Catching up on HMF / HKF

It’s Hand Made Friday! What hand made pieces are you wearing today?

I've neglected updating my blog on Fridays, but if you follow me on social media you know I've been keeping up with HMF/HKF. So, here's what you missed. :)

Feb 14: Copper Love Knot bracelet:





Feb 21: Happy dance! I was super excited to meet Xandy Peters, designer of Fox Paws, at Stitches West. Oh, and I'm wearing a chainmaille pendant for Hand Made Friday.



Feb 28: This hand made pendant was made by the talented people at Steampunk Garage.



Mar 6: Stamped Copper Earrings



Mar 13: And finally, it's the Must Have Cardigan. Happy Friday! Now go wash your hands.

Stitches West 2018

This year I took Franklin Habit's class, "Snip 'n' Zip", where we learned how to steek and sew in a zipper. I hadn't taken a class from Franklin before, but his reputation preceded him so I was looking forward to the session.



He had some really nice samples to show how steeks could be used.


The Dandy Vest






Tea cozy




V-neck of tiny sweater


Armcye of tiny sweater

Fanklin's class was great. His instruction was clear and concise, he was funny and entertaining, and I thought he had good command of the classroom and kept us all on track. Best of all, I did this:


Bridge reinforced with crochet


Cutting!


Cut!!


The edges are so neat.


Zipper installation is complete. Success!

Now I want to cut all of my knitting. Bring it on! lol

In addition to learning a new technique, I got to see a lot of friends, some I only see once a year and others I see more often. I ate lunch with Mari everyday (yeah!) and I saw Beadlemania pieces in the wild. Mari wore a beaded Kumihimo necklace & bracelet, and Krista wore her #RESIST #UNITE amethyst earrings for the student fashion show.


Felicia and Krista

I stopped by Beth Brown-Reinsel's classroom on Sunday and we got to catch up in person. What a treat to see her!



There were many more friends and acquaintances and that's what makes the show for me, seeing all these lovely people in a place full of beautiful yarn and fiber. And speaking of beautiful yarn, fiber and whatnot, I brought home a few things.


Gifts for friends from Bar-Maids


Beautiful Laceweight from Lisa Souza


Clockwise from upper left: Batt Lifter from Clemes & Clemes, Beading Tool from Stunning String Studio, Beautiful shawl patterns by Romi Hill, Cloudborn from Craftsy, ChiaoGoo tips and cords.

Last but not least (unless I forgot something), I found the yarn I need for 52 Pickup by Alasdair Post-Quinn. I showed the yarn to Alasdair and he said, "That should work" as he signed my pattern. I received the nod of approval that I need to get started!



It's Cloudborn from Craftsy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wind a few balls so I can get this show on the road.

Stitches West 2017

Stitches West 2017

The market preview & first day of Stitches West 2017 is over and my feet hurt. lol

I bought a few things last night:


Purchases

And this little ditty--it's a USB stick with 3 of Jean Frost's books on it. Retail price is $35 (a bargain!) and this weekend they're marking the stitchips down 20%. Stop by the XRX booth.


Stitchips

I spent the morning working the registration desk with Joyce, Sallie, and Brenda.


Joyce and me.

The rest of the day was left for browsing the show floor and sewing the Must Have Cardigan.


Must Have Cardigan

Tomorrow I'll be in the It's A Swing Thing class with Barry Klein.

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday at Stitches West! What hand knits are you wearing today? I'm with Joyce Wyatt and I'm wearing Chimney Fire.


Chimney Fire

It's Stitches West 2017!

Stitches West starts today and I'm just now printing out the market map. Yeah, I'm not ready for this. Usually by now I have the map marked with the vendors I need to see and have a list of must-buys. Not so this year. I have a few plans--working registration on Friday and Barry Klein's "It's a Swing Thing" class on Saturday--but other than that I'm going for the fun of it.

Here are links to Erin's map to help you navigate the market floor and a discount coupon:

• Erin's Stitches West Market Map - 2 page version for printing
• Erin's Stitches West Market Map -Single page for tablets
• Stitches West 2017 Discount Coupon, $3 off Market Admission

Stitches West
Santa Clara Convention Center
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Santa Clara, CA
Feb 23-26, 2017

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits did you wear today?

Cooler weather means it's easier to wear hand knits. Today's selection is Pincha.

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits did you wear today?

It was too warm for hand knits today, but tonight I'm wearing Mardi Gras Pincha.

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

Thank goodness for AC, because it allows me to wear Mardi Gras Pincha on a hot summer day.

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

Pincha says it all, "Woo hoo, Go Warriors!"

Actual knitting content! FO: Cal Pincha

Knock me over with a feather, this is an actual post about knitting! As you can probably tell, I haven't been knitting much because other activities--like making and selling jewelry--have divided my interest. I find that it's difficult for me to do more than one thing at a time, so if I'm making jewelry, I'm not knitting, and visa versa.

But then I saw Knitty Spring/Summer 2016 and I knew I had to dust off the needles. I have a few hanks of Socks That Rock yarn languishing in the stash and I thought Pincha would be a great pattern for those variegated colorways. I unearthed the hank of "Heavy Metal" that I bought oh so long ago because it's Cal colors. Go Bears!

I dove in and made Pincha in 6 days, then it took another 6 days for me to block it. lol


Cal Pincha


Day 3



It's finished and I wore it last weekend and it's my April entry in the Stitches West KAL. I'm back in the saddle again.

HKF

Oh my, look at the time. Well, it was a hectic day at Stitches West and although I posted this on FB, I didn't get a chance to blog it until now.

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits did you wear today?

I was in Lily Chin's Directional Knitting class with Spinnity and wore Chimney Fire. Spinnity wore a Scalliwag hat, Pomatomus socks, and Stephen West Clockwork scarf. :)


Hand Knit Friday at Stitches West
Project details on Ravelry

Stitches West 2016 - Discount Coupon and other helpful links

Stitches West
Feb 18-21, 2016
Santa Clara Convention Center
5001 Great America Pkwy
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 748-7000

50% off Market Admission Discount Coupon

Erin's Market vendor maps - don't go shopping without one!
2 page PDF Marketplace map, suitable for printing
1 page PDF Marketplace map for tablets

Stitches West Show Book [52 page PDF]

Stitches West details on The Knitting Universe: Classes, schedules, market sessions, special events, social media links, etc., etc..

Social Media links:
Twitter: @KniTalk
Facebook: Knitting Universe, SW Event
Rebel Mouse: Show feed aggregator
Stitches West Ravelry Group
Google+: Knitting Universe posts
Flickr: XRX Flickr Sets

Knitted Knockers, a handmade breast prosthesis for women who have undergone mastectomies or other procedures.
Fund raiser and knocker drive.
Download a Pattern, make Knitted Knockers, and drop them off at Stitches West Booth #1235.

See you at the show!

Stitches West 2015 recap, part 1

This year's Stitches West was different for me. In past years, I was at the show every day, and generally walked out of the Marketplace with bags and bags of yarn and fiber. Every. Day.

This year I was too busy at work to go to the Market Preview Thursday night. I read my friends' updates that evening and saw all the lovely goodies they bought, but you know what, I wasn't heartbroken. It would have been nice to see everyone, but honestly I have so much fiber I didn't have a pressing need.

I worked the registration desk Friday morning and watched the excited crowd line up to shop.


Stitches West 2015

When it was my turn, I had about 30 minutes to shop before I needed to go home. That gave me just enough time to drop off an item at the WEBS booth and pick up a few goodies at Bar Maids.


Stitches West 2015

It turns out that my Friday door prize ticket was drawn while I was gone and thanks to my friends who were still at the show, I found out that afternoon. Also thanks to a friend who was working the show, the prize was set aside for me to pick up the next day. Hooray! Want to see what I won? It's a double walled ceramic travel mug from Skacel. Very nice.


Prize from Skacel

Saturday was going to be my shopping day with a mid-day shift at the registration desk. I arrived at the convention center early to get a primo parking space and Grace was already handing out badges and information. Look at Grace & Joyce--don't they look happy? Well of course they are, it's Stitches West!


Grace & Joyce

I found a comfortable place to sit and work on Chimney Fire. While I waited for the Marketplace to open, I finished the first sleeve and started the second sleeve.


Chimney Fire

Okay, okay! Shopping! Hoorayyyyy!!!! Want to see what I bought? Okay, here we go-- These beads by Glasscapes will look really pretty as earrings, don't you think?


Handmade Cane Glass Beads and Pendant

and then there's this kit from Steampunk Garage:


Chainmaille Celtic Star Kit

Yup, that was it. I told you this was a different Stitches West for me. But that wasn't the end of my adventure. In the next post I'll tell you about the mind-blowing class I took.

Stitches West 2015 - Marketplace coupon and other links

Stitches West is less than a week away! Here's some information that you may find useful for the show--

Stitches West
Feb 19-22, 2015
Santa Clara Convention Center
5001 Great America Pkwy
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 748-7000

Stitches West details on The Knitting Universe: Classes, schedules, market sessions, special events, social media links, and more.

Stitches West Discount Coupon: 50% off Marketplace Admission from WEBS

If you're shopping at Stitches West, you absolutely positively need Erin's map. Don't leave home without it!
2 page PDF Marketplace map, suitable for printing
1 page PDF Marketplace map for tablets

Social Media links:
Facebook: Knitting Universe, SW Event
Twitter: @KniTalk
Google+: Knitting Universe posts
Flickr: XRX Flickr Sets
Rebel Mouse: Show feed aggregator
Stitches West Ravelry Group

From The Knitting Universe site: "The hashtags for this show are #STITCHESWest for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Flickr, & Instagram. And if you take a 'selfie' at the show, please use #STITCHESselfie for those pictures on Instagram. Make sure you include a picture in your tagged posts so that it shows up in the KniTalk RebelMouse feed."

Have a great time at the show, I know I will!

Two more for the road

I wanted to show you a couple photos of the Mixed Tide shawl in the Stitches West Fashion Show. What a thrill it was to see it on stage, modeled so beautifully. Look at that drape.


Mixed Tide in the Stitches West Fashion Show
Photo courtesy of XRX.


Mixed Tide in the Stitches West Fashion Show
Photo courtesy of XRX.

After SW, I was motivated to finish the project I had on the needles, the Mixed Tide for me. This one is also worked in Valley Yarns Colrain Lace in Grey Olive, a cone that I purchased at Stitches West 2008. Working from stash FTW!
Here's the obligatory "before blocking" photo:


Mixed Tide before blocking

And here's the blocking photo--notice the curved shape of the shawl. That's achieved by constantly decreasing at the top edge, working in a few short rows on either side of the "points", and staggering the bottom edge so each point is lower than the last.


Mixed Tide, blocking

Wendy was kind enough to model the shawl at Spinnity's spin-in this month. The funny thing about that is, Wendy has modeled my shawls before and each time she has just happened to wear a solid colored top in a contrasting color that was perfect for showing off the stitch pattern. We don't coordinate before hand, it just happens. Simpatico.


Mixed Tide shawl
Project details on Ravelry


Mixed Tide shawl

Last but not least, here is a photo of the prototype for Mixed Tide. It is worked in Universal Yarn's FibraNatura Whisper Lace, a lovely Merino/silk. The wedges are worked in alternating colors of Natural and Cloudy Morning. This is the piece where I worked out the decrease rates, the increases, and the points. There's a bit of wonkiness in the beginning, but it all worked out in the end. I just wish I looked a little happier in the photo, lol.


Mixed Tide prototype
Project details on Ravelry
Photo courtesy of Universal Yarn.