Updates on this month's store hours

I made it back safe last night, after 17 hours of traveling.

Here are the hours I will be working, starting this Friday. Wednesdays through Friday 2:00 pm until closing, Saturday 12 - 5.

I'm also going to be teaching knitting intensive classes. Wednesday through Friday evenings at 6:00 to 7/7:30. Since there is so much to cover we might not be able to cover everything in one hour, but we'll try, and if there's only one of the several techniques listed for each day that you want to learn let me know and we'll cover that first. The first 4 will be only $5 each, the later ones will be $10.

1. Review - knit/purl, how to fix drop stitches, and the concept of knitting. August 8
2. Circular knitting, including double pointed, magic loop and
how to fix incorrect joins. August 13
3. Increasing and decreasing. August 14
4. Lace (class 3 is a prereq, private lesson is available) and reading patterns. August 15
5. Socks (heel and toe). August 20
6. Entrelac. August 21
7. Cables and icords. August 22
8. Many ways of casting on and off, continental vs english knitting. August 27
9. Color knitting #1. intarsia, other forms of color knitting. August 28
10. Color knitting #2 fair isle, other color knitting. August 29
11. Kitchener stitch. Date: TBA

I'll probably be adding a few more things, or you can make a request, or schedule a private class.

See you soon.

Possible hours, possible class

Here are my tentative hours: Saturdays and 2-7 Wed through Friday.

I'll have a better idea of whether this will really work out when I get home tomorrow!

Also, here's a preliminary list of what we'll be doing for our intensive knitting classes:

1. Review - knit/purl, how to fix drop stitches, and the concept of knitting.
2. Circular knitting, including double pointed, magic loop and how to
fix incorrect joins.
3. Increasing and decreasing
4. Lace
5. Socks (heel and toe)
6. Entrelac
7. Cable, icord
8. Many ways of casting on and off, continental vs english knitting
9. Color knitting #1. intarsia, other forms of color knitting
10. Color knitting #2 fair isle, other color knitting
11. Kitchener stitch

See you guys soon.

Silent Auction ends August 3

Hi.

We are having a silent auction, ending August 3rd.

Proceeds go to keeping the store open.

To see the items and current bids please go to

http://thatyarnstore.com/auction.html

Thanks.
Thea

That Yarn Store
5028 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.thatyarnstore.com
323.256.9276

Super yarn trade in ends this Saturday!

On July 26th at 2pm Emily, who heads the Hyde Park andEl Sereno library knitting groups, will be at ThatYarn Store with two of knitting group participants to answer questions you might have about the groups andto accept any yarn you might want to donate at thattime. If you can't make it at 2pm to say hi but would still like to donate feel free to stop by the store between now and then and turn in your donations. Don't forget to ask for the 10% off coupons, which can be used on everything except David B Adams Needles or classes.

Kids Knitting Camp has been extended

By popular demand, the Kids Knitting Camp I'm helping with has been extended through August 22! It's fun, affordable, and AIR CONDITIONED! Call That Yarn Store to register, 323 256-9276

Kids Summer Knitting Camp
Ages 6-up
All levels welcome
$25 per week (+ $10 materials, or bring your own)

Classes meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11:00am – 12 noon

Session 4: July 15, 16, 18
Session 5: July 22, 23, 25
Session 6: July 29, 30, August 1
ADDED! Session 7: August 5, 6, 8
ADDED! Session 8: August 12, 13, 15
ADDED! Session 9: August 19, 20, 22

Pre-registration required - contact
That Yarn Store
5028 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles 90041
323-256-9276
www.thatyarnstore.com

I'm alive

Wow. It's been nearly a month after my last post, and to think I expected to have all this free time to post often. So I am in London, got here safe and sound. My first two weeks were spent looking for a job and religiously spent checking gumtree and other sites. Of course now that I have a job I don't have any time to post either as I get home around 8:30, then I make dinner or watch Jessamy make dinner, then wash the dishes, water, and do chores (yes I do have chores, and lots of them) so it's usually 10 m. Hi. Well, I was planning on posting often, but that's not happening, by the time I can get on the computer, thought sometimes it's ten thirty and I don't have the time to wait for the computer to load.To sum it up, I'm exhausted. I think my temp job is going to end soon though, maybe? I spent last Saturday working, but on Sunday Jessamy and I spent a very long time searching for work trousers on Oxford street, Jessamy said we went to less than ten shops, but it felt like a lot more, I would guess I tried on at least 30 pairs of pants trousers, but I had firmly decided to not buy any that only kind of fit, so I went home empty handed. On Saturday we went to see Lord of the Rings the musical as an early birthday present for me. The songs were crap, but they had good dancing and the sets were amazing. Hopefully I'll be able to post more soon, but I should get offline now it's past my bed time!

Knitty projects and the yarns that love them

Trying to figure out what to make from the current Knitty?

Here are some of the projects and yarns that we carry (or used to carry) that could be used as substitutes. If we no longer carry it stock we would be happy to do a special order for you:
Shetland:
Rio de la Plata Sock yarn
Sockotta

Inverness:
If you would like to order the yarn called for, cathay, we can special order it for you. Otherwise, these would make good substitutes:
Encore worsted
Royal llama silk
Suri Merino

Gigi:
Sockotta
Rio de la Plata Sock yarn

Eloping:
Sockotta
Rio de la Plata Sock yarn

Seascape:
We used to stock kidsilk haze, we can order more if you would like.

Helena:
Jeanee (a little too thick, but it's a baby sweater, the kid will grow into it, but first make a swatch and see how it drapes)
Dreambaby dk (a little too thin, but I think it will suit fine, especially if you make the next size up, but first make a swatch and see how it drapes)

Muscari:
Sockotta
Rio de la Plata Sock yarn

Couvercle:
Baby alpaca grande

New Project!

It's raining over here, perfect sweater weather. So I've put down my ipod cozies and started using the yarn from the train wreck otherwise known as my sister's sweater. Unravelling it and getting the kinks out was a project in itself which I had actually started last week.

For reasons I'm not completely sure of I've decided to base the sweater on TomatoIn any case since I had three colors of Encore I've decided to do an argyle pattern but keep everything else the same.

I lost track of how long I spent on Saturday evening trying to work out the math so that the diamonds would start in the correct place. Once I had figured it out (using the most geometry I've used since high school) I decided that I would like smaller diamonds, then I realized it would be better using this number as the basis than this, etc etc.

But, I was able to cast on and do two rows on Saturday, and got to bed before midnight too!

Jessamy has the camera but I'm moving over to London on Thursday so there will be pictures soon.

It's going well, I'm several inches into it and it seems like it will be pretty quick to knit. Except for the math on Saturday I think I've done better than normal in the making life, ie knitting, harder for myself area.

World Wide Knit in Public pictures

Suzanne sent me these two pictures from WWKIP day via her cellphone, yay technology! :

Beverly & Karen with their projects and a pitcher of beer. Claudia thinks she's hiding from the camera, just I can tell that's her over on the left.

Susan looking amused ...

I hear several pitchers of beer were consumed, so I think it's safe to assume that fun was had by all!

How cute!

I don't know where my sister found this, but I love it!

June 14th - World Wide Knit in Public Day!

June 14th is World Wide Knit in Public Day!
WWKIPD is an international event where knitters gather together and ... knit in public!

The only official Northeast LA WWKIPD outing is in
Eagle Rock, organized by That Yarn Store.

12:30. Knitters, crocheters, and family will meet at That Yarn Store
1:00 to 3:00 We will have a knit-n-sip at Swork. 2160 Colorado Blvd
3:00 to 5:00 We meet at Oinksters for some amazing food. 2005 Colorado Blvd

Bring your projects. Non-knitting Significant others and family are welcome to tag along!

That Yarn Store
5028 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.thatyarnstore.com
(323) 256-9276

It's all true

What you read in the last newsletter was true, we’re very close to giving up. I've heard that some wonderful people have been coming in to support us over the last week, and Tom’s working on an auction that will hopefully pay for part of next month’s rent. I have some ideas, so hopefully the yarn store will still be in business in August when i come home to visit…

Any class suggestions? Anything that will help you help us?

Interview with Evonne Wee

Name: Evonne Wee

Knit or crochet?: I mostly knit, but I can also crochet a little. I like that crochet goes fast!

What's your favorite That Yarn Store yarn: Rio De La Plata Sock - I love how the colors change in the plies. I can probably stare at that yarn till I get dizzy.

How long have you been crocheting/knitting/spinning: I learned to knit when I was little, maybe 6 years old. I made a square, about the size of a coaster. I picked up my needles again about 7 years ago, and have been hooked ever since. I have been spinning for 1 year, after a failed attempt at learning several years ago. It didn't "stick" the first time!

How did you learn to crochet/knit/spin: I learned to knit from my mom. I learned to spin from John Pitblado, an LA spinner, and I visited the Pasadena Spinning Guild a couple of times.

What is your current project: You mean, what are my various half done projects? I am knitting a cotton tank top for a good friend. I have a shawl 99% finished. (I haven't found the time to do the last 2 rows!) Those are the main ones. I guess I am on a lace kick lately. I get distracted easily, as many of us do. On some projects, I get a good stretch going for a while, like if I have a few days of time in a row, some good movies to watch, or the project has some interesting colors or details.

Do you follow patterns, make up your own, or a mixture: Both. With handspun yarn, I like winging it more. I usually knit it top down, because I am afraid I might run out of yarn. Depending on the amount of yarn I have left, I might add some details or change my plans accordingly. Don't do this at home kids - I have seen many a grown man/woman cry when they run out of yarn near the end. It's a good thing I like cropped sweaters and sweaters with 3/4 length sleeves. No, seriously, I do, and it makes more sense for our California weather.

Do you have a blog or website: I have an etsy store: www.evonnewee.etsy.com and I am "craftypeapod" on flickr. I can seriously waste a lot of time looking at other people's craftiness on those 2 sites. Lovely.

What's your favorite non-fiber website: I like reading www.dooce.com and www.angrychicken.typepad.com. Everyone should check them out!

Have you ever been attacked by an animal: Kind of. Once I was walking around my neighborhood at night with my roommate. A barking dog charged at us out of a dark alley. I ran away, but my roommate fell. She never lets me forgot that I left her there and saved myself. But my "fight or flight" response really kicked in. The dog's owner grabbed the dog a few seconds after it charged at us. In the end, she was mostly unhurt but kind of shocked.

Do you sell your handmade things online?

Hi.
I've been busy the past few weeks. I just started a website called handmadeportal.com as a method for promotion for people who make things and a way for shoppers to find one of a kind goodies.
It's "launching" in early June, but if you have an etsy, myspace, or personal website where you sell your handmade items please go to the website, handmadeportal.com and click the Submit link for further instructions.
I've been posting new submissions (I have 18 so far!) on the blog http://handmadeportal.blogspot.com/. Just like in this blog, you don't need a gmail account to comment.

Sounds cool, spinning camp

We just found out about this, sounds like fun:


Calling all spinners! Come join us at Camp Pluckyfluff Los Angeles. Lexi Boeger of www.Pluckyfluff.com is an amazing and irreverent fiber artist and spinner. Check out her recent projects, including her "brain hat" and "roadkill yarn" on her website and blog. The 2 day camp will focus on helping spinners develop their own new and original styles. She will cover these techniques: supercoils, adding sequins, poofs and nubbies to yarn, crazy carding and more more more! This workshop is meant for those who already know basic spinning. The cost is $200 for 2 full days, July 19-20. For more details, visit www.pluckyfluff.com.

Pattern and contact number for chemo caps

Hi. We've received this email about chemo caps for Cedars Sinai from someone who is currently crocheting lots of them, and says they find a home very quickly.

SIZE: Approximately 9 ½ “ from beginning to bottom edge.

MATERIAL: approx 6 oz of yarn and Crochet hook size K

Work in BACK LOOP only

Row 1: Ch 4, join with slip stitch to form ring; Ch 3, work 11 dc in ring (12 dc, counting ch-3, as 1 dc), join with sl st in top of ch-3

Row 2: Ch 3, dc in base of ch-3, work 2 dc in each dc around (24 dc); join

Row 3: Repeat Row 2 (48 dc)

Rows 4-12: Ch 3, dc in each dc around (48 dc); join; break off

Weave ends

Fold last two rows up to form cuff (optional) Pattern by Sue Ochoa

Chemo Caps are needed for adult men and women.

We are always on the look-out for donated knit or crocheted caps for our chemotherapy patients. Gifting caps made from yarn is a great way to share your talent and generosity with others. Involve your neighbors, church group, club, or start your own Chemo Cap Koffee Klatch! It’s fun! It’s worthwhile! It’ll make you feel GREAT!!

30 Minute Chemo Cap

Have 30 Minutes? Want to help our patients?

Instructions for a 30 Minute Chemo Cap

ATTENTION ALL Crocheters

30 Minute Chemo Cap

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL (310) 423-2189

We are open today

Yes, we are open today, and the beginning lace class is still going to take place at 6:00.
We will be closed for the rest of the week, Wednesday to Saturday, to see Max graduate from college.

We've received more Brown Sheep for your knitting pleasure, and a new yarn for us, Encore DK, which is an excellent choice for baby items (it's washable, don't ya know).

Spring Craftaganza is this Saturday!

Spring Craftaganza is an awesome yearly event held at That Yarn Store where you can pick up one-of-a-kind gifts for your one-of-a-kind Mom (the next day is Mother's Day), start your holiday shopping early, and snag something cool for yourself. From handmade t-shirts to jewelry to hand-spun yarn!

Plus free refreshments!

What: Spring Craftaganza, a hand-made craft fair
When: May 10, 1-5pm
Where: That Yarn Store, 5028 Eagle Rock Blvd (see www.thatyarnstore.com for directions)
Why: Handmade is better!

Interview with Gina Ruiz

Gina Ruiz was nice enough to let me interview her for the blog. She is a blogger extraodinaire and has previously done a kids' story time at the shop, reading from the book Woolbur.

I hope this interview is the first of many interesting interviews with fiber loving folks.

Knit or crochet: Crochet
What's your favorite That Yarn Store yarn: Baby Alpaca! Soooo soft.
How long have you been crocheting: I learned when I was little but haven't since I was about 15, then my granddaughter led me into the store about a year and a half ago and I was, quite literally, hooked. I can't stop buying yarn!
How did you learn to crochet: My grandmother taught me the rudimentaries and David is teaching me the finer points.
What are you crocheting: A Pig Blanket! It's simple squares in a soft green with alternating ones in cream. Every other square has a little pink pig face first crocheted and then sewn onto it. Very cute. I think the pattern calls it a Barnyard Blanket, but at our house it's a pig blanket.
Why that project: My granddaughter Jasmine loves pigs! She has the largest (I think) Pig Book Collection, every birthday party is a pig party and she has tons of stuff pigs.
Do you follow patterns, make up your own, or a mixture: Mixture
What do you do for a living: Let's see that gets complicated. I'm the GM for an all online publication that writes about animation and visual effects, AWN.com, I write book reviews, I started a cooking website, I'm writing a novel, I write poetry and I dabble in shameless self-promotion.
Do you have a blog or website: Several! [Thea has listed them all below] - cooking, book reviews, latino childrens book reviews. I just bought my own domain name and am going to consolidate everything on Ginamarysolruiz.com.
What's your favorite non-fiber website: I'd have to say its a toss up between The Elegant Variation (a literary blog) and Go Fug Yourself dot com. It's my secret (not now) guilty pleasure.
Have you ever been attacked by an animal:Yes! The evil cat. I once spent the night at a friends who had very large (over 20 pound) cats. I guess one of them (the largest) took exception to me sleeping on the couch and climbed his fat self up a bookshelf and hurtled his body at me. Narrowly missed taking out my eye and I still have a scar right under my eye today over ten years later. Evil, evil, evil and beastly cat. I don't have that friend anymore by the way.

Here are Gina's blogs:
http://ginasblogging.blogspot.com
http://cuentesitos.blogspot.com
www.donalupeskitchen.blogspot.com
http://ginasflipbook.animationblogspot.com

- Thea

Seen a play

Hello.

I had a nice weekend (I can't believe it's already Thursday!).
We went to see a play, Pitman Painters by Lee Hall, who also did Billy Elliot. It's about a group of coal miners from Ashington (not far from Newcastle) in the 1930s-40s when coal miners had very little formal education and largely started in the coal mines at age 11. A group of them started off with an art appreciation course and end up as painters.

The acting as so-so, but I thought they did a great job with the accents.

The theatre was very interesting, it's tiny, about 150 people, 50 in the balcony, 100 downstairs, with the first 50 seats placed around tables so that people can have a drink while they watch the play.

Meet David B Adams, (hand-turned needles)

If you've admired David B. Adams, and the needles and crochet hooks he
makes (like his double sided hooks), we are going to showcase him and
his work on Saturday, April 19 (tomorrow!), from 2 to 5 pm.

Come and meet David, see the woods he has and designs he has
been creating, and maybe treat yourself to one of his beautiful
crochet hooks or knitting needles. His needles come in a variety of
sizes, woods, and prices. He also makes them to order. We hope you'll
stop in and say hi.

Date: Saturday, April 19
Time: 2 to 5 pm
Place: That Yarn Store
5028 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.thatyarnstore. com
(323) 256-9276

Stitch n Bitch books (and Denise Needle Set) are in

Hi.

We've received a new shipment of:
Denise Needle Set (what I'm currently using, it's very handy as it
has needle sizes 5-15 in one handy kit. I bought it for a gift for
Jessamy, but it turns out that it was really something I had wanted)
Stitch 'n Bitch: Handbook
Stitch 'n Bitch: Nation
Stitch 'n Bitch: Happy Hooker (it's all about crochet)
and the newest of the group, Son of Stitch 'n Bitch: 45 Projects to
Knit and Crochet for Men


In the last newsletter I said we were not accepting requests for a
movie, it was a typo (I had proofread the rest of the email, but sadly
not that part), I meant we are now accepting requests for the movie.
What a difference that letter makes. The movie (April 25) will start
at 7:30.


The dates for Yarn: Start to Finish were incorrect in the last
newsletter, it is really April 18, 23, and 25.


We now have a good number of vendors for the May 10th (1-5pm) craft
fair. It's looking like it will be an eclectic and interesting bunch.
I hope you can come (and pass the word).


We're expecting more yarn by the end of next week, if not before. Woho.

Live Music Tonight

Live Music featuring Call And Response

April 12, 5-7

On Saturday, April 12th, from 5-7pm, Dottie Grossman and Michael
Vlatkovich, also known as "Call And Response" will be performing at
That Yarn Store. The concert is free, although donations are accepted.

Critically acclaimed, the duo has performed across the US, and
routinely opens the Potter Valley Jazz Festival. Though music and
poetry may have beatnik associations for some, rest assured that this
is no bongos and beret affair. Grossman's poetry covers a wide range
of emotional territory, and Vlatkovich is always right there with her,
whether to reinforce the sentiment of the poem, or completely turn it
on its head. It is not uncommon to be close to tears at the end of a
poem, and rolling with laughter during the response... and vice versa!

Happy Hour Tonight

7pm.

Don't know what libation has been chosen, but does it really matter?

New yarn

Rio de la Plata (this stuff is great, we were afraid for a while there as they were having some sort of stock issues, but I guess it was resolved because we have more!)

Encore Worsted (A free pattern online:
plymouthyarn.com/index.php?nav=cPatterns.freePatterns&pattern_id=000015)

Encore Colorspun (very popular, there are some socks on our voila page, http://thatyarnstore.com/voila.html made with encore colorspun. You can find a free pattern for socks (not the same socks) at this address:
plymouthyarn.com/index.php?nav=cPatterns.freePatterns)

Alpaca Grande (everyone's favorite, and has been selling like hotcakes according to David (maybe we should get into the hotcakes business))

Suri Merino (a personal favorite, and coincidentally I used some this weekend to make a felted ipod cozy (yes, I did pack Suri Merino in my suitcase))

Suri Merino Paint (I think this is a new one for us (at least I haven't seen it), but I just looked at the Plymouth website at the yarns, and my mouth is watering, I'm guessing it will sell also like
pancakes(?))

Baby Alpaca Worsted Paint (dito the description above)

Alpaca Boucle (it's been so long since we've carried this that it's possible it might be new to you. We used to have a stripey hat made from it in the store somewhere, you might have seen it. Another
pattern: plymouthyarn.com/index.php?nav=cPatterns.freePatterns&pattern_id=000004)

Boku (Self striping goodness)

Happy feet (new spring yarn from Plymouth. Multicolored sock yarn. David says it was recommended by Suzanne. I don't know if that last comment was supposed to go in the newsletter or not, but there it is anyway! Just looked at it on the Plymouth site, it's a 90% Superwash Merino Wool, 10% Nylon, in nice colors, including men's colors (as Jessamy pointed out in a deep voice) though I don't know if the guy colors were ordered or not, but you would always place a special order with us)

Royal Bamboo (speaks for itself)

Royal Llama silk (You didn't know that Llamas made cocoons, did you? 60% Llama, 40% Silk)

Ms?

I just got a call from an employer who had my CRB (criminal background check) form returned because I failed to put down my previous surname. Yes, I was as confused as you are. Apparently Ms means to some people widowed or divorced.

If I had been in the room by myself when I took the call I might have thought that it was just me being ignorant about the actual meaning of the term Ms. Fortunately Jessamy, who knows everything, was sitting next to me and she was as amazed as I was. We decided that it was probably just another example, like the term "you all right," where the British and American language differ.

So I looked it up online (how I love online), and found an article about the term Ms from The Guardian, a UK newspaper. The guardian seems to agree with me, that the term means I decline to state my marital status.

Since both the woman who called me and the CRB people who returned the form both believed it meant widowed or divorced I looked some more, and saw the question "Meaning of Ms, Mrs, Miss?" on
yahoo answers. Most seemed to think that it mean "declined to state" but there were a few who said widowed or divorced.

Oh well, seems like I'll either have to ask everyone who wants to know what their personal interpretation of Ms. is or write in longhand across all the tick boxes the words "None of your business". Sadly I'm not that antagonistic and I'll just go with Miss from now on.

For the love of grafting

cat
Originally uploaded by atheame

I was intending on making a little black dress for etsy. It started off as planned, but I started intently listening to a radio program (oddly enough I can't remember what I was listening to) and forgot to do the neck line at the right point, then ended up grafting the opening without really realizing what I was doing, I'm guessing this was because three of my 5 other ipod cozies had grafting on it. In any case, instead of just ripping it out I made it into a cat credit card pouch instead.

I love grafting! It's almost as fascinating as fixing drop stitches, when knitting stops becoming manipulations of tools and yarn, and becomes a language.

It's April!

April is looking busy so far.

Today was spent in a temp job, lots of counting and lifting.

Yesterday I started my script for Script Frenzy, a "competition" (there's no money involved, just a challenge) of doing 100 pages of a script during the 30 days in April, one of the rules is that you can't start writing any of the story before April 1st. I have 5 pages so far, which isn't much considering I have been thinking about the story for the last week.

Instead, I spent a good chunk of yesterday starting an etsy account, well, two actually, to sell the iPod cozies I've been making.

And now it's back to the script!

More april events!

A few updates:

If you've admired David B Adams, and the needles and
crochet hooks he makes, we are going to showcase him and his
work on Saturday, April 19, from 2 to 5 pm.
Come and meet David, see the woods and designs he has been
working on, and maybe treat yourself to one of his beautiful
creations.

A personal note from Thea: His hooks are truly amazing! I have a j/k double ended one, and I use it whenever I can.

*****************

We are going to be getting new yarn in soon. Cotton, linen,
sheep, alpaca, dinosaur, and llama yarns.
They will arrive when the mills send it, and when
the UPS gods will it so.

*****************

Movie Night on April 25!
En popcorn veritas.

*****************

Happy hour has moved, this month it's:
April 11, at 7:00 Libation yet to be determined.

*****************

Julia Hiser will be teaching a two-part class covering all your
sock-knitting basics - Heels, toes, the whole-shebang!
First-timers and the newly sock-conscious all welcome.
Learn to make a pair of lovely foot-coverings or improve upon
your techniques.
Items required: Set of size #3 double-pointed needles and
Sport weight yarn.
Bring them, or buy them here.
Wednesday, April 9, 12 pm
Thurs day, April 10, 7 pm
$45

April happs

Hi everybody. Hi Doctor Nick.

Tomorrow is another day, and another month. Here’s our events so far for April, we also have a number of crafty things are under development.

Saturday, April 12th (at 5pm) a concert by Call and Response
(the duet of poet Dottie Grossman and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich – not to be missed!)

---

We have Knitting Circles, Wednesday nights April 2, and April 16.
and all weekend. Crochet, too. Tuesdays at noon has been
interesting as well.

---

Spinning Workshop
Learn to make your own yarn on the drop spindle.
Spindle and roving available ($22)
Wednesday April 23 at 7:00 Price tba

---

Yarn: Start to Finish
If you’ve always wanted to know about wool and yarn and how it all comes together, here’s your chance.
On Friday, April 18, we will meet, you will get a gallon ziplock stuffed full of raw wool. We will discuss how to wash, dry, and card this wool and make it into roving using wire dog brushes.
Wednesday, April 23, we will meet with Annie Stone and learn how to spin pre-made roving into yarn.
We will meet once again on Friday April 25, and see what we’ve done, and look at dying our spun wool with Kool-Aid.
The class will be $75
To review,
You’ll get in 3 sessions…..
raw unwashed wool, (you are welcome to bring your own)
a drop spindle, prepared roving, and the spinning class,
hand-outs with the information,
and some Kool-Aid colors.

April 18, 23, 25 at 7:00pm $75

Please us at that.yarnstore@gmail.com if you’d like to take part, and also if you need me to get the dog brushes for you. ($20 for the pair of wire brushes)

---

Beginning Sewing, Part 2: pattern reading*
bring a simple pattern and your own materials and supplies.
~~Thursday, April 3, at 7pm~~ $30

---

How to sew skirts and pants that fit!
Students must bring in a very simple pattern
and their own fabric, thread and tools.
Thursday, April 10 at 7pm $30

Please note that we have limited space and limited
sewing machines available for these classes.
When registering, please tell us if you will
need to borrow one of our sewing machines.
And please sign up early.

---

As always,
Sock group Saturday at 3:00, free (newbies to experts).
If you don’t knit socks yet, we have a Sock Class at 1:00 on Saturdays, $30

---

Happy Hour Knit
Friday, April 25th
$10 donation.
Bring your projects (I would not recommend lace, unless you like frogging).

---

Currently being scheduled:
If you’ve admired David B Adams, and the needles and
crochet hooks he makes, we are going to showcase him and his work soon on a Saturday in April. This will be in our next
newsletter, or if you must know the date before that, you can check out our website.
Or subscribe to our “extra” newsletter.

New dates for Beginning Sewing classes.

We’re also working on a couple of booksignings, though those may end up being in May (scary!).

Music Night on April 12 - Call And Response

On Saturday, April 12th, from 5-7pm, Dottie Grossman and Michael Vlatkovich, also known as “Call And Response” will be performing at That Yarn Store (5028 Eagle Rock Blvd, Eagle Rock, CA; one block south of Colorado Blvd).

The concert is free, although donations are accepted.

Critically acclaimed, the duo has performed across the US, and routinely opens the Potter Valley Jazz Festival. Though music and poetry may have beatnik associations for some, rest assured that this is no bongos and beret affair. Grossman’s poetry covers a wide range of emotional territory, and Vlatkovich is always right there with her, whether to reinforce the sentiment of the poem, or completely turn it on its head. It is not uncommon to be close to tears at the end of a poem, and rolling with laughter during the response.

The magazine, “JAZZIZ” has called Vlatkovich, ”…one of the most extraordinary improvising trombonists in this country as well as overseas. Also a gifted composer and arranger, Vlatkovich is one of the leading talents among Los Angeles improvisational players. Working from the Left Coast since 1973, he is well known for tireless touring, bringing his music all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. A daring and emotionally charged performer, Vlatkovich takes delight in blending a broad variety of jazz and world music styles into his own brand of engaging and unpredictable music. His approach manages to express a raw power and beauty within a minimally structured format that allows extensive group improvisations to lead the way.” The CD, “Call And Response” (on the pfMentum label) represents Grossman and Vlatkovich in live performance mode.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter.

I had a nice day. Jessamy was in a baking mood and made bread. I spent a good portion of the day trying to figure out how to record music on Max/MSP, a very complicated music program that I used in college in a computer music class. I didn't figure it out, but I think I'm close, so I'll try again tomorrow.

At one point during the day the sun came out, so Jessamy and I decided to go for a walk. As I was putting on my shoes Jessamy looked outside and said "There's white snowy things outside." And sure enough, there were the occasional white dots floating in the air, within 30 seconds it started hailing, and within 1 minute it was snowing. Not a "snowed in" kind of snowing, but it was snow and the flurry lasted about ten minutes. In half an hour it had all melted and Jessamy and I were able to go on a walk, but it was a short one because I had no hat and my ears started to hurt from the cold.

New Squidoo page

Hi, I put a That Yarn Store Squidoo page up online. There's several things you can vote on, and a place to write down ideas for classes.

And, if you were planning on buying something on cafepress (I've been thinking of putting That Yarn Store stuff on there for a while, someday ...) or Amazon, there are links to those pages on the bottom. Hint hint.

Hi There

I realize I haven't posted very much news from over here. That's because there hasn't really been any.

The weather is mild, the really bad storm all the weather forecasters were, well, forecasting, just turned out to be a really windy night over here (though other parts of the country weren't so lucky).

I've done a few random Squidoo pages, links are on the right side of the screen. I'm thinking of making a That Yarn Store one.

Jessamy entered an essay contest and won a gift certificate to see any play we want at Live Theatre. Right now there's a Billy Eliot type play by the person who wrote Billy Elliot (what a coincidence). We can also use the gift certificate for the theatre's restaurant, which I was really happy to hear as we haven't eaten out in a month and I'm getting sick of my poor (in both ways) cooking skills.

Spinning class tonight

Spin Your Own Designer Yarn
March 14, 7 pm, $30



Spinning your own yarn can give you even more control over your finished knit or crochet project. You can learn to directly control the thickness of the finished yarn. By the end of his first lesson, Noah was able to spin a thick-n-thin yarn that has been mistaken for Rowan yarn (I'm serious!). Once you learn how to spin, try some kool aid dying at home, or create novelty yarn. The possibilities are endless.
Spindles available for purchase at the shop.

Last day for Knit for the Cure

Tomorrow is the last day to drop off at That Yarn Store your pink projects for Knit for the Cure. Fly fingers, fly!

Please include the following with your donation:

Name _________________________
Phone ________________
E-mail_________________________
Please describe knitted donation
____________________________________________________
Special Care Instructions _______________________________
I am unable to contribute a knitted donation. Please accept my
donation of $______________.

New class - Yarn: Start to Finish - is starting today

Yarn: Start to Finish

On March 7 we will meet, you will get a gallon ziplock stuffedfull of raw wool. We will discuss how to wash, dry, and cardthis wool and make it into roving using wire dog brushes.

March 14, we will meet with Annie Stone and learn how to spinpre-made roving into yarn.We will meet once again on

March 21, and see what we’ve done, and lookat dying our spun wool, with Kool-Aid. The class will be $70

To review,
You’ll get in 3 sessions, raw unwashed wool, (you are welcome to bring your own)a drop spindle, prepared roving, and the spinning class,hand-outs with the information,and some Kool-Aid colors.

March 7. 14. and 21 at 7:00
$70

Please call us at (323) 256-9276 if you’d like to take part, and also if you need me to get the dog brushes for you. ($22 for the pair of wire brushes)

Happy Leap Year

Leap year days are so exciting. It's like getting something for nothing.

I can't help thinking about the Pirates of Penzance on leap year days, and although it's an exciting day I'm very glad my birthday doesn't fall on February 29th.

There have been articles in the paper the past few days about companies encouraging their workers to take the day off and do something for the environment. I think it's a great idea.

Story time for kids

Woolbur is a wonderful new book by Leslie Helakoski about a lamb unlike any you've met before. Woolbur marches to a different drummer - he dyes his wool, and spins it into yarn! His parents might have been concerned at first, but don't worry, everything turns out all right in the end!

March 1st
1pm
free

read by Gina Ruiz
All ages are invited!

White Rabbit

ok, so this isn't yarn related, but it is very entertaining.

Gone with the wind

It had been very pleasant in our area for the past week (though I understand it's been snowing not too far away in York), but last night was very windy. And windy nights make me crazy paranoid. At first it was just the sounds that were annoying (something metal, possibly a watering can, blowing about), then I realized that I might not be able to differentiate between the outside noises of the wind, and someone breaking into our apartment.

I'm usually pretty reasonable as far as not being concerned about events which have a very low statistical chance of happening to me. For instance, I'm not afraid to fly, nor am I afraid to wear an underwire bra. But now that I'm not living at home, where there was always a parent closer to the front door, I get a little freaked out sometimes. I also realized, as I was pretending to go to sleep, that should any of the tree in the backyard fall, there's a roughly 25% chance it would fall on the bedroom.

I hope it's not windy tonight.

Though I'm not sure what's more troubling, my paranoia or the fact that I ended up falling asleep quicker than normal.

Can nothing really harm me?

Jessamy checked out a Barbara Streisand CD from the library, when asked why, she responded "she can hit most of the notes really well." In any case, one of the songs on the album is "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd, which I was really shocked to hear, though I would have preferred being shocked by Ms. Streisand singing "A Little Priest".

Speaking of, I just might have to take a trip to Reading, UK, so I can eat some pies at Sweeney and Todd.

No news

I hope you had a nice Valentines day. I ate way too many weird British candy bars.

I wasn't able to finish my earings because I need a medium sized needle (for beads) .

Jessamy did made a hat on a trip to Middlesburgh lately (she went with her classmates and saw an art exhibit).


It's made from some stash yarn, I believe it's two colors of Louet Gems. I think she's going to finish it with a brim ...

That Yarn Store now a donation site for Knit for a Cure

Grab some yarn and your favorite pair of needles or hooks and knit or crochet a scarf, hat, or purse that incorporates the color pink in any way, shape or form. All of the donated items will be sold at Race for the Cure® or distributed to cancer patients. The proceeds will support breast cancer treatment and research. Drop off (at That Yarn Store, or other donation points listed on their website) or mail your donation by Monday, March 10,2008.

Please include the following with your donation:

Name _________________________
Phone ________________
E-mail_________________________
Please describe knitted donation
____________________________________________________
Special Care Instructions _______________________________
I am unable to contribute a knitted donation. Please accept my
donation of $______________.

For more info, log-on to
www.knitforthecure.com

Darby on the radio

My Little Irish Girl from the movie Darby O'Gill and the little people just came on the radio - Sean Connery singing, teehee.

Trip to Peru for knitters.

Hi. Someone I met at a Stitch n Bitch Group is scheduling a trip to Peru, I told her I would pass on the info. Her contact details are at the bottom of the page.

Experience the magic of Peru - May 2008

A magical 10 day visit to the beautiful country of Peru where you will experience the country's many fascinating sites highlighted by knitting at one of the New Seven Wonders of the World - Machu Picchu

WEAVERS, KNITTERS, SPINNERS AND TEXTILES LOVERS - YOU WILL LOVE THIS TRIP!!!!!!

In the Andes of Peru, knitting and weaving are an important part of the Inca life where every village has it own weaving pattern, knitting technique and traditions.

In May 2008 I will be leading a fabulous trip to Peru in which you'll be able to relax,enjoy and knit while enjoying the natural beauty of Peru.

The adventure begins with a visit to Lima and a Tour of the "City of the Kings". We will visit the historic Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, City Hall, The Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace. We will also visit Casa Aliaga, America's best preserved colonial mansion, enjoy the magnificent view of thePacific Ocean and its beaches, take a stroll through a typical Peruvian Market and be shown how to make the peruvian dish "Ceviche"

We will then travel to Cusco where you will experience a private weaving demostrations by weavers from villages associated with The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco . You will learn various knitting and weaving techniques and a weaving kit will be included. This is a 3 day workshop where you will meet Nilda Callanaupa Nilda who is an expert weaver who has traveled to the United States and elsewhere on a number of occasions to teach and give presentations at Harvard, Cornell, the University of Vermont, The Textile Museum in Washington DC, UCLA and other institutions. Nilda will be with us for one day . She just had her new book released by Interweave Press here in the U.S. which is titled Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands and you'll be getting a signed copy of this book.

Inluded is a once-in-a-lifetime experience of a tour of the great Inca ruins of Macchu Picchu where you can bring a project to sit, knit or spin. If there are any hikers in the group you are welcome to climb to the peak of Huayna Picchu which is the large mountain behind Machu Picchu and takes about 2 hours.

Also included is a day trip to Accha Alta/Pitumarca which is a very traditional community where they weave using warp supplementary techniques and create very unique designs in from natural dyed colors and natural fibers.

During the trip you will also have many oppurtunities to shop for textiles and yarn.

If you are interested it in this trip please call me or write and I'll send you specific details about this trip. Don't wait - and make your reservations with a $300 deposit no later than January 15, 2008.

*CALL FOR OTHER AVAILABLE GROUP DATES*

Trip Group Coordinator

Edita (909) 263-4647

or write at pedazo_de_arte@msn.com or editabroderick@hotmail.com

new project

I don't have ear peircings, so I'm not sure why I'm making them other than last year Becca from Sugarbutterbex had emailed me a link to pictures of crocheted earings. I had intended to make some as examples of what one can do with cotton thread, but I'm not sure what I'll do with them now. I think I might put something felted in the middle, or maybe just strings of fiber?
Here's the picture of the sweater with the collar still unfinished.
The sweater has decided to be a rebel, so it's crocheting a hat.

Byte diet

I expected to get the finishing touches of the sweater done weeks ago, but at least now I know why it took me so long to finish it.

It’s embarrassing, but I’ve learned that I’m an internet addict. I have a 3GB (for 30 days) internet package, and at the moment we are at 2700MB, and 10 more days to go. Oops. It’s been really difficult, but we’ve (Jessamy and I) have been on an internet diet for the last week and a half once we realized we used over two thirds of our allotment in ten days. It’s crazy how not being able to do a google search for, say, “Suffragette City feminist dissertation” has given me so much more time to do knit, read, and job search.

On a similar note, because of the bandwidth problem I won't be able to put the picture of the sweater up online. I'll be able to post though.

Mine, all mine

I finished my sister's sweater, all but the collar and a few ends. And then I had Jessamy try it on. It looked horrible on her, and her build is more like my sister's than mine. It actually doesn't look scary on me, so I'm going to keep it, oversized sweaters are in right now, right? Maybe I should put in bat sleeves and wear it with leg warmers too. Actually, I have a few ideas. Haven't broken the news to my sister though. I'll have a picture of it in the next post.

A few hours prior to the near completion I had misplaced the last of my tapestry needle. I’ve gone through two needles since coming back to England three weeks ago, that tapestry needle was going to be my third. I looked everywhere, under the couches, in the sink. I was almost desperate enough to look in the fridge when I found it in my slipper.

Brown Sheep shipment is in

We have a new shipment of Brown Sheep Bulky.

This is one of their color cards. Thankfully their yarn comes in colors other than brown. We don't have all the colors, but we can certainly order a color for you.

Back from the Burgh

We're back from Edinburgh. We got off to a shaky start. Since I knew which exit to take out of the train station I naturally felt that the whole of Edinburgh was easily navigatable, and I could steer us to our hostel without looking at the map. I got very us close, about two blocks south of our destination (on Potterrow) before I admitted I had no idea where we were. Unfortunately we couldn't find Potterrow on the map at that point and ended up walking back to the train station and starting over, this time looking at the map every few blocks.

But, it ended up becoming one of the more pleasant holidays Jessamy and I have been on, partly owing to the fact that we've been to the city before and didn't feel so pressured to see everything, and partly due to the fact that we planned our days around where to eat, other than what to look at.

I really enjoyed the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Each painting in the gallery was a portrait of a Scot, though not all the artists were Scottish. I particularly liked the section with the more recent works of art. Calum Colvin made some very interesting, though I admit gimmicky, pieces like this "James MacMillan, b. 1959. Composer1996"
.


I also liked Douglas Gordon's Selfportrait as Kurt Cobain, as Andy Warhol, as Myra Hindley, as Marilyn Monroe

On Tuesday we ate breakfast at the Elephant House, where JK Rowling is reputed to have written part of Harry Potter. The decor was, predictably, of an elephant theme, but I can see where it would be a good place to relax, though I can only guess that she just went there for the coffee since the croissant I ordered was a bit stale.

The BBC and weather.com weren't entirely wrong in their forecast of snow. I didn't see any snowfall on the ground, but there was snow in the mountains.

And one last photograph, of an alleyway I thought looked nice. I wasn't the one who took the picture. If you see a finger in any photograph on this blog, the photo was probably taken by Jessamy. It's her "signature". By the way, I'm not saying this out of malice, she freely admits that a good portion of her photographs have either a finger or many strands of hair in the shot.

Goin to scotland

Jessamy finished her first semester on Friday. Yay! She's satisfied with her grades.

She has a week off until the next semester starts, so we're going to Edinburgh for a few days, then we'll be coming back here and going on day trips to York and other nearby cities.

BBC and the weather.com are predicting snow in Edinburgh Monday night. We're taking 4 extra batteries for the camera.

Harry Potter or sweater?

Still not done with the sweater. I was making very good progress and had finished the extensions (my sister wanted it longer and I decided to do a few modifications and lengthened and modify the middle of the sweater, instead of just adding more ribbing to the end.) But then I picked up the latest Harry Potter, became more serious about finding a job, and decided to teach myself C++. It's really only grafting the back half and the seaming that's left, hopefully I won't procrastinate (if you call Harry Potter procrastinating) too long and finish it done by Monday.

I took the Metro to the coast with the intention of visiting a LYS to see if they are hiring and buy some #1 DPs, but I couldn't find the store. Turns out I got the address wrong, but I had suspected just as much when I got there and took a look at all the stores around there anyway. Oh well, there's another LYS I'm going to try and visit next week or so. Meanwhile I might go into town and buy the DPs at a chain store.

More on Ravelry

Hi, Deborah requested more information on Ravelry, so here is it:

Ravelry.com

Kind of like Myspace, but not (eloquent, isn't it). And, it's just for knitters.

On ravelry you can blog, post pictures, post on forums, basically anything you can think of and any way you can think of sharing information about yarn, knitting, and crocheting. Everyone has a screen name and their own page where they can post their newest project, show off their stash (which is scary, and it's a good thing I left most of it in the US), and join groups (That Yarn Store has one).

They have a preview for you to look at: http://www.ravelry.com/tour/video/preview

The waiting list is pretty long, over six thousand people at the moment. Once you sign up they'll email you in a few weeks (or longer?) and let you have an account.

It's still in beta, which is why they have a waiting list as they probably don't know yet if they could handle all the thousands of people on the site at once. I haven't run across any bugs yet though.

Putting the Tea in That Yarn Store

We are very excited to announce that That Yarn Store is
now carrying loose-leaf tea.  The tea comes from
the Tao of Tea in Portland, OR, one of the finest
tea houses there is.  The tea is imported from the
various regions of China and Taiwan, and is of
the highest quality (but not the highest price!).

Our selection includes:  Silver Needles (a fine white
tea, rich in antioxidants), Jasmine Pearls (a light
green tea with jasmine), Nilgiris Blue (breakfast-type
black tea from India), Black Spiral (an oolong),
Ayurvedic Herbal Blend and Chamomile.  We will be stocking
new ones as time goes on, but for now, come
in and take an ounce (or two) home!

Also, on Thursdays and Saturdays we will be having a daily
sample-- so come in and have a sip and slip a
stitch.
Note:  We cannot sell tea-as-beverage; the tea is sold
by the ounce as loose-leaf tea.

Simple arm warmer pattern

I started making these arm warmers for Jessamy in the pre-yarnstore days. Somehow the one completed arm warmer (I'm pretty sure I had started the second one, but who knows) had survived and was found while I was packing for England and made it across the pond. One of the set is a 1X1 rib, the other is 2X2. The arm warmers are one of Jessamy's Christmas presents, the other one being a Denise Needle set, not the most unselfish choice, I know, but she did seem happy when I presented it to her.

Here is the pattern for the arm warmers:
Pattern for 2X2 rib arm warmers:
*Any yarn that looks ok with a gauge of 16sts to 4 inches in 2X2 rib pattern.
*Double Pointed Needles that will give you the right guage (look at the yarn label for guidance)

Gauge:16sts for 4 inches in 2X2 rib pattern (unstretched). If there's any doubt, since measuring with ribbing is tricky and you think your gauge is a little smaller then it's better to cast on 32 stitches, work a few inches, assess the situation, and decrease to an appropriate stitch count, than to make it too tight and have to rip the whole thing out.
Size: my arm measures 10 inches around right above the elbow.

Arm body
CO 28 sts, join in round
Work 4.5 inches in k2, p2 rib
Decrease 1 sts at either end of the next round (it will look better if you decrease the purl stitches with a p2 together).

Knit for another 3.5 inches (the length of the arm warmer will be a few fingers above the elbow) for a total of 8 inches from the beginning.

Thumb hole
Start next row - k2, p1. Turn work. You will now be working back and forth (flat) instead of in a circle. Continue in pattern, in other words k1, *p2, k2,* repeat between the *s until you end with a k1.
Turn again (still working flat). Increase a stitch at beginning of row (doesn't matter which kind), continue in the rib pattern.
Turn again. Increase a stitch at beginning of row, work in rib pattern
At the next row (should be a Right Side, RS, row) treat the increased stitch as a knit stitch, and work in rib patt.
Work three more rows in pattern for a total of 7 rows You should have just finished a WS row.
Turn. Work sts in pattern until you get to the last sts. Slip last sts.
Closing thumb hole:
Without turning, knit the next two stitches together, then pass the slipped stitch over the k2 together and off the needle. You have closed the fabric and will now be resume knitting in a circle. Work three more rounds in pattern. Bind off loosely (if it's too tight it might cut off your circulation).

Variations could be single rib, k2Xp1, stockinette, etc. If you do stockinette you'll have to do a gauge swatch and don't forget to include about half an inch of ease.

If you want to use a different gauge, it's really simple too, just do a gauge swatch in what ever pattern you want (if you hate gauge swatches and are pretty good at guessing then that's fine, just be prepared to have some flare at the bottom of the arm warmer), measure the circumference of your arm, multiply that number by your stitches per inch, add a half an inch worth of stitches for ease and you're ready to cast on and start.
4.5 inches into the arm warmers you'll have to decrease half an inch (or more depending on how unstretchy your fabric is).
Work another 3.5 stitches. Follow the instructions for the thumb hole as described above if your gauge is roughly 16sts to 4 inches, if the gauge is ridiculously bigger then just increase by one stitch (ignoring the other increase), if the gauge is ridiculously smaller than increase by how ever many stitches make up a quarter of a stitch. and that's it!

I have a Ravelry Account!

I know I'm a little late here, but I finally have a Ravelry account!

You have to understand, I don't have a Facebook account, didn't have a Flikr account until I signed up with Ravelry and I haven't posted anything on Youtube. Myspace and this blog seemed like enough. So I kept ignoring all of the mentions of the site on practically every knitting blog out there, refusing to join anything else because I assumed it was just another social networking site as opposed to an organizational tool. But it seems like a great idea, and I hope I stick with it.

Ravelry is still in its Beta stage, but there is a long waiting list to join, so don't do what I did and just ignore the signs.

My ravelry profile is fibrous.

Speaking of technology, last night after listening to the latest cast-on podcast, I searched for more podcasts to listen to. Apparently not only does everyone stop knitting in the summer, but knitters stop podcasting during the summer too. About 3/4 of the podcasts I had found are no longer being made. My favorite podcaster I found last night, and unfortunately one of the ones who are no longer active is Irie Knits. She seems like a really fun person, and although the casts aren't new, they're new to me.

Back in England

I arrived safely on Wednesday though very very tired. The only interesting thing that happened on the flight was that I was nodding off then woke up with a start (basically the only kind of sleep I got during the trip) and instinctively looked behind me to find my pillow was in the middle of the aisle and a row behind me. The person across the aisle was grinning at me so I'm pretty sure I had thrown the pillow up in the air as I was waking up.

The weather forecast predicted for yesterday a strong wind from Russia that was supposedly going to bring snow. Didn't see any, if you've been reading the blog or came in to say hi to me while I was at the shop you'll probably guess that I'm not looking forward to the day it does actually start to snow.

Off again

Thanks to all of my extended yarn family who stopped by the store to say hi. I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Happy knitting in the new year to everyone. See you next Christmas (or maybe summer?).

ps. I did finish Hana's sweater, but she's asked for it to be lengthened so I'll have to do that in England. My plane ride project are arm warmers for Jessamy.

Still accepting squares

We received a package today from Chicago - a bag of knitted squares for our next blanket. Thank you!

That Yarn Store is still accepting squares, however the final recipient for the next blanket has yet to be determined. We will have an update on that in the next few months.

Blanket 1, Sweater 0

I didn't end up getting my sister's sweater done, but I had a good excuse. Instead, I stitched together a blanket for an elderly person at the Solheim home, made with squares donated by our lovely customers.

I am almost finished with the sweater though, it's just seaming at this point, and possibly some ripping out and reknitting of the sleeve cap since I of course decided not to pay attention to the pattern. It should be finished tomorrow!

I'm back

I'm back home, got back very early on Tuesday/very late on Monday. I had been up for over 24 hours, which some people might be used to, but I'm not. Jetlag doesn't seem that bad fortunately. I might be at the store on Sunday if anyone wants to say hi.

I'm about half way done with Hana's sweater I promised her two years ago (don't worry, I've verified that she doesn't read the blog) and I'm 90% sure I can finish it for Christmas.

ps. for Jessamy and whoever else isn't in LA that might be reading, it's raining right now, apparently just for me too. I can't see my breath though, so I'm happy with the situation.

Crap apartment

I'm really not liking our apartment right now. During the summer time it was convenient and cheap, but it's really not a cosy place to live during the winter.

We've received a letter from the landlord saying that we need to keep the apartment at 10 degrees Celsius while we are gone on vacation so the pipes won't freeze, thank goodness they sent the letter too, it would have never occurred to us. Unfortunately it's going to cost us a lot, but better a £100 pound gas bill (just a guess) than a £5,000 bill for burst pipes.

Frosty the car park

There was frost on the sidewalk again this morning, the first of the frost started yesterday. For a second after I first saw the layer of whiteness I thought it was snow, but then I realized there would probably not be a mini snow blizzard that would just cover one parking lot, I mean car park.

Yesterday one of my coworkers mentioned it looked like it was snow weather. It hasn't happened yet, and I'm actually hoping it doesn't snow before I leave - I really don't have snow clothes. I also found out that the snow season can sometimes last until April.

Here are some pictures of our day trip to the Tynemouth priory (it was last month, back when it was warm enough and we didn't mind leaving the semi-warmth of our apartment)

Hello internet

Hi! We have an internet connection at last, and boy was it more complicated than we thought. Jessamy bought our modem at Carphone Warehouse where she was being helped by someone named Mr Trainee. So instead being able to access the internet the next day we've had to call tech services twice (we gave up after 15 minutes on hold the first time), call the manager 4 times, and stop by the store an extra time in the last two weeks before it would start working...and according to the manager this sometimes happens when you order online and pick up the modem at the store. hmmmm. Perhaps if this was a know fault they could have placed a warning on the website, or put some sort of system in place to take care of the know fault. Or maybe not.

Anyhow, lots of emails from the last two weeks to look up (I'm not supposed to look at personal email at work, they actually go so far as to block yahoo), but I'll write about my job tomorrow.

Rants about teflon

Unfortunately there was no yarn store outing this weekend. It was raining, and I'm afraid we've been spoiled by the up-to-now dry weather. Hopefully this isn't the start of the 100 days straight rainy season. Instead of wandering about in the rain we stayed home, Jessamy worked on her homework and I curled up on the couch with a book about climate change, ya know, some light reading. I won't get into the details of the book as we've all heard the gist of it before (it was the No-nonsense Guide to Climate Change, if you're interested), but I will rant about my arch-nemesis: Teflon.

I understand that non-stick coating isn't dangerous until it gets 500 degrees, and that unless you're stir frying the contents of the pan, you should be fine, and really it's just me be being paranoid again, but still, the stuff's scary. For goodness sakes, the EPA, who only bans really horrible chemicals as opposed to just mildly carcinogenic ones, has called for a complete ban on PFOA, one of the chemicals in Teflon, by 2015. I had heard about this ban last year, and of course heard for years about pet birds being poisoned, so when it came time to find a cookie sheet (for scones, soon to be a topic of another post) on Friday I had already made up my mind to not buy a non-stick pan. But it appears the world isn't as paranoid as I am. My first stop was Wilkinson's, as their prices are always really good. They had about 15 metal pans and sheets to choose from, all of them, as in 15 out of 15, were non-stick. So I went to another store, they also had about 15 metal dishes to choose from, 13 of which were non-stick. I was left with 1 thin roasting pan and a sheet with raised grooves to choose from. It was getting late, so I went with the roasting pan.

Less than 24 hours later I came across a list of six major gases as listed by the Kyoto Protocal. One of them, Hydrofluorocarbons, is a replacement for ozone-depleting substances, but are ironically 12,000 more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Among other things, Hydrofluorocarbons are used to manufacture the plastic PTFE, more commonly known as Teflon.

Have I already mentioned that about half of the laundry detergents here contain 15-30% Phosphates, aka fishy killer. We were actually running out of detergent because we didn't know what to do, but fortunately we found out that if you can't pay 5 pounds more for detergent you'll always have about 5% Phosponates, and should look for ones with 15 - 30% zeolites.

Perhaps laundry detergent will be another thing on my increasingly long list of things I should bring back from the US (including cranberries and marshmallows (we have a grill, and I really want some smores, but of course there'll be the question of how to be ecological when you're sending ashed into the air))

This turned out to be a longer post than I thought. Next time I'll post some pictures on the scones, assuming of course I manage to remember to buy batteries.

Pattern Suggestion

Interested in trying your hands at socks? Feel like felting? In love with Brown Sheep? How about some Felted Slippers!






These may be from the Winter 02 issue, but I've noticed felted slippers cropping up more and more on blogs and yahoo groups lately.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTfuzzyfeet.html

Lego knitting machine

What more could you want in an invention - it's made of legos, and it involves knitting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV19wqtfyF0

Yarn list updated on our website

Our list of yarn manufacturers has been updated with a few more links to help you with your special order requests. http://thatyarnstore.com/yarn.html

As far as news from this side fo the pond, I'm currently at the computer lab at Jessamy's university, trying to concentrate. Trying being the key word. Since I grew up with five siblings I can usually ignore noise. But there is a point where sounds take on a life of their own and what ever I am trying to accomplish becomes less interesting than the prospect of well placed glares. There are exactly 20 people in this computer section including me, I just counted them, and I'm the only female. Aren't women supposed to be the noisy chatty ones, or am I mixing up my gender stereotypes? Now that I'm looking around at the other computer islands, guys outnumber gals 10 to 1. What does it all mean? I don't know. At least when cell phones are ringing it's the theme song to "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" instead of Spice Girls. Oh, never mind, another girl has sat down opposite to me... and now she's decided to sing some no-doubt popular but uninteresting pop song just loud enough to annoy me. Hmmm, I'll take it as my cue to visit the mobile library (always fun) and check out some books.

All right?

The most common form of greeting around here is "you all right?" The first time I heard it I was at a temp agency. Up until that moment I was fine, but I was soon making a mental list of why I was not 'all right'. I think I managed to mutter 'ok thanks' though he had already had his back towards me at that point, which I thought was just rude, but I've since learned it's not always meant to be answered. The second time was again from another temp agency, and I responded 'fine thank you, how are you.' Her response suggested that was not the correct thing to say on my part. At that point I had figured out that it was a greeting, and that I shouldn't freak out when asked if I'm "aayt". But I had forgotten that lesson at a day-temp job which was truly stressfull, and I became increasingly more stressed as people repeatedly came in asking if I was allright. What do they say when they are trully interested? I have no idea. I had suggested to Jessamy that she ask a classmate how to resond, but she's forgotten, and I've been to shy to ask the grocery clerk.

Thanks goodness for the internet.
One site suggested that you say absolutely nothing, another said that 'ok' was also not a good response.
Here's the most comprehensive answer so far:
------
Alright
A contraction of "All right": a (usually friendly) British informal greeting, not always accompanied by the word "mate". It can be used (and this is not an exhaustive list) on its own, followed by the word "mate", or followed by a name: this latter usage is usually more friendly than the others, as it implies that you know that person well enough to use their first name in a cheerful and informal greeting.

It can also be used when questioning the wellbeing of another. However, this will almost always be preceeded by a word denoting that it is a question, e.g. "you".

N.B. If someone passes you and says "Alright", do not respond "Yes". There are a number of accepted responses, such as a simple "Alright", often followed by the person in question's name, the phrase normally spoken in a more assertive tone, as it is a response, not a question.

1. Alright mate
2. Alright Alex
3. Alright
4. You alright?
------
All right.

Brown Sheep is here!

Baaa

Famous for it's wide range of colors and feltability, Brown Sheep Co. is the largest producer of natural fiber knitting yarns in the United States.

Here's their list of yarns and colors, if we don't have it in stock we'd be happy to order it for you!
http://brownsheep.com/yarns.htm

burrrr

Had a good job interview yesterday, despite the fact that I was getting over a cold. The second cold in fact that I've gotten since coming here. I made the mistake on Thursday of going out to see a movie that ended at 10 pm and was ten minutes away from a metro stop. I like to think I'm slowly learning - right now I'm wearing four layers of clothes, had to take my jacket off since it's warm in here.
In yarnee news I'm hoping to go to a real yarn store over the weekend - it's been too long since I've knit some socks. I'm getting absolutely nowhere with my sweater, I keep changing my mind and frogging parts of it.

Sock knitalong

Socks! That's right, you know you have always wanted
to try knitting socks...knitting socks on 2 circular needles...
knitting socks on one circular needle...knitting socks from
the toe on up! We all have our own unique way of knitting
a sock, or we are trying to find it. So come share your
techniques and learn someone else's.
Saturdays at 3:00

knitted bangle covers

Someone posted this link in a yarhoo group, it's for a knit covered bangle and it's a great way to get rid of leftover yarn.

http://mimsie. typepad.com/ knitting/ 2007/07/so- a-few-days- a.html


I had a cold, I think it was last week, maybe two weeks ago? what month is this? But, I'm better now. The same week I got a cold the weather changed. Even the locals were discussing how cold it was, jumping up and down for warmth, and wearing mittens. The day after that sudden change in weather all the manequins in one of the big department stores were clothed with scarves and coats. Hot water bottles showed up in all the department stores too.

Hadrian's Wall

We visited the Segedunum museum over the weekend (I keep catching myself saying Segundo museum) and saw a bit of Hadrian's wall and the ruins of the first fort in the long line of Hadrian's wall forts. The whole stretch of the wall, from coast to coast, is something like 80 miles, and we learned it was errected to be more of a symbolic seperation (us v them), then an actual wall meant for defence (sound familiar?). They have a newly opened walking/bike path that runs more or less next to the wall for the entire stretch. I think it would be fun to rent a bycicle and explore, Jessamy, who's usually the one making those kinds of suggestions (whereas I'm the one reluctant to do anything that involves walking except if there's a close destination) isn't to keen on the idea, though she won't really say why.
A picture of the fort, taken from an observationt tower:

The whorl of a roman spindle.
Our lunch:

We ordered a chicken tika sandwich because it sounded exciting. Didn't know it would be pink. The person making it asked us if we wanted 'salad' with it, we didn't no what that meant, so we said no, obviously not the right response since it was no pickes, lettuce, etc., in it.

Great North Run

We saw the Great North Run over the weekend. It's the world's most popular half marathon.
So popular that this is the start line about 10 minutes after the official start of the race. They are jogging on a highway, by the way. Pretty cool.


There were tons of crowds, so we couldn't manage to get a shot that didn't include other people's cameras.

This is a shot of one of the 4 bridges along the Tyne. If you look closely you can see the red umbrella of a certain religion. Just like home.