Spring Migration

Spring is the time for migrations.  This year I migrated south to go to Stitches South in Atlanta.  I took a couple classes and spent too much in the market.

My main reason for going was to take the Amy Herzog Knit To Flatter class.  It was fantastic.  Amy is such a great teacher and wonderful person.  She did a great job of demonstrating how fit can compliment or detract from your body.  It was a bit of an emotional challenge to have our measurements taken in class.  But she reassured all of us that we are beautiful and deserve flattering clothing.  She signed my copy of her book. She's a sweetheart!

I also took a lace knitting class from Brooke Nico.  The class talked about the different styles of lace from around the world.  Brooke had us try several styles.  My sample is below.  Starting from the right, we knit some ground fabric in the Shetland style featuring a variation of faggot stitch.  Next we knit a section of Estonian cross stitch.  I really liked how that stitch presented when blocked out a bit.  The third work was another Estonian pattern called Water Lilies.  This is a traditional pattern in Estonian knitting because of the country's geography.  The last section we knit was an Estonian flower basket pattern with nupps.  I've knit nupps before, but didn't like them because I needed to use a crochet hook on the return row.  Brooke showed us how to make the nupps looser so that they could be knit in line without grabbing another tool.   I can't say I love knitting nupps now, but I don't dislike them as much as I previously did.

Here are some of the goodies from the market. This is Valley Yarns Alpaca Silk.  This will someday become a lacy tunic.

This is Miss Babs Tarte.  I bought this because I love the name Bat****Crazy.

This Louet Euroflax sport weight will become a summer top.  My goal is to have it made by my trip to Hawaii this summer.

This Louet Euroflax laceweight is going to be a shawl for my goddaughter who is getting married next year.

And finally, this stash of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool is going to become my cardigan that I am making based upon my Knit to Flatter class. A swatch is already in progress.  I have way more than I need for the sweater so the extra will get used for something else.

I have much more to share, but no more time.  I'll save that for next week.