A Summer of Firsts: First Knitting Retreat

My goodness, I've gotten pretty lazy about posting here and on facebook.  It's a lot more work than I thought it would be, but I've missed it more than I thought I would. I think part of the reason I've been gone so long is that I often forget to take pictures of my adventures to share.  Now that I've got a store, It seems more than worth catching you up on my summer.  I'm going to try to keep it mostly to images so I don't drone on and break it up into separate posts.

First Knitting Retreat:   North Light Fibers - Block Island, RI
May 2017

Thanks to my generous Mom, I went on my first official knitting retreat in May to North Light Fibers on Block Island.  We were in some serious need of some mother/daughter time and I have never felt so pampered in my life.  We got to stay at the luxurious 1661 Inn and words can't express how unbelievable our stay was!  The meals were fantastic, with a buffet spread like I've never seen before and "wine and nibbles" before dinner each night.  The view from my room was unbeatable and the staff really made us feel at home!  I know every one says that, but I really mean it!

Mom and I on the Ferry

When we weren't in classes or stuffing ourselves with the most amazing food possible, Sven and family at NLF kept us entertained with all sorts of activities like a mill tour, the on-site petting zoo, bird banding, and a lighthouse tour.

Did I mention the food?!

I, of course, didn't take any pictures of the classes, but they were really great!  I learned so much and came home so inspired!  It was pretty fantastic to meet new people and spend some face time with designers I've admired.  It was such a treat!
We barely found some time to pick up some ice cream and dip our toes in the sand before catching the ferry home.

I truly hope all knitting retreats are this magical!  I'd love if my next one was a knitting cruise! If you've been on a retreat, what was your experience?  Do you have a favorite?

Phew! Time for a break!

I hope everyone had a great holiday!  It was nice to spend some time with my family and I tacked on a vacation from work this week to make a sort of extended holiday for myself.  To say I'm taking a "break" might be a stretch, but it certainly feels like one after last month!  My husband's birthday was the weekend after Thanksgifing so we took a trip to NYC to celebrate his still being older than me!  ;-)  We're both self-declared foodies and I had wanted to catch The Hunger Games Exhibition at the Discovery museum before it leaves in early January, so off we went!

Now, we had a FANTASTIC TRIP.  Seriously, but this blog is supposed to be about knitting, so I'll try to keep that in mind as I write.  We started out at Saturday by hitting the Natural History Museum to see the re-opened planetarium and the butterfly conservatory, then on to an early dinner at Guantanamera.  The food and cocktails were amazing and we literally stuffed ourselves silly before heading off to Times Square.

My anticipation was building for weeks to see the Hunger Games Exhibition.  I'm a HUGE fan of the books and movies, I usually binge watch the movies while knitting at least twice a week (and sadly, I'm not kidding- I'm actually watching the first film again as I write).  There was such great knitwear in all of the movies and so I was psyched at the opportunity to see some of the fantastic knits close up.  By the time we got into the exhibition, I was practically salivating and ready to cry like a pre-teen at a One Direction concert.

The exhibition itself was fantastic.  It was interactive, informative, reflected both the movies and the books, but not a single stitch of knitwear.  To be fair, I did see the famed Katniss Cowl, but it was actually woven, not knit (though you can find a really great knit interpretation HERE on Ravelry for free).  Exciting, and I was happy to be able to inspect it up close, but the cowl actually got so much attention after the movie release I couldn't find any information (or even still frames/pics) of the other knitwear in the movies, so I had been really jazzed to see some of the other pieces.   :-/

I do also want to take the time to point out that the staff working at the Discovery Museum are really friendly, approachable, and helpful.  I saw the Harry Potter Exhibition there a few years ago and had the same experience.  If you get the chance to stop by and see something that catches your fancy, don't hesitate!  If I could have afforded to, I would have bought out half their gift shop as well!  There was a whole line of kitchen/baking products marketed for "Peeta's Bakery" that I absolutely fell in love with!

Before the end of the night, we also got to stop into the Nintendo store where there were displays for their new game, Yoshi's Wooly World!  I'm also something of a Nintendo fan and it was fun to see all the knit and crocheted characters and landscapes.

Now that November is over, I can FINALLY I show you pictures of what I've been working on and my post is so late because I was trying to get pictures.  The lighting in my apartment is pretty dim though, and the weather hasn't really been cooperating- it's been warm, but rainy mostly.

I finished the last clue for the Supernatural MKAL pretty quickly but it took me a while to get around to washing and blocking it.  Anyone who watches the show will recognize the design as the anti-possession symbol the guys have tattooed to keep the demons out. I still have about a ball and a half of that yarn left and I think it's going to go great with a couple others I have in the stash.  I'm kind of toying around with ideas and think maybe I'll be designing my first shawl with them.

Yes, this is a bathroom pic I snapped as I was leaving work.
The lighting in there is AMAZING.

I also managed to finish the Snowflake sweater for NoKniSweMo before the end of November- though how I'm still not sure.  I had three days left with one sleeve to go, but I was working on it while in NYC so I was distracted and kept having to pull the cuff out.  I was actually sewing the final button onto the sweater at 11:57 on 11/30!  Now that it's done, I've got a great sweater to put into the rotation as the weather starts to cool- if it ever cools.  It's been in the 50's here in New England, which is practically tropical for this time of year.

At the start of the month, I also spent the day at WEBS yarn store completing my opt out tests for Knitting II and Crochet I and I'm happy to say I passed both!  Now that I've got a pre-requisite under my belt, it's just a matter of figuring out which classes I'd like to take this semester.  I wish I had the time and money to do all of them, but I'll have to be patient.

So, what's coming up?  Well, I'm STILL desperately trying to finish last minute Christmas gifts.  I'll be busy with some homework from the knitting classes I've signed up for, but I really hope to start a sweater that's been in my queue for some time, Norah Gaughan's "Chainlink," with the hope that I can finish it in time to actually wear it this year.   Soon, it'll be time for New Year's resolutions!  How did we hit the end of the year already?

Knovember Knitting

This is the second time I skipped a week.  I really didn't mean to, but the weeks have been getting away from me.  I can't believe Thanksgiving is on our door already!  I would like to be busy knitting Christmas gifts, but I'm still working diligently on my November "alongs."

I posted earlier on Facebook, I'm finished with clue 7 of 8 for my Supernatural MKAL.  I simultaneously am really excited and really sad that I'm so close to the end, but at least I'll be able to show it off soon!

The NoKniSweMo sweater is not doing so well.  In order to catch up on the MKAL, I sacrificed the sweater figuring it will go really quickly now that I'm down to stockinette stitch.  It is going quickly, but I'm going to have to do something desperate between now and the end of the month in order to finish on time.  It's possible, but it's getting pretty intense.

I have so many pairs of socks planned and I'm not the fastest knitter so I'm sure I won't get as many as I'd like done for the holidays.  I've been thinking about maybe making up some Hug Me Mug Cozies as gifts instead.  They always bring a smile to my face and I've got plenty of scrap yarn I could use!

I'll also soon be making progress on the WEBS Expert Knitter Program. I'm scheduled to complete the opt-out tests for Knitting II and Crochet I the first week of December.  While I'm really exciting to be making the progress, I do feel like I need to bone-up a little.  The course catalog outlines the skills covered by each class and I've realized I almost never use a long tail cast-on or half double crochet stitch.  Clearly I've got some practicing to do over the next week on top of all the other things I'm doing!  I heard the catalog for winter classes would be coming out around Thanksgiving, so I've been waiting impatiently by the mailbox for it to arrive!

I also need to give a shout out to Target for selling these fabulous two person sweaters!  Tell me this isn't amazing!  I'm seriously considering picking one up before our company "festive sweater" contest.  And what's up with the pepperoni pizza on there?  Is that meant to be something else and I'm just not seeing it?

The Road So Far...

I had to share this because it made me giggle when I read it on Tumblr the other day:

That's only sort of true for me.  I'm starting to realize I'm not going to get nearly as much Xmas kitting done as I would prefer, but that's really because I'm doing so much selfish kitting this year and I think my work in progress (WIP) pile is about to get bigger.   (What am I thinking?!)  It's been a while since I've made a true status report, so let's talk current WIPs before I move on to the projects in my queue.

I finished my first Drakar sock (yay) and I'm finally on to the second.  The foot may look a bit short, but these babies stretch pretty good- probably thanks to the squishy yarn, Tess' Designer Yarns: Super Socks and Baby Yarn (in Metallurgy) and the fantastic toe in this pattern!

You'll also see the socks modeling my new stitch protector. I've been seeing a lot of these from other bloggers/podcasters and thought it would be a worthy investment, so I bought one on Etsy- made to order by Pokdej.  This is the larger size.  I thought it was worth investing in the larger one now, even if I don't have any extra long double-pointed needles (DPNs) at the moment.  I'm really enjoying it!  There are great options for patterned cloth and lining and it's roomy without being too loose to hold the project.

I've also got a circular shawl on the needles, but it's part of the Supernatural MKAL by Shannon Sanchez.  Because of the mystery bit, I cant very well post pictures of it- then it wouldn't be a secret!  I'm running a bit behind on this one though.  :-/


Now, I bought the above stitch holder before the end of the Knitting Expat Rainbow KAL, not at all expecting I would win a prize or anything but that's exactly what happened!  If you've not yet watched the Knitting Expat podcast, I highly suggest it! I'm a big fan of Mina and her two feline co-stars.  Mina also makes really wonderful project bags and she can be found on Etsy as Mina Makes.  I knew the prize included the stitch holder, that BEAUTIFUL skein of Ewe Who Knits: Irish Fairy Tree base in the colorway Rainbow Dash, and some really adorable rainbow stitch markers.  What I did not expect was for her to generously include some flavored teas, absolutely scrumptious toffee candies, and a postcard of her boys, Derek and Hugo.  Those adorable felines are accumulating quite the following of their own!  Thank you, Mina, for your generosity!

So what's coming up?  I'm so tempted to use that beautiful skein of Rainbow Dash to cast on a pair of  Mystik Spiral Socks, but I think that will have to wait.  I had hoped to make at least two more pairs of socks for Xmas gifts.  There are a few Xmas knitting KALs I'm already participating in, so that's helping keep me (kind of) focused.  I've also stumbled on this idea of NaKniSweMo: knit a 50,000-stitch sweater in a month- specifically November. CRAZY you say! Yeah, I said that too, but I did hope to have a new holiday sweater for this year and I bought some beautiful yarn with this very intention back at the WEBS test sale in May.  You've actually seen it already in a previous post- that b-e-a-utiful magenta gauge swatch that I made for the Tin Can Knits Snowflake sweater.  I've even counted the stitches in anticipation!  I had to guess-timate a bit on row counts (you know, knit till you have 16.5 inches, etc), but I came up with roughly 58k+ stitches knitting up a XL size with three quarters sleeves.  I figure if I make it by the November 30 deadline that's great, but if I don't I'll still have a really great start on a Christmas sweater.

Well, now that I've gone on and on, it's time to get some of this knitting done as opposed to just talking about it! I'm going to cuddle up with some Mexican hot chocolate and see what I can do about that.  Till next week!