamp Talk" and we alternated between them. Somehow, I don't thing either one of these would be the listening choice for our sons if they were in the car but it worked for us. When we arrived, this time I wisely fed the hungry males, dropped them off at the bookstore and went to L & B Yarn Company on my own. The last time I visited the store their electricity was off and I shopped by flashlight. This time, I was able to view the beautiful yarns, stroke the soft mohairs, and admire the silks, bamboos, and wool to my heart's delight. I added 10 skeins of Classic Elite Bam Boo in the vibrant shade of bougainvilla and 3 skeins of Wildfoote luxury sock yarn to my stash.

So much yarn available, so many places still to visit to buy yarn! I hear the siren's call and know that soon I will need another tub, but that's alright as I know of a store that sells tubs that's on the way to the yarn store....yes, I'm a yarn junkie and proud of it!