Knitacular

I can finally catch up on my knitting news. First off, I am so thrilled about the just published Sluggish Mushrooms that I test knit for StarryKnit! The pattern is adorable and just challenging enough. It was a marathon knit over the week of Thanksgiving.

Staying near the redwoods, there were tons of photo ops. This was at a mushroom growing business across from a tasting room we visited.

We had our annual Purl Jam stash exchange at the first of November. At the very last minute I used the last of the yarn I received in 2009. I made this feather and fan tank out of Collinette Giotto. It took a couple months from vision in my head to finished object, but it was one of those rare occasions when the result is just as I imagined it.


That was on the tail end of knitting the Eleanor cowl from Knitty, using Arapaho Rose alpaca yarn. Another project that turned out just as I had hoped.



Also a phone cozy and little purse from Elizabeth Austen Andes wool.


We had a great time picking yarn. There is a charming account and photos of the event on the PJ site.

Here is the yarn I selected this year, from the practical to fancy yarns I have been wanting to try.

I took my tank top, this yarn, and a little sheep to a Golden Gate park for a photo shoot. Not only did I run into an acquaintance, I also roped a young man into taking photos of me. Fiber people are not weird!! And yes, I set up my tripod to take photos of myself at home. Don't we all?

Beyond swapping yarn we exchanged handmade gifts. There was something for everyone, and a little bit extra for those who used all of last year's yarn, and used a lot of it. I received delicious baked goods, jam, a handbag, stitch markers, earrings, and two mugs designed especially for my collection. And they were all wrapped in pink fur. The baked goods did not last long enough for a photo.


Purl Jam is a very talented group. Talented, and just a bit competitive. But competitive in a way that makes us better knitters.

I'm already working away at the new stash. The Sluggish Mushrooms were made with stash exchange yarn. And I made my one and only Christmas knit, a scarf which is going to St. Anthony's knit scarf drive, from exchange yarn, too.

One last knitting thing, the One Sock a Month group was featured the new magazine Knitting Daily. You can spot my rainbow fish sock here among the school of them.