Traveling

I just returned from a short business trip to DC.  The meetings and camaraderie were great.  The actual getting there and back less so.  I ask, how do non-knitters cope with air travel? OK, I see people with their Kindles and other book readers, and people diddling with their cell phones and I really get why people have smart phones and iPads.  I had a laptop with me and did actual work in the airport and in the hotel room.  But I must say I spent about the same amount of time in airports and airplanes as I did in meetings. Here is what I have to show for it.  90% of a pair of socks.  The yarn is Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color (0051).  They were lots of fun to knit.  My seatmate on the final flight to Asheville, suggested that I stay in the airport long enough to finish them, though I decided to go ahead and finish them later.  Maybe tonight, surely by week's end.  This may be a personal best in terms on sock completion.  Nothing fancy here, obviously.  Just a basic sock recipe that I like to use for self striping yarn. As it happens, this is my 5th pair of socks in 2011.  Even if I am not really in a self-imposed sock club, these seem to be my May socks.

My fiber is traveling without me to the Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh, NC with Judy and Marie, owners of Asheville HomeCrafts.  They are vendors at the event and decided to make their booth's focus Needle Felting.  So they'll have lots of notions and supplies, including plenty of hand dyed fiber from the studio of Smoky Mountain Fibers.  I spent a few weeks dyeing and prepping the fiber for sale and now it is on it's way    They are also taking hand spun yarns and my patterns.

Friends and Fiberworks will also be at the Fiber Fest, taking lots of great yarns and patterns, including the 2 new patterns that I developed for their store, including this new red version of the Trailside hat. So if you are in the neighborhood of the Carolina Fiber Fest, drop by either booth to visit my work in person.

Meanwhile, I'll be finishing this fine pair of purple socks!

Stitches South; Dancing Everywhere

Stitches South is coming up soon in Atlanta.  Seems like almost everyone I know will be there.  Even though I won't be there, my knitting will be.  Friends & Fiberworks, one of the local fiber shops that I work with will be a vendor for the first time.  Now this shop has an excellent presence at SAFF, so a number of their followers are sure to find there way to the booth.  I developed 2 patterns that will debut at Stitches along with a number of other exclusive patterns by Asheville designers.

One pattern is a reworking of my Trailside pattern - in 2 versions and a smaller gauge.  Some people (mostly men) really like a ribbed brim that folds up.  Rather traditional, it keeps your ears extra warm.  But there is a 'hat head' factor, that some of us wish to avoid.  So I also wrote an alternate brim that people can push back and make the hat a bit puffy.  Both should be  good for both men and women and work well in solids, heathers and tweeds.  Both are one-skein patterns designed for Berroco Vintage Bulky, but will work just fine for any other yarns in that weight, like Lamb's Pride Bulky.

The other pattern is a garter stitch pattern meant to show off a wilder yarn.  I wrote this for Berroco's Borealis - a multicolored yarn that creates subtle stripes.  Now I will admit to my blog readers that it seems ridiculous to claim that this is a pattern, but at SAFF last year, people kept asking for it.  I told them how to make it, but over and over I heard, 'No, I'll never remember that.  I need the pattern.'  So I finally wrote it down.  in two sizes.  and tested it.  and printed it.  Now it is going to Stitches.  I'm sorry I will not be there for the acclaim or catcalls, and I imagine there will be both.  That is, if the Southerners aren't too polite for the catcalls.

I hope to make both these patterns available on Ravelry.  However since the yarn shops want to sell them, I can't make them free downloads.  They will be low priced however and I'll let my readers know when to expect them.  

Instead of hanging out with knitters at Stitches, I will be calling dances all around the area.  If it's Friday it must be an English dance in Greenville, SC.  Saturday takes me to Greensboro, NC for a contra dance with Ted Erhart and Dean Herington founding members of Footloose and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops!  On Sunday I am back in Asheville for our regular English Country Dance.  I also called contra dances last Saturday and Monday.  If I had just that kind of ego, I'd declare myself on tour.  Instead, I'll just consider it being busy with dance calling.

Conference Knitting, as Opposed to a Knitting Conference

I am currently at a social studies education conference (this one).  My session yesterday went well, I've attended a number of other sessions and I am currently sitting one out.  I'd leave and go home, but I want to attend the next one.  History education is currently focusing on the US Civil War.  The session I'll be attending is focusing on analyzing the session arguments in North Carolina. 

This photo is from the state archives - this young woman is a weaver at Black Mountain College in the 1940s.

As fascinating as that is, what's really interesting is what people are knitting.  One woman in my session was knitting lovely creamy wool socks.  Another woman was making a baby hat - very tiny!  I'm knitting the Mossy Cardi - again or still -whatever you want to call it. It's all the way up to 5 inches long so it's almost as long as it was when I frogged it last time. 

In the evenings I've been working on a couple of new hat patterns.  No details yet, but there is a bit of a time crunch.  My friend Lisa (of Friends and Fiberworks) will e a vendor at Stitches South in Mid-April and wants some easy one skien patterns that are yarn-specific.  She wants to sell the patterns for yarns that she has a good bit of.  So my task is to develop patterns for these yarns that are reasonably easy to knit and don't exist yet.  Two have come out nicely.  The third is really giving me trouble.  The pattern that she visualized does really work with the pattern.  I kind of knew that, but I sometimes try to give people what they want.  I think I'll leave it where it is and ask her to take a look at it before I go any farther. 

Although I am certainly ready to go home, I kind of like the out-of-time feeling of being at a conference.  Staying in a hotel, eating in restaurants, seeing people that you seldom see in 'real life.'  But the 3 hour trip home should be pleasant.  I am listening to 'The Knitting Circle' by Ann Hood.  Highly emotional and a wee bit melodramatic, it's a good travel 'listen.'

My biggest decision for the drive home, where shall I eat lunch?

2 Days 2 Hats

The Challenge is on: 30 Hats in 30 Days.  As today is November 3rd, I have the first 2 hats to show you.  Both are the same pattern. but are different in fiber and size.

November One is my Windy City pattern in purple worsted with a band of Plymouth Expressions.  I like this multicolored soft, textured yarn.  Although I am usually not a fan of unnatural fibers, this yarn is 55% wool and 45% acrylic and is quite soft.  The colors are very nice - expect to see a good bit of it in the coming month.

November Two is Windy City again, but sized larger and in different yarns.  This time it's made of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and Ironstone Sunset, a glittery mohair blend.  The color is a deep red and super pretty.  Because most of my hats are for sale, I try to make some larger and some a bit smaller.  After all, people have different size heads. 

The hat for November 3rd? Already on the needles.  Don't worry, this month will not be a parade of similar hats. I'm keeping a spreadsheet (what a geek!) for myself, so I'll only show off the ones I particularly like.  I admit, I do make a lot of Windy City Hats. They are quite flattering on a number of women. Plus, two of the shops that carry my hats also sell the patterns.  A few nice variations on display help sell hats as well as patterns.  If you like this pattern and want to make your own, visit my Etsy shop. It's a great way to use up  30 yards of a pretty yarn already in the stash.

By the way, this hat is looking for a new name.  I originally called in 'Windy City' because a friend who wore hers in Chicago says it really stays on.  But there is another Windy City hat on Ravelry so I need to change the name.  Any ideas?

A Little Local News: Mars Hill Wins Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Championship

With a break from our regularly scheduled knitting program, the small college where I work won the Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Championship.  We hosted the race in the western North Carolina region where cyclist come from all around to train.  In fact we have a number of international students who come to Mars Hill and other schools in the region for an education in an area with challenging terrain.  One of my excellent students is on the team. and rode quite well.  Read all about it here.

Back on the fiber front, I did a good bit of dyeing.  Thanks to my fine customers, the Etsy shop is sorely depleted of dyed fiber.  I'm working everyday to dye, photograph and list more fiber.  The LYSs have been selling steadily too.  Not complaining, mind you!  The Happy Waffle socks are also charging along.  I turned the heel on sock #1.  Not bad in less than one very busy week!

Phat Stripes Hat Free Pattern

This hat is easy to make and does a great job of showing off small amounts of hand spun, hand dyed yarns, particularly ones that you make from your Phat Fiber samples. Make your stripes subtle or wild, smooth or textured - what ever suits you! How ever you color it, you don't need a lot of yardage to make a great hat that looks good on women or men.

This pattern is written for bulky weight yarn (6-8 wraps per inch) and size 10 1/2 needles. You will need a total of about 65-75 yards. This hat fits an average adult, but can easily be sized up or down by casting on more or fewer stitches and adjusting your decreases. Experienced knitters can also adjust the number of cast on stitches to a finer gauge yarn and needles.

Materials:
Basic color (brim and top) - 30-35 yards of bulky weight yarn
Stripes - 3-4 stripes - 8-15 yards per stripe

Needles:
Size 10 1/2 (6.5 mm) 16" circular needle & one set of double pointed needles
Yarn needle; stitch marker

Gauge: 3 stitches per inch

Instructions:
With basic color, cast on 56 stitches. Join in a ring, being careful not to twist stitches.

Knit 3 rows.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2 rows.

Attach Stripe #1. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2-4 rows.

Attach Stripe #2. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 2-4 rows.

Attach Stripe #3. Knit 1 row.
Purl 1 row.
Knit 1-3 rows.

Reattach your basic color. Knit at least 1 row, or until the hat is 5 1/2-6 inches tall.

Begin decreases. Place a marker to show the end of the round.

Knit 5; Knit 2 together (K2T). Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 4; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 3; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around. Change to double pointed needles.
Knit 2; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 1; K2T. Repeat around.
Knit around.
Knit 2 together. Repeat around.

Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread yarn through stitches and weave in tail. Weave in all ends.

Variations:
Instead of the rolled brim, try a K2P2 ribbed cuff, using a size 10 (6mm) needle.
Keep adding stripes all the way to the top.

Yarn credits:
Base yarn & pink stripe hand dyed and hand spun by Smoky Mountain Fibers.
Orange stripe: Merino wool & SeaCell roving by Knit It Up (www.knit.etsy.com), color English Garden; plied with Smoky Mountain Fibers apricot handspun.
Teal Stripe: Breeze Merino and Bamboo roving by 1,000 petals (www.lotusjulie.etsy.com), color Hydra; plied with Smoky Mountain Fibers teal handspun.

Copyright 2009 by AnneMarie Walter for SmokyMountainFibers (www.smokymountainfibers.etsy.com) & Phat Fibers (www.phatfibers.com). You have my permission to make as many of these hats as you wish from this pattern. Sell them if you like; giva a few to charity. You may not sell this pattern, but you may link to it on Ravelry (I'm SmokyMtnFibers) or my blog, http:\\smokymountainfibers.blogspot.com/.

Gull Lace Hat - Now on Etsy!

After a few months of meaning to get around to it, this evening I uploaded my lovely Gull Lace hat on Etsy. It's a fun knit and an easy way to learn to knit lace. The pattern has been selling nicely at Asheville Home Crafts, and it was time to get it done! The trickiest part was getting the tags right so it will come up in the Etsy search engine. It's had a few views, so I guess I was successful. Next step: get it listed on Ravelry. Maybe I'll get to it next week.

The weekend is coming up and I am ready to spend another weekend in the garden and house. I'm still getting rid of stuff. What do those people who have a LOT of stuff do?

The butternut squash vines are just beginning their annual trek across the yard, The largest grew a FOOT yesterday and it will likely do the same today. I'll be laying down a mulch of waste wool, hay and cardboard, where I am really trying to kill the grass. The poppies looked fabulous this morning, but no pics yet - wet grass!