Over Abundance

Entries from July 2007

Clickin’ Clickin’ Clickin’, Keep Them Needles Clickin’…

July 28, 2007 · 7 Comments

Before we get this post started, a quick note:

The blogosphere is small place, ya’ll, and if you think that things  don’t get back to people, then you’re wrong.

If you have a complaint about blog content, drop me a comment. I am eager to address your concerns. I like you, I like your continued readership. If you feel like it’s not valid or important enough to leave it in a comment or an e-mail, then I’d appreciate not being badmouthed behind my back, especially right in the store where I work hard every day. We’re all grown-ups here.

Onward, to the knitting! I’ve had to restart the underarm gussets on the Baltic Sea sweater, but that was nothing compared to starting the shoulders over at least 4 times. I think I finally got all the kinks ironed out. I would take a photo except it is such a lump that there’s nothing to really show. All I can say is: Gosh math is fun, but not when it doesn’t fit into your pattern repeat.

If I can wrangle somebody into helping me with it, I think I may do a tutorial on the sewing in of the zipper. I have never found a satisfactory tutorial on this mysterious art, and I hope I may fill the gap.

My sideways hat pattern is undergoing some variations, as I’m hoping to make it more my own and offer it as a pattern. The basic hat is just too commonplace on the web, and I would feel like a criminal if I were to try and offer it as my own.

The shop just got some beautiful stuff in from Westminster, which means we got the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2006-7 books from Rowan. There’s some neat stuff in there, but Hannah and I kept wondering why the photography and poses are so damn weird that its hard to see what the knits look like half the time. Yarns: Wool Cotton, Calmer, and Cotton 4 Ply came in, along with some more RYC Jeans.

I almost forgot the Massive Cascade Order Of Doom that came in and caused a whole bunch of false backorders to pop up in the computer. That was weird and gave Hannah a headache. But, lots of pretty colours came in. Superwash 220, Regular 220, Pastaza, Sierra, Dolce(Delicious!), Eco Wool and Eco+, plus a few others that escape me for the moment being. Call the shop for more info.

On yarn leaving the store, well, Heather was kind enough to give me 3 large skeins of plant dyed yarn from her latest Dye Day. They are a gorgeous indigo blue, like jeans, with faded gold streaks in it, like the topstitching on jeans. I sense a pattern forthcoming with some homage name like Levi or 501.

Speaking of patterns and designing, some of you may have noticed my penchant for absconding with the yarn, no pattern in mind, but a firm vision of a finished sweater. I am hoping to start churning out some patterns, but I truly believe in testknitters and I was wondering if there would be any interest in testknitting for future pattern development? I’m most concerned about larger sizes, as that seems to be where most designers go awry. If you’re interested, drop me an e-mail with your name and bust measurements. I’ll compile a list and get back to you, probably by e-mail, when I start getting these things lined up.

In the shop, I’m beginning to notice certain regulars seem to lead trends in knitting. What’s the latest trend with the knitters you know? Right now we’ve got a Monkey sock craze sweeping down on us.

Categories: Uncategorized

Stupid, Ignorant, Or Just An Ass?

July 17, 2007 · 9 Comments

I saw this on Shannon Okey’s blog and was pretty peeved by it.

You can view my comment on it here.

If you don’t want to go to the link, here’s my comment.

I find it terribly amusing that you posted what you thought was an innocently-snarky little snippet and got 60+ comments all of the arched-eyebrow, “Oh really?” variety.

The only thing I haven’t heard anyone mention here was the huge monetary power that knitters hold.

A bank shut down a Blue Moon Fiber Art’s credit-card processing and refunded all the customers’ money because they couldn’t believe that so many people would want to buy yarn, and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds Of Thousands, people.

Also is the amazing phenomenon of Crash And Burn when high-profile online shops put up new stock. How many people would have to access TechCrunch simultaneously in order to crash the site? Well, that many people frequently “show up” virtually to buy yarn at sites like The Loopy Ewe and Scouts Swag and end up taking the sites offline until the traffic dies down and the site can be brought up again.

There’s a lot of us, we don’t like rudeness, and we all carry at least two very pointy sticks.

Categories: Uncategorized

Come The Morning Light

July 13, 2007 · 2 Comments

Oh wow.

What can one say about staying up all night with a ton of knitters?

I guess I will now do the blog-version of interpretive dance and post a photo collage.

The following are a few of my favourite things from the night.

Knitting and talking all night before seeing the new day from the other end is fun. Only compounded exponentially by the quality of the company you keep. We had a potluck dinner. It is no surprise that knitters, without any organization, put together a damn fine meal. We had summer salads, varied entrees, exquisite desserts, and wonderful knitting discussions. How to knit a whale, anybody?

It is also tremendously entertaining to watch tens of knitters all glued to the TV screen whenever Colin Firth speaks as Mr. Darcy, but return to amiable knitting during the rest of the six hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Meeting new friends and admiring the skill and adventerous spirit of the All-Nighters. Being awed at the flawless execution of complex knitting techniques. Awe is a feeling magnified by fatigue.

I think that what tops my list is the feeling of camaraderie. We made it through the night, immersed in our own culture, eating together, knitting together. It seemed so strange to leave and live in a world where I cannot assume that everybody else is burning with the desire to knit all the time.

I wonder what on earth those people do when they stay up all night.

Categories: Uncategorized