Knitting Musclemom

Microwave on high for 30 seconds

A knitter's biggest fear, apart from running out of yarn, is moths. Being the proud owner of quite a large (and precious, and not exactly cheap) stash, I check my yarn regularly for any sign of infestation. Most of my yarn is in a room downstairs, and a few months ago, I organized it nicely in large transparent plastic storage boxes from Home Depot.

About 2 weeks ago, quietly knitting the evening away while watching mindless television, some flying thing caught my eye. I didn't think much of it. When I lived in Peru, my mother's clothes were once attacked by moths that ate away all her woolens (and yes, they were stored in cedar closets). I seemed to remember them as tiny and dark in colour. I thought this larger moth was just a night butterfly that sometimes makes its way into the house through the front door when the door is opened and closed to let the dog out.

A few days after that, I saw another one. I started to get a bit concerned and though I was in denial, promised myself to do a search on the Internet to find out what a North-American moth looked like. Which I did, a few days later. And the photo looked exactly like that yellow-orangey thing flying around the living room. I broke into a cold sweat and started going systematically through all the yarn I keep in the living room (WIPs, yarn recently bought, sock yarn too nice to put away downstairs, projects about to be started...) and nothing. Not a single flying object. Not an egg, no sign of infestation. I thought I was being paranoid and went back to the computer, did more searches and found a very interesting article about moths and wool rugs. Not a problem if the rug is regularly vacuumed; all the rugs in the house are vacuumed three times a week (not by me), so I'm not worried. I went back to knitting, sat down on the sofa, started to relax, and then heard the cat making a funny noise. He was playing with something and I could hear paper being torn, in the dining room, just in the next room, just a few feet from me. And that's when the penny dropped.

18 months ago, the floors on the main floor of our house were entirely re-finished; they were the original floors and they were so worn that the nail heads were showing everywhere. We have been living here 18 years and finally decided it was time to have a new floor put on top of the old one. We decided to have all the rugs cleaned at the same time, since our dachshund was finally house-broken and didn't think anymore that peeing on the rug was preferable to peeing outside. All the furniture had to be moved, it was a nightmare. But a little while later, we got the furniture organized and lay down the clean rugs again and enjoyed our new floors. All the rugs... except for one that fit under the dining room table, which is extremely heavy. We were lazy and left it, rolled up and still wrapped in its brown paper, against the wall of the dining room, promising each other to unpack it and lay it down under the table one of these days.

Yes... I went to the dining room and saw the cat was trying to wrestle with a little flying object that had just come out of the end of the roll. I called my husband and we fortunately decided to take the whole package OUTSIDE before removing the brown paper wrapper and unrolling the rug. The state of the rug was beyond my wildest fears. It's a big rug (about 8 by 10 feet) and entire sections of it were covered with moth eggs; there were huge bare patches where the larvae had eaten their way through the wool and left only the thread. About 20 moths went flying out of the rug. Needless to say, it was beyond repair and was left for the garbage pick-up. A couple of people knocked on the door and asked me if they could take it, thinking I was crazy to be throwing out a beautiful oriental rug. When I showed them the reason, they promptly moved away from the rug and from me, probably fearing they would bring the plague back home.

This happened a week ago. Today, I was sitting, knitting away, and I saw a flying object from the corner of my eye. I killed it, and then got worried again. What of the moths that had made their way out of the brown paper that covered the rug before we took it outside? I went through all the stash I keep in the living room once more, and that is in zippered plastic bags. Nothing. Except that there is one bag, my sock yarn bag, where about 20 skeins (STR, Wollmeise, Twisted, Fearless Fibers, J. Knits, and plenty more) are allowed to roam free. I turned it upside down on the floor... and out came a moth, flying away.

I checked every single skein for signs of eggs (getting a bit tired of this), couldn't find any, but proceeded anyway to microwave the skeins, two at a time. From what I read, that seems the most efficient solution. I tried 30 seconds on high; hopefully, it's enough. It took me a long time and the house smelled of hot and vaguely wet wool. Until I threw in a tiny sample skein of yarn that had some tiny shiny speckles. Nope, didn't check it, but I knew after 30 seconds. It was smoking and boy, did it stink up the house. Do not put yarn that has any kind of remotely metallic thread in it, no matter how tiny and unnoticeable. I am waiting for family members to come home and complain about the smell. I have been airing the house, but the stench seems to cling.

I don't know if that's the end of it; I will be checking my yarn periodically, but I have not had a good week. Combined with the three days of hell that started the week to get the income tax returns done on time (mine, my husband's, my son's -- I only do his because we get a tuition tax credit transferred from him to us, and because he would be incapable of doing it); being self-employed, it's a pain in the neck compared to the days I had only the T4, some T5s, and all the medical expenses were covered by the company's health insurance.

I did knit. I finished the Chain Lightning socks I was test-knitting for Sock-a-holic Katie and would you believe I can't find them now? So no photo until I find where I put the effing socks. I am also more than half-way through a birthday gift that is going to France mid-May for my godfather's wife:

This is knitspot's Oh! Canada wrap in the Tall size, knit in Ball and Skein's Artisan Merino and Silk, in The Blues colourway. It should take about five skeins; there are 10 repeats for each half of the wrap, then the two halves are joined together by grafting. I should have it finished on time to send to France and to arrive by May 30, which is the date of Jacqueline's birthday. I had started Simurgh for her:

 

but changed my mind after I found out her favourite colour is blue. I happened to have the perfect pattern and yarn for that, so I put Simurgh aside and knit Oh! Canada instead.

I also started a summer top for myself, Knititude's Etrusca Sleeveless Top, which I am knitting in Berroco Touché:

And finally, I have started a new pair of socks with a pattern of my own design:

 

I'm calling it Spring Leaves and it's knit with Michelle's own sock yarn. The yarn is called Sprung and it was part of her Project Spectrum last year. Here's a close-up of the motif:

That's it for knitting. I got the new IK, summer 2008 issue, and I must admit I'm a bit disappointed. I think the patterns are pretty, but they feel just that; they're all pretty and dainty, all the same theme. IK always used to have an edge to its patterns; some were more daring than others, and they covered a broad spectrum: the classic, the more avant-garde, the original, the downright crazy. Now it's all classic, all pretty, all on the verge of boring. I feel a bit let down; the last two issues were like that too, and I thought it was Eunny Jang asserting her own style preferences and introducing a new direction for IK, but that it would be more balanced with the new issues. Not to be -- I love classic designs, but I do appreciate variety too. Am I the only one?

Socks and Lace

So there are three things to report on in the knitting happy land:

1) Wee Tiny Sock Swap 2008

I don't do swaps; I get all excited by them at the time, then I procrastinate and run out of time, and then I get all panicky and resentful about the imposed deadline. Then I never know if the recipient is really happy about what she/he received or whether they are being merely polite. I mean, after all, you can't really insult someone who has made something for you, even if you hate it -- that would be cruel and totally horrible. But I couldn't resist when I saw the Wee Tiny Sock Swap; a couple of hours of knitting and a deadline that was immediate, so it did not give me the opportunity to lose my enthousiasm. I actually knitted the sock on Friday, waited for the info regarding my sock pal, and posted it on Sunday to somewhere in Alabama:

 

Some of you may recognize Meg's Twisted sock yarn in the Karma colourway, left over from the pair of Dolomite socks I just finished. It's so cute! I inserted it in one of Cindy's lovely Knitting note cards and off it went to its recipient who will, I hope, have the patience to wait for Canada Post to send it by horseback to the U.S. Actually, more like turtleback, considering how slow the mail is.

2) I am test-knitting a sock pattern for Sockaholic Katie. It's going well and the pattern is easy to knit. I chose for it a finer sock yarn, Fearless Fibers in the Coral Pink colourway:

It doesn't look like much now, but I will post more pictures once I have finished this sock.

3) A Year of Lace (careful -- SPOILER!)

I received my first delicious shipment, it just arrived! Lovely Claudia Handpainted 100% silk lace and a pattern by no less than Sivia Harding. With beads! I can't wait to get started on this one:

What a beauty! Thanks to Cindy for encouraging me to subscribe to this wonderful club (not that I needed a ton of encouragement), this is really worth it.

4) and finally, I did achieve a bit of progress on my Jane Slicer-Smith Mitered Jacket; it's slow, but steady:

It should be ready for Gone Stitchin' 2008 (hopefully...)

That's it on the knitting front. It's bleak, foggy and grey out today, but hey! it's above zero, so who cares?

Madrona

So I went to Madrona and had a fabulous time. The least favourite part was the 5 1/2 hour flight from Toronto, but I was happy to escape the cold, the snow, the ice, and the general crappiness that this winter is.

I really like the hotel, loved my room:

It was really quiet, at the end of the hallway. There was still work going on in the hotel, including the front which is inaccessible, and they were one restaurant short, but in general the staff was really nice and relaxed. I found out most of the people in Tacoma are really nice and relaxed, a very different feeling from stressed-out and weary Toronto. I'm sure it's something to do with the weather. It was +10 (celsius) and there was green grass, a really nice sight, not having seen a blade of grass in Toronto for a while.

The lobby is beautiful and I particularly enjoyed these huge glass boat-birds hanging from the ceiling:

and this chandelier:

But my favourite was the life-size horse wearing a lamp as a hat:

   

And then there were the classes. Jam-packed classes (I was taking four, all full days). First there was Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks! class on Thursday:

It was so great I rushed to the market to get her two Sock Techniques DVDs (she was using them to demonstrate techniques on a big screen, so much easier than gathering around an instructor -- plus the DVD doesn't get tired of showing the same technique over and over again). Loved her class, learnt a lot.

On Friday, I took Evelyn Clark's Designing Lace Triangles class, that really explained her book, Knitting Lace Triangles. Another great class taught by a very talented designer who has also a great sense of humour.

On Friday evening, I had a great dinner in the hotel restaurant with Cindy, who had also travelled from Ontario to attend Madrona; food was excellent, company even better, we had great laughs and a fantastic time.

On Saturday, it was Jean Wong's class, Fine Finishing Techniques the Japanese Way. Wow! I had complained when I received the homework list, because we had to knit 11 (!) samples for the class, but the hours of knitting the samples were well worth it. If you're a type A who is really obsessed with the perfect finishing, this class is for you. I loved it and it kept me going the whole day. If I come back to Madrona next year, I would like to take her two-day class, Tailored Knitting the Japanese Way.

On Saturday evening, we attended the Banquet (the only social event I went to, I was too tired in the evenings to socialize). It was packed with knitters and an enjoyable evening, although I did find the question period at the end a tad too long -- but then, I was still on Toronto time the entire five days I spent in Tacoma, so I was ready to drop every evening around 8 p.m. There was much knitting going on and some of this too:

On Sunday morning (at least I think it was Sunday morning...), I found a Foolish Virgin:

Those who are familiar with Kaffe Fassett's designs will recognize a Foolish Virgins sweater (Ravelry link). What a wonderful job! and here's the back:

I have been wanting to knit this sweater for ever and it has given me the drive to tackle this in the not too distant future!

Finally, on Sunday, I took Nancy Bush's class, Making a True Haapsalu Rätik: A Traditonal Shawl from Estonia. This was new class she was teaching for the first time, and it was certainly challenging time-wise. Here is the sample not one of us had time to finish that day:

This was my second Nancy Bush class (I have attended one of her classes at Stitches Midwest last summer) and it was as informative as the last one. I really enjoy her respect of the techniques true to the Estonians and the extensive history she gives with her classes. And we listened to Estonian music while we knitted!

This post is already too long, but I have to finish with the market. Oh, the market! Spent too much without buying a lot. Couldn't resist walking around it during lunch break and after class. Had a great time, loved the yarns, what more can I say?

This was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts stand, which looked rather depleted by Sunday afternoon. Scored some Geisha (3 hanks - ahem) and some STR, semi-solids (only 3 skeins, so there).

Anyway, better end this with a lovely sunrise over Tacoma:

My knitting is all scattered

I am such a joiner...

On top of the ridiculous number of sock yarn clubs I subscribe to (see sidebar, I am too ashamed to list them all here), plus the Year of Lace 2008, I decided to join the Secret of the Stole ii KAL. I am using a huge skein of Habu Bamboo yarn (about 1600 yards) in a plain white colourway. I don't know why I did it; but it seem like a good idea at the time. Here's the evidence:

I cringe when I think of knitting 1500 yards of this stuff, because I know my lack of long-term concentration on a project. But... I am knitting from stash! I bought this skein at Stitches Midwest, and this is the only lace yarn in my stash (of which I have much) that met the 1500+ yards criteria. Lots of 1200, but all short of the 1500 called for, except for this one. The yarn is exceptionally soft and shiny, but it does slide too easily on metal needles, so I switched to Knitpicks wooden.

However, I did progress further on Colin's Teosinte socks:

I am now past the heel on the second sock and there is a good chance I will have the pair finished this week. I think I now understand fully the short row concept of the toe-up socks; it's great, but I am not sure it will be enough to make me switch entirely to the toe-up method. There's something I find incredibly satisfying when you knit cuff down and reach the heel, and you pick up all the stitches on both sides of the foot, and you do those neat decreases to bring you back to the original number of stitches you should have. It's a more graceful design, it's... almost sensual. I know, I'm going insane.

In the meantime, this is staring at me reproachfully:

This is the kit for Autumn Rose, that I received some weeks ago and have decided to start this week. Not happening. I have a pair of Fetching that I can't remember when I started (Ok, at least 12 months ago); one is done and the second one is half done, and I have promised myself to finish these as soon as I finish Colin's socks.

I am really starting to get excited about Madrona -- it's in less than a month! Most of my classes have little or no homework, except for Jean Wong's Fine Finishing Techniques, which has something like a dozen swatches; I know I will be knitting these frantically at the last minute, as usual. I hate homework and I do procrastinate. Here are the classes I am taking:

Cool Socks! with Lucy Neatby

Designing Lace Triangles with Evelyn Clark

Fine Finishing Technique the Japanese Way with Jean Wong

Making a True Haapsalu Ratik with Nancy Bush

I realize this is total information overload, but I can't resist taking as many classes as I can cram in. I do take notes and I do read these again later on, but I agree that I would get more out of them if I didn't take that many at once. But I don't care. It's like bingeing, only on knitting classes. I do binge on yarn too. No, I don't binge on food, never have, why do you ask?

And to finish on a sunny note, since there is sun here today in this winter of eternally overcast skies, here is some cat and dog bliss:

They sure know how to relax...

Cardigan progress

The Refined Aran jacket is progressing nicely. I finished the back and started on the first sleeve:

The back went quickly, even when I had to frog about 20 rows because I wasn't happy about the way I had added a new ball half-way through the row. I should know better; but I have a tendency, when the mistake happens, to convince myself that it really doesn't matter. Then, once I have progressed through another couple of hours of knitting, I realize I can't live with it. And I will hate it, and it will haunt me forever, every time I look at the sweater, and every single time I wear it. So I frogged back to that row and then did what I should have done all along, join a new ball at the beginning of the row... duh.

It took me 3 balls for the back, so I estimate the whole cardigan should take about 10 balls. I have started the first sleeve, because I hate doing two sleeves in a row, and it breaks the monotony that way.

Today, the mail carrier (post person?) brought me some yummy yarn and lovely stitch markers. The yarn is from Fearless Fibers -- this is Superwash Merino Wool sock yarn in the Marrakesh colourway:

and this is the same, in the Coral pink colourway:

Yardage is 550 yards, isn't that awesome? and for $18.00 a skein, it's a real bargain. I am waiting for Deb for dye some new cashmere, and then I will splurge in the near future on some cashmere lace yarn.

And here are some cute stitch markers from Good to be girl:

There is an owl and a mushroom in one, and two wreaths and two Christmas puddings in the other. I love her stitch markers; unfortunately, they are hard to get, because she doesn't put them up for sale very often, and they sell quickly. I was lucky -- she had just done an update in her shop when I happened to check what she had in stock.

The Hyacinth shawl has progressed a bit, but not enough that it looks like I have done much. I am still on the main chart (Repeat 7 of 9) and working on 159 stitch rows:

That's my knitting during quiet times, when I am not interrupted and there is no TV blaring in the background. I am knitting it in the same yarn and the same colour as the one used for the pattern, Dream in Colour Smooshy, Ruby River colourway:

That's it for now. All my Christmas shopping is done and I shall stay away from stores until the New Year; I admire people who can actually shop at this time of the year, I find it positively exhausting. Knitting is way less stressful!

Socks and Madrona

I am looking out the window and watching ugly freezing rain falling outside. The dog is refusing to go out for a walk; most days, she is reluctant to dirty her little paws in sleet and snow, but today, she won't even consider going out the front door, never mind walking down the street. I share her feelings; it is grey and sad out there. Winter has started early here in Toronto and it looks like it is going to be a cold and long one. I am definitely spending more time at home. Not much Christmas knitting this year; I am finishing today a multi-directional scarf for my sister, whose birthday is on Saturday. She leaves with her family for France on the 19th, so they are all gone for Christmas. My brother lives in Ottawa and we send money to his two teenage boys; they don't want anything else. My parents are not alive anymore and my husband lost his mother in June. As we get older, the generation that precedes us disappears and we become them. Although I don't feel like my mother!

On a cheerier note, I finished a pair of socks I was test-knitting for Sock-a-holic Katie:

They are knit with J. Knits Superwash Me - Sock, in the Rancho Mirage colourway, a nearly solid colour. The yarn came from The Loopy Ewe. It was a pleasure to knit with this yarn and the lack of distracting colours let the pattern show up nicely. Katie's pattern was a quick knit, enjoyable, easy to memorize without getting boring. I knit them in one week, which is a record for me; it usually takes me 10 days to knit a pair. And I didn't have this feeling of dread as I cast on for the second sock (no! I have to do this all over again -- please kill me now, I don't wanna knit another one). Actually, the second one was knit even faster than the first one.

I have been counting my sock yarn stash, in a bet I have with Cindy that I have more sock yarn than she has. We have to provide our respective stash numbers by December 20th; needless to say, I fully expect to win. The winner has to buy dinner during our Madrona stay, February 14th to 17th, 2008. And yes, I am going to Madrona in February. Registering for it was worse than getting tickets for a rock concert. The registration frenzy was such that we crashed the server within a few minutes. It took them several hours to get the site working again, and shortly after that, the Madrona retreat was full. I was lucky enough to get on early and register for all the classes I wanted. I am taking classes with Lucy Neatby, Evelyn Clark, Jean Wong, and Nancy Bush. I am so excited! And Cindy is coming too! And I've never been to Seattle, actually never been to the West Coast, other than once in San Francisco years ago; and that was for work, which meant I was there for 5 days, and didn't see much of the city, other that an office and my hotel room.

What else am I working on? I have started a Jane Slicer-Smith pattern, the Coco Dune, Merino & Pandora Jacket (JSS#56):

It's in the same style as the other JSS jacket from Knitter's that I made some months ago. I enjoyed the knit so much I wanted to make another one, but with totally different yarns. And it's straighter than the other one, which was a swing jacket.

I also knitted, along with 50% of knitters worldwide, a Koolhaas hat, as designed by Jared Flood, from the Holiday Gifts edition of Interweave. Here it is, knitted up in Dream in color Classy, Chinatown colourway:

And yes, the hat is for me, not my husband. But he was playing a computer game and in no mood to take a photo, so I stuck it on him instead and took the photo. It came out really nicely and it was a quick knit.

I also finished the Fit to Be Tied Jacket:

I am itching to start another pair of socks and this shawl -- I have the yarn, I have the pattern, I need the time! 

Which reminds me it is time to go and count more sock yarn stash. I have been putting some of it on Ravelry (where my ID is Musclemom), but it is a slow process...

Knitting

And now, for the projects I have been working on and finishing for the past couple of months. They are all on Ravelry, I love this site!

The Mystery Stole 3 is languishing, mostly because I still can't decide whether to knit the original design (with the wing) or whether to go for the modified design, a mirror image of the first half, i.e. a more balanced design. I finished the Monkey socks and I have a photo in progress, but no finished photo to show for them -- you'll have to take my word for it. Ok, I do now have a photo of the finished pair:

Then I knitted a pair of Zigzag socks, from Vogue Knitting's The Ultimate Sock Book, in Interlacements Tiny Toes. Loved the yarn and the pattern was easy to memorize. Here is the final result:

It's a pattern that's hard to see on a sock blocker; unfortunately, nobody around me had feet small enough to try them on. They are a gift for my godfather's wife, and she has tiny feet, which is a bonus because it's a quick knit! They're being sent to France this week.

I started the Fit to be tied Jacket  (Pattern 4104) by Laura Bryant of Prism Yarns, picked up the kit at Gone Stitchin'.

It's progressing slowly, because I am alternating with other projects, but I have reached the armholes (it's knit in the round until you get to the armholes). I'm knitting it with the optional peplum. Here's a photo taken before -- I'm further along than that.

I did start and finish Brooklyntweed's Noro Striped Scarf (find it here). A quick and satisfying knit with beautiful results. I used four odd balls of Noro Silk Garden in three colourways:

 

And I also knit a Rocketry Baby Cardigan from Dream in Color -- I got the pattern here. I used odd balls of Dream in Color Sassy I had on hand:

 

It was a gift for a friend who had a baby boy.

Then, I attacked the Swallowtail shawl that I have been wanting to knit for a long time. It took me about 10 days to knit and here it is, in Handmaiden Sea Silk, in the Glacier colourway:

I knit it on 3.5 mm KnitPicks options, the wooden ones, which are beautiful by the way, just as pointy as their metal counterparts. It made the nupps easier to knit, i.e. the purl 5 together were actually not too difficult. I looove this pattern and so does the cat!

Finally, I knit myself a Koolhaas hat, which was published in Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007 issue. It is a Brooklyntweed pattern, you can see the original ones here. A great pattern and a fast knit once you get the hang of it, as long as you cable withtout a cable needle. Otherwise, you would probably want to shoot yourself halfway through it. Here it is, modelled by my husband (no, it's for me, but he can't take a photo properly):

He was actually playing a game on his computer (Call of Duty 4) so I think I could have dyed his hair bright pink and he wouldn't have taken notice. This is a great knit and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a quick knit with enough challenge that it doesn't get boring. This one is knit in Dream in Color Sassy, with one of the balls left over from the Rocketry Baby Cardigan, Chinatown Apple colourway. It took less than half a skein. Jared is a genius for simple, yet intricate construction. I knit it over the course of two evenings.

Other than that, I have to finish a test knit of SpillyJane's Naive Socks, of which I have one sock completed and one half done:

It's knit with Twisted Fiber Arts Shiny, in the Secret colourway. I absolutely adore her yarn!

That's it for the update. I am looking at more lace knitting, and a Jane Slicer-Smith pattern, another mitered cardigan with Trendsetter yarns this time. And finishing the Laura Bryant pattern.

Stitches Midwest

So, several things have happened to me so far this month. The first one is that on Monday, I turned 50. I have been getting used to the idea for over a year, so I guess I didn't have a breakdown. I don't feel 50, I feel the way I have always felt. But I guess that I have finally hit that mid-century mark. Frightening... I didn't do anything special on the day, since Monday was a holiday here and most places were closed. My husband has been showering me with gifts for months -- he's such a sweetheart -- and he even managed to squeeze one last one in on the Friday (a Nikkor macro 105 mm lens for my new camera body, a D200, also a birthday gift I received last month, along with a new telephoto lens). The children were away: my son is in South Korea, receiving much attention from his various girlfriends who like the fact he is tall, slim, and has curly hair; my daughter was away at camp, and came back home today.

The second thing is that, for the first time ever, I went to Stitches Midwest, which takes place just outside Chicago (another birthday gift). I took three classes -- one with Gwen Bortner on making a better handbag, an absolutely fantastic one with Nancy Bush on Baltic Braids and Bobbles, and an okay one with Ginger Luters on Designing Knitwear on the Computer. The first one was good, I got some good tips, but as always with 3-hour classes, there is only so much the instructor can show you. The second one was wonderful, a full day learning to do braids and bobbles (sounds silly, I agree, but it was really mind-blowing); I love the way Nancy Bush teaches, and is passionate about her subject, while really challenging you and teaching you exciting new things. The third one was a bit disorganized, lacked structure, but I learned at last to use Garment Designer and Stitch Painter, and how one interfaces with the other. I also found out there was a bug in my copy of Stitch Painter, and I was able to get it fixed by Susan Lazear who was at the Cochenille stand at the Market.

The Market was amazing; so many yarns one cannot find in Toronto. Loved the Twisted Sisters designs and kits. So much to see, so much yarn to buy and so little room to stuff it into the suitcase. My main problem now is how I am going to be able to fit everything I bought into my one suitcase. And then there was the Fold, that carries all the Blue Moon Fibre socks. I have never seen that many Socks that Rock together at once, so many colourways... Here's a photo:

And here is a picture of the yarn:

I took photos all innocently, and did not realize that I wasn't supposed to. There was a big sign at the entrance on the NEXT day saying it was forbidden to take any photos. Why? may I ask. We had already been told not to take photos as the Fashion Show event and the special Opening Day event, but at the Market? It's not like State secrets or anything, it's only yarn, and I only took pictures of yarn, by the way. I was not trying to take sneaky pictures of copyrighted patterns or anything.

Anyway, here is Nancy Bush, who actually did say it was okay to take her picture (whew!):

 

Here is the picture of the sampler we were knitting:

Yes, that little thing kept our attention going the entire day. Not quite as simple as it looks, especially the bottom part, which is a braided cast-on. I loved the whole history lesson she gave us of Estonia, and of its knitting traditions. It was really informative; I would without hesitation take another workshop with her. She enriches your knitting, but also your general culture.

I am flying back to Toronto tomorrow, in a nasty little Air Canada Embraer sardine-class plane. Fortunately, the flight is short. And then, I have another major thing happening, but not a pleasant one. I am scheduled for an emergency root canal on Tuesday. I thought a tooth that had been troubling me would have the decency to hold off for another few weeks (or months), but it flared up after my flight on Wednesday (cabin pressure, I assume), and I have been popping Tylenol 3 and Percoset every few hours to keep the pain at bay. Actually, as long as I don't eat, I am more or less okay. But unfortunately, I do have to feed myself, even in pain. So I called my husband from Chicago and told him to get on to the dentist and schedule an appointment asap. I am NOT looking forward to this little session, as I am deathly afraid of the dentist. Yes, even at 50, I still get a cold sweat going there. Wish me luck on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I am off again to another convention, but a fitness one this time. It's the Can-fit-pro conference that takes place in Toronto for four days, and I need to attend it to get my Continuing Education Credits to retain my personal trainer status. Yes, a busy month indeed. I will be knitting a sock between workshops, just like I am doing here, except people will look at me strangely instead of knitting themselves. Here are my socks in progress:

Monkey socks, in Claudia's Handpainted Electric colourway. And a final photo of one of my purchases:

 

A fit from Great Yarns to make the Cotton Concerto Pullover by Susan Todd. All in shades of white, off white, and cream in different yarn types. Beautiful!

I am off to pack my bags and hope everything fits. Wish me luck!