Eleven Stitches

32 (plus 1 day)

Yesterday, it was my birthday!  I meant to post, but I was too busy out enjoying the day :)

I woke up and opened some awesome gifts, including three knitting books that I am excited to use.

The book on the left is the one that has a project I already bought yarn for at Rhinebeck.  It was, appropriately, given to me by my friend C, who was at Rhinebeck with me.

I arrived at school and the children had made me a lot of cards.  It was really sweet.

After school, David and I went out for Ethiopian food, which I love and don't get to have very often. And then we had some cake that another teacher had baked for me.  See?  Awesome day.

In my last post, I had pictures of my knit dress, and here's a picture of the shirt that I wore underneath it. It's my first knit shirt to sew, and after all my experience with sewn knit dresses, it was super quick.

The pattern is Jalie Sweetheart Top.  This was my first time using a Jalie pattern.  The pattern pieces were a little dizzying-- they sized from a little girl up to sizes a lot larger than me.  I got through that by highlighting the line I needed to cut, and cutting out the entire piece alone before I cut the fabric. (I usually cut them together.) I love the shirt, and I expect I'll sew a lot more like this one soon.

 

Rhinebeck

Once again, I had a great time at Rhinebeck this year.  My friend C and I drove up on Friday and stayed at a great little place near some fantastic restaurants.  It was really chilly on Saturday morning when we got to the festival, but it warmed up a little bit when we were walking around. 

I saw Caro and Stitchy, the authors of the book my dress is from, about 10 minutes after we walked into the gate.  It was so fun to see them!  I also got my book signed in the afternoon during their scheduled signing time.

We avoided the long deep-fried artichokes line because we got them around 10:00, when the booth first opened.  I think that was the way to do it.  I can't believe I waited an hour last year!

Pam was one of the first people I saw at the meetup, and I was so excited to show her the dress she designed!

The color was a little off in this photo.  Here are some better photos of my Rhinebeck dress.

Pattern: Rally!  by Pamela Wynne from Knitting It Old School I knit the 10 degree angle for the skirt.
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Solids, 4 skeins of brown, 2 of cream, and 1 of green.
Needles: US 8 and 9
Time to Knit: August 26 - October 9

Yay, what a great dress :) I love the skirt. The torso stretched out longer than I expected because of the weight of the dress, but I think the waist looks good in this position. I think the sleeves are a little big, and I might re-do them with some green ribbing.

I had a fun time at the meetup, especially because I got to meet in person several people I'd only known online before.  I think it's a little strange to see someone you've only known through pictures before.  I kind of don't know what to say.  But I still like it :)

C and I were pretty much done with the festival around 2.  It's an exhausting experience.  There's such a sensory overload with the yarn, the food, the smells, and all the handknits.  And there are so many people that it's hard to get anywhere.  We hung out in our hotel room and knit with some of the yarn we'd bought that day.

This is what I got.  I'm really happy with my purchases.  I got enough to feel satisfied, but I showed a lot more restraint than I have in years past.  There were a couple of times where I was in line to buy something and then changed my mind, and I'm glad that I did.

The top grey yarn is Brooks Farm Mas Acero in a great charcoal color.  I'm going to use it to knit a skirt from this book, which I do not yet own.  However, it is on my wish list and my birthday is on Wednesday.  My friend C has guaranteed that I'll get it one way or another :)  The skirt pattern isn't in Ravelry yet.  Perhaps I'll add it soon!

Also on the top row is a kit to make a hedgehog puppet.  I thought it would be great for school, and also my husband loves hedgehogs.  Maybe I'll make two.  I also got a kit to make a sheep marionette, but it isn't pictured because I already knit it up.  More on that in another post.

The green and the purple yarns are from Maple Creek Farms.  I'm already using them to knit Kirigami.  The bottom is a skein of Creatively Dyed sock yarn.  I really like the yarn and her dyeing process.

C and I went back to the festival on Sunday.  We picked up some soap from GotSoap.com (I get it every year and I love it), and I got a broom from a man who makes them by hand.  It's really awesome.

So that was Rhinebeck.  I was tired, but happy and full of food.  I can't wait 'til next year :)

 

 

My Rhinebeck Knit

I've been working hard on a project to wear at the New York Sheep & Wool festival this year.  I don't think I've put it on the blog yet, so let me catch you up.

I got the book Knitting It Old School at the end of August. Amazon sent it to me before the initial release date.  I got the book because I've met one of the authors and a lot of the designers, but I like it because the projects are a lot of fun.  I fell in love with Rally, and I got yarn for it and cast on within a couple of days.

I had a little problem when I got to the skirt.  I wasn't sure about the cream I had chosen as contrast color for the skirt, and I wondered if I should have used green instead. 

I ripped it back and tried it again in green.

And then I knew that the cream was actually the right choice!  So I ripped the green back and went with the cream all over again.  Yeah, I wasted some time, but my mind was at ease for making the right choice.

I finished up knitting the dress on Saturday night.

It's soaking right now, and I'll block it out tonight.  It's a good thing, too, because I'll be headed to Rhinebeck next weekend!

See that green fabric in the top left of the photo?  That's to make a shirt to go underneath the dress.  I have it mostly sewn up now, and it will be finished in the next couple of days.  I hope to show you both items very soon!