More impressions from Maryland Sheep & Wool

It's a Go-Knit-In-Your-Hat tradition to collect snapshots from Maryland Sheep & Wool and to present them in a kind of montage. So here are some photos from this year's festival.

I love the ice cream cone on top of one of the vendor stands in the midway. What could be better than a giant fake cone beckoning you to eat ice cream?

Mid-chew

One barn was set up with a "Parade of Breeds," over 30 breeds of sheep in one place

Can't have a sheep show without a shearing demonstration

Jersey Wooly bunneh babies -- so cute you could die

Spinning demonstration

Several vendors had wonderful baskets like these

Wool for applique

Antique wheels & other spinning equipment at this booth

Love the "Hooked on Ewe" rugs



From the winner's tent, this was a life-sized sheep

Tiny sweater from the winner's tent

Lots of cool weaving projects were on display

Some gorgeous examples of stranded knitting

I love the woman d'un certain age who was rocking this skirt

See you next year!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Report: 2011

Hard to believe that I've been going to Maryland Sheep & Wool for nearly a decade now. This year, for the first time I can remember, the show shared the weekend with Mother's Day. I don't know if this was a factor, but it seemed as though the crowds were a bit lighter than in the past, although there were still lots and lots of folks by midday.

My ragtag band of yarn hooligans left Philadelphia around 7:00 a.m. I realized how obsessed I had gotten with quilting when I found myself taking a photo of the wall of a Maryland rest stop because I thought it would make a great quilt design:



Our trip down was fast and uneventful, and we arrived at the fairgrounds before 10:00 a.m.

Handsome Jim at the front gate

The weather was glorious: sunny, blue skies, warm enough to be comfortable without a jacket but not hot. One of the things that's been especially fun about going to Maryland has been adding traveling companion and fantabulous designer (and awesome friend) Laura's sister to our band of knitting fugitives. Laura's sister lives in Maryland and meets us at the fairground each year. I've gotten to know her over the years and she's lovely. Even though she doesn't knit, she is an enthusiastic companion. It was great to spend a couple hours joking with her.

When we arrived, it was relatively uncrowded. (Here's a shot of the back end of the midway early in the day.)


I made my way to the big building at the back, but not before running into Ms. Maleficent Knits herself (Hi, Regina!!) and some of her knitting homies from Maryland:


The big barn was loads of fun, and I made my first and only yarn purchase of the day at Woolstock: a full bag of Cash Iroho for halfprice. (Cash Iroha is like that good-looking frat boy you meet at a party: you suspect you won't be 100% crazy about his performance but he's just so pretty you can't help yourself. )* I also had the great good fortune to run into PoorLuci



Wait -- that's not PoorLuci! Here she is:

PoorLuci & me

as well as Philly knitting icons Knitty D & the City, not to mention Knity D's mom, a.k.a. the Barb-inator.

Wendy & Barb; Knitty D wasn't feeling well so we excused her from photo duty

I really didn't have much cash for shopping, so we spent most of the day wandering around looking at the pretty yarnz and snapping photos of cute animalz. It seemed to me that the organizers have been making various changes over the years in response to constructive criticism of the vendors and attendees. For example, in the last two or three years, the number of portapotties has increased exponentially, so if you don't mind using them instead of a regular bathroom, you hardly ever have to wait in a long line to answer nature's call. I saw a noticeable increase in the number of portable ATMs in various spots. There were also new areas where tents for vendors were added, either increasing the overall number or at least spreading them out more to avoid the crowding. All good.

We ran into Rhichard of Koigu fame while exploring one of the expanded sections of vendor space:

Laura's sister on the left, Dickie, and Lovely Laura

Rhichard is always a hoot and was in rare form that day. I hope he didn't get into trouble in the Auction Tent....(Note to Rhichard: when it said "Shepherd Auction" it means they are auctioning off items FOR shepherds, not the shepherds themselves!)

By about 1 p.m., the crowds were at their height. Here's a midday shot of the crowds:


One exciting moment for me was stumbling across some preview copies of the upcoming Noro book by Sixth & Spring -- it will be out soon and features patterns knit in Noro yarns. I got to see my fair isle earflap hat


in print for the first time -- yay!

I was very very pleased to run into B.J. (a.k.a. the M&M Lady)


who is always a pleasure to see, and the most faithful blog-reader. BJ and I have been at the same events but not running into each other for a while, so we were both happy that our paths finally crossed.

Baaaah!

For now, I will leave you with this bumper sticker:

Next post will include a photo montage of some of the pretty things we saw.


* Yarn freaks, I am referring to the likelihood of pilling, given how soft and loosely spun the yarn is. I still love this yarn, though.

The best-laid plans

You weren't imagining things: Blogger deleted my post and so I had to go back and try to reconstruct it as best as I could.

I have a finished object (quilting edition) to show you. This is a quilt I just finished making for Boy Twin. It's not at all the quilt that I thought I was going to make when I began, but I quite like it, not the least because it's the first full-sized quilt I have made.



Boy Twin has bunk beds in his room, and it seemed like the perfect chance to make a quilt for him. I had picked up some boy-ish printed fabric here and there. I laid it out to cut squares, and I quickly saw that that the fabrics seemed to be naturally falling into two specific color themes: one was chambray-ish, denim-y blues with red, and the other was brighter with orange, yellow and deeper blue as well as red. I decided to let the recipient of the quilt decide and he immediately picked the brighter colors. Which was good because I really love the space-themed fabrics I got at Spool.



I didn't want to overreach on my first full-sized quilt, so I cut blocks. I was originally aiming for a "scrappy" look, without intending to have any sort of deliberate pattern. It looked okay but didn't knock me out. So I tried cutting some blocks in solid colors -- I had some yellows and orange and red, and added a couple of blues, too, just to see what would happen. I liked it better, but it still seemed a little meh.

I went poking about the Internet looking at quilts and came across a really striking quilt on a Flickr feed (I can't find it now to link to). It used white blocks on one side to set off a sunset-themed quilt, with the colored blocks going from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top. I decided to try cutting some white blocks and seeing if an arrangement like this would work. I ended up adding some darker navy blocks at the bottom, and voila!



When I had the center blocks cut, sewn and pressed, Mr. Go-Knit-In-Your-Hat weighed in. For some reason he was ambivalent about the white section of the quilt. He strongly suggested a border, preferably in a deep or bright color, to frame off the white. Mr. GKIYH has pretty good judgment when it comes to aesthetics (he married me, didn't he?) so I opted for the dotted frame, which I think works well.



Lest I bore you to death talking about the quilt, I do have to mention one other thing that I think makes this quilt special. I wanted to include at least some piecing on the back of the quilt. After ogling the stuff on Spoonflower, I had a brilliant idea. The twins have been drawing a bunch of comics starring a character they invented called "Fred the Starfish." I surreptitiously scanned a comic, used Photoshop to isolate the individual characters and clean up the lines a little, and arranged them in a row so it would work as a panel. I had a fat quarter printed up and Boy Twin was thrilled to see Fred and friends on the back of the quilt.



I tied the quilt for fear I'd never finish it -- and by this time, Boy Twin was so excited about the quilt, he'd been repeatedly asking me when it would be done. I used a binding with leftover pieces from some of the brightly-colored blocks.

I'm really excited about the finished product and am already hard at work on the next one....

Seeing patterns

I've been playing around with sewing and quilting in the last few months. It sounds funny, but since so much of my knitting is centered around deadlines, I find that having a creative outlet entirely separate from the knitting/spinning world is refreshing for me. What's been especially fun: seeing how things have changed in the world of fabric -- or maybe it's more a function of my having had outdated ideas about what fabric and quilting and sewing are all about. I've been knocked out by the wide variety of fabric choices out there -- traditional ones, like checks and dots, but in all sorts of colors; fun ones, with aliens or mermaids or dancing vegetables; lush, vibrant florals like the ones created by Kaffe Fassett; Japanese imports; organics; and even a whole new world of print-on-demand fabrics via places like Spoonflower, where you can upload designs and get them printed in small quantities (or order fabrics from indie designers who sell via the Spoonflower site). I'm really fortunate to have access to a bricks-and-mortar shop like Spool, and I've discovered some terrific on-line sites and blogs -- True Up is one of my current faves.

It's also been fascinating to see what's happening in the world of quilting design. Everybody has their druthers when it comes to style and I've found that I"m no different. Not surprisingly, I find myself infatuated with color and how expert designers combine colors and patterns. Of course there are the incredible designs by Kaffe Fassett and Liza Lucy --the colors and combinations of colors they use make my heart sing. It was also fascinating for me to see the work of Jane Brocket; her quilting book uses lots of lush fabrics but in larger swathes of fabric rather than many small shapes pieced together.

But I've also been looking at a lot of quilts that go by the name "modern" -- and without stirring up a whole debate about what's modern and what's traditional, I'm talking about quilters who play with the use of solid or nearly solid fabrics, make sashing a design element, and incorporate pared-down geometric shapes-- often larger rather than postage-stamp sized, pieced quilt backs and free-motion quilting. (I've found this Flickr feed to be especially full of interesting stuff.) I hadn't realized that there were quilters out there doing this sort of thing, so it was a revelation to discover a whole thriving community of them with nary a Sunbonnet Sue in sight.

As someone who's been immersed in a subculture of the craft world for so long, I've been finding some of the parallels between the knitting blog0sphere and the quilting blogosphere to be interesting. The role of the internet plays in shaping the craft? The need to support local bricks-and-mortar shops as well as on-line businesses? Indie designers versus large companies? Whether designers should give patterns out for free? Process versus production? All of these issues are explored in both the knitting and quilting worlds. Recently there was a blogging brouhaha arising out of the suggestion that quilting was being "dumbed down", and I couldn't help but think about similar debates in the knitting world that erupted during the time when novelty yarn scarves were everywhere or when people were obsessed with quick-knitting super-chunky yarns and nothing else. (Pretty please don't debate these issues in the comments.....they've been done to death elsewhere. Me, I think people should do what makes them happy. For some, that will involve pushing the envelope and constantly trying new things; for others, that will entail a less intense approach to a craft. For me, it will involve both, depending on what kind of mood I'm in. To use a phrase that I am sick of hearing, "it's all good.")

Anyway, if you happen to notice that I'm showing you photos of fabric-related projects, don't be alarmed. Much of what I'm knitting is on deadline for future publications, which means I can't talk about it yet here. So in the meantime, allow me to distract you with these photos of some pillow covers I made recently.

Fabric by Scarletfig (Etsy shop here)

I was, of course, infatuated with the bunny

French Window Pillow pattern by Patty Young (free here)

They are already a teeny bit wrinkled, but that's just a sign that they've been used and loved. Which is really what it's all about, eh?

Blog Tour: More Knitting in the Sun, by Kristi Porter

Just in time for warmer weather (in this hemisphere, at least): Kristi Porter has published a sequel to her lovely book Knitting In the Sun: 32 Projects for Warm Weather. Appropriately enough, it's called More Knitting in the Sun and this time it features projects for the kids in your life. Today we're a stop on the blog tour (more details about the blog tour at Wiley's blog here), so let's take a closer look at the book.

As knitters we tend to think of our craft in terms of cold weather -- knitting wool sweaters and scarves and mittens and suchlike. But Kristi Porter, who lives in the milder climate of California, has done us a great service by reminding us that there are plenty of fabulous knitted items we can wear in warmer weather, too. Her first book featured women's garments -- short-sleeved and sleeveless tops, lightweight cardigans, even a bathing suit -- and now she's turned her eye to warm weather garments for kids.



More Knitting in the Sun (Wiley 2011; MSRP $22.99, available for $15 as of the time of this writing through the link above) presents 32 patterns for boys and girls. Porter explains her goals in selecting patterns for the book:

Kids want knits that aren't too babyish, but aren't miniature versions of adult designs either. They want clothes that are comfortable and easy to wear. Kids need to run and jump and play without fussing with their clothes. But they still want things that suit their own personal style, whether they are a girly girl or a hundred percent boy.

Milo (Carol Feller)

The selections in the book are geared for warmer weather -- featuring lots of lighter-gauge yarns and cooler fibers -- but Porter points out that even if you don't live in a climate like California's, the garments can be worn in cooler weather by layering them over tees or leggings or turtlenecks. She's right; my daughter sometimes opts to wear a favorite sundress over a long-sleeved tee-shirt in cooler weather, and that makes the investment of knitting time for these adorable patterns even more appealing.

Mashenka (Faina Goberstein)

The book begins with a short introduction and then goes right into the patterns (there is a section with specific knitting skills and abbreviations at the end, along with contributor bios, but the vast majority of the book is devoted to the patterns). The pattern section begins with Accessories, and contains a beach cover-up, a lacy poncho, a beach blanket, a fishing hat (so cute & clever!), a cloche hat with bow, and a lightweight backpack-style carryall.

Huck (Kristi Porter)

Next up are bottoms, including cargo shorts, board shorts,

Kimo (Kendra Nitta)

a tiered bubble skirt, and my own peasant skirt design:

Trixie (me!)

The "Sleeveless" section features two adorable sundresses, a pleated empire-style top, a sweet tank top with lace, a racerback tank, a lace-collared top, a boy's vest, and a swing top with collar.

Pippa (Mary C. Gildersleeve)

"Short Sleeves" contains a hooded top with eyelet trim, a t-shirt with lace sleeves and inset panel, a striped baseball-style top, and a cap-sleeve top with eyelets.

Vashti (Talihta Kuomi)

"Long Sleeves" features a henley-style pullover, a top with ruffled sleeves, and a cropped pullover.

Lucy (Tabetha Hedrick)

"Cardigans" includes a very cropped shrug, a zip-front hoodie, a zip-front yoked jacket, a tie-front robe with intarsia flowers,

Satsuki (Sarah Barbour)

a cropped lace jacket, an openwork cardigan, and a short-sleeved cardigan with empire-waist shaping.

Charlie (Kristi Porter)

For my statistical fans, I counted the following:

• one beach blanket & one beach cover-up
  
• two hats
• two skirts
• two shorts
• one poncho
• one backpack/carryall
• two sundresses
• three cropped sweaters
• two tank tops, plus three other sleeveless tops
• one vest
• four short-sleeved pullovers
• two long-sleeved pullovers (one of the cropped tops is long-sleeved, too)
• four cardigans/jackets, plus the remaining two cropped cardis
• one robe

Jack (Lisa S. Rowe)

As you can see, there's a wide variety of garments, and a spectrum of styles, from boyish hoodie to lacy cardigans and dresses and skirts, to appeal to both genders and all sorts of tastes. (Moms of non-girly-girls rejoice: lots of these selections will work for your un-lacy girl, including some of the choices shown on boys which are really unisex). Sizing runs from a children's 2 through 12 (there are slight variations from pattern to pattern) and yarn weights run from aran through sportweight, with lots of DK offerings.

The photography by Stephen Simpson is lovely; I love the way he captured the models acting like real kids in the photos, running, jumping, splashing on the beach. In another thoughtful touch, each pattern is named after a character in children's books (for example, my pattern is named "Trixie" after Trixie Belden, one of my favorite teen sleuths when I was a kid). You'll find schematics, lace charts, color charts for the colorwork motifs, and one thing I think will be helpful for newer knitters: a "Skills Used" notation for each pattern, listing the skills beyond basic knit and purl that the pattern uses to help knitters gauge difficulty level.

Trixie (me)

If you're looking for some fresh ideas for your kids, I think More Knitting in the Sun is well-worth checking out. With its wide size range and its variety of good-looking garments, you're sure to find something to knit for the kids in your life -- and if you're sick of knitting your kids scarves and mittens, think about knitting them some lighterweight items that they can wear other times of the year.

The blog tour continues tomorrow with a stop at Miss Knitta's Studio....

Photos copyright 2011 by Stephen Simspon.