Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Knitting along

Beginning in May, I'll be hosting a knit-along at my favorite yarn shop, Friends & Fiberworks ( FFW). The pattern that I've chosen is Berroco's Seabrook, a simple drapey  vest - almost embarrassingly easy.  The pattern was written for Captiva, but I''ve chosen Lago instead.

I wanted a fabric and color that went with a lot of summer things, but wasn't beige. So it's kind of a denim blue.  The yarn is a linen-viscose blend with a matte finish and a bit of texture.

With a pattern name like Seabrook and a yarn called Lago (Spanish for lake), I need a name that suggests water, but reflects my landlocked status.  Mountain stream?  Nolichucky? French Broad?  Both of those are rivers in this area.  Let's keep it simple: Blue Water.

Bad phone picture of Mount Vernon
It's been travel knitting for short jaunt. As I am on the advisory board for my grant, we get together a couple times a year to help with decision making. As some 'interesting'  changes are coming up, our feedback was rather important.  The meeting was in Alexandria, so instead of going across the river to DC to do my usual museum tour, I spent my time in this interesting city, both historic and modern.  I had a good time even with drizzly weather. Our meetings were at Mount Vernon,  but we got only a tiny bit of free time. My colleagues and I got to the outbuildings,  but not the main house.  Overheard a dad to his kid: "All you have to do is find a rich widow with lots of land."  Sounds like good advice, by the upkeep is tough. All the way around.

The first KAL session was last evening with my Knitters-along and a few people who were just there to sit and knit.  Everyone's Seabrook was getting off to a fine start.  And we've all decided to stick with garter stitch rather than seed stitch.  Too many purls!

This weekend coming up?  The 3rd annual Asheville Yarn Crawl. I'll probably get to a few - mostly to make sure my fiber is nicely stocked - and maybe to check out Echoview Fiber Mill. Although kind of a schlep, I've been wanting to visit so perhaps now is the time.