Truth in advertising, finding religion, alpaca crack

Possibly one of the 10 best commercials, ever. Really. And this is funny, too.

Have you found the Lord yet? No?? Try this! Some religious group sent a flyer home with my Thing 1 today (from public school) which stated, "Release time for religion, an important part of education, is provided for by state law and school board policy...." Parents are supposed to sign a permission form so kids could attend "Release Time Rallies." After visiting this website, I think it's time to schedule my own Release Time Rally.

Last night I skipped over to my husband to show him my KnitPicks loot. He said, "Oh. That's what crack looks like." He knows me too well.

Major gloat time!

Last week, I received an email from KnitPicks about a surprise package they were sending to a few customers so we could see the new fall yarns. "How nice!" I thought. "They're sending me color cards." Well, the box arrived today, and it certainly looked too big for color cards.








Hmmm! What's inside??

Wow!!!

The booty:

I know this is very smart marketing by KnitPicks. It's reminiscent of the tactics used by drug dealers. You know, "Here kid! Just try some! It's free!"

But I don't care.

I'm sure the marketing will work and I will order some of this yarn. In the meantime, I can decide what to do with a bunch of single balls. The package did include a pattern for a 1-ball scarf. And now that I have been appropriately bribed, I can still truthfully attest that these yarns are very nice. The green one at the front right is Ambrosia, a baby alpaca-cashmere blend, and it's especially yummy.

I'm not sure why I got the free yarn. I've only ordered from KnitPicks maybe 3 times, most recently in June, and I haven't spent a fortune there. My Mon, who's also ordered from them, didn't get free yarn. Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe I'm just obviously a sucker for their ploy. I don't care. I'm just going to gloat for a while.

The Perfect Yarn Store

I do yarn shop tourism. Partly this is because yarn shops in my immediate vicinity are scarce, and partly because it's just fun. So any time I travel, if I have the chance, I try to visit new fiber stores. You can read reviews from some of my visits here.

I have a (totally unrealistic) fantasy of owning my own LYS. As the new academic year begins, and I begin the thankless and unrewarding job of department chair, it's particularly tempting to lapse into this fantasy. So yesterday, as the family was driving home from a visit to the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento (which entailed no yarn shopping), I gave my patient husband an oral dissertation on the Perfect Yarn Store. Here are some of the Perfect Yarn Store's characteristics.

1. Naturally, it has an excellent selection of yarn. It is particularly strong on high-end basics, and it carries a wide selection of some of my frequent standbys, such as Lamb's Pride, Manos, and Noro. It also carries some novelty yarn, but it's stronger in basics.
2. The staff is friendly and helpful, and yet allows people to shop without hovering over them. I like to feel like I can browse forever, unmolested, but also that assistance will be at my beck and call if needed.
3. The store is sufficiently well-staffed that it's easy to find someone to help you, and you don't have to wait long to pay.
4. The yarn is displayed in such a way that it's easy to find something specific. I prefer stores that organize by fiber weight and type, not by color or brand.
5. Like Lint (in Portland, Oregon), yarn bins have tags that are color-coded by yarn weight. This makes it easy to find, for example, all the worsted yarns.
6. The store is attractive and it is clear that the owners have given thought to its design.
7. There are places to sit and browse patterns or, perhaps, just sit and knit.
8. There's enough room in the store that it doesn't feel crowded, even when there are lots of shoppers inside.
9. The lighting is good.
10. There is an excellent and well-organized selection of patterns and notions.
11. Each yarn is clearly tagged with price.
12. Each yarn has at least a small swatch displayed nearby, so you can see what it looks like knitted up.
13. There are lots of knitted up garments on display, each clearly marked as to pattern source and yarn tpe, amount, and cost.
14. It's easy to reach the yarns (I'm 5 feet tall).
15. It's kid friendly. Really, I prefer to shop unburdened by my offspring, but that's just not always possible. I love yarn stores that have a box of toys to occupy the kids. I also prefer if the staff does not give the evil eye to my generally well-behaved girls the moment we enter.
16. There's a cafe in the yarn store (which also makes a good place to occupy children and spouses).
17. It's easy to find the store, and parking or public transportation is convenient.
18. The store also carries a nice selection of buttons, and maybe even other goodies like jewelry.
19. There are other interesting shops and restaurants nearby. I often make a day's outing out of a yarn store trip, especially since many stores are located 2 hours or more from my house.
20. The store is open long hours. I have a full-time job and two young kids; I can often only manage to shop on weekends or evenings.
21. The store has a website with information about hours of operation, directions, and a list of yarns carried. News on upcoming events would be nice, too
22. The store sponsors not just classes (which I have never taken) but also fun events. For example, I've seen shops that have book club/knitting nights, special knitting nights for moms, and knitting trips and camps. At one store, I recently saw a poster advertising a Knitting at the Movies night: a local theater would be showing March of the Penguins with the theater lights only part-way dimmed, so that people could knit and watch the movie.

I'm sure I can think of other things as well, but this is a good start! Of course, no single store can meet every one of these criteria, and some of the criteria are more important than others. If anyone thinks they've found the Perfect Yarn Store, I'd love to hear about it. In my next post, I'll list the closest contenders I've found so far, at least in Northern California and Oregon.

One More Completed Project

A sweater for Thing 2. It's Isabel's Sweater, from "Knitter's Stash." I made it in grape-colored Katia Himalaya, with yellow Berroco Pronto for the trim. It was slightly traumatic, because I ended up just a few dozen yards short on the Himalaya, and my original source, Elann, no longer has this color. Fortunately, I found it elsewhere online (Perfect Touch Yarns, to be precise), and thanks to Priority Mail, I had it in hand in 3 days. And there's no discernible line from unmatching dye lots.

I think this will look cuter on, but there's no way I'm going to make Cutie Pie model a heavy sweater when it's 95 degrees out. So instead, I have posed it in its natural element, among the detritus of an evening's playing. Tonight, the girls were playing Veterinarian, Pirates, Taking Care of Babies, and Putting Things in Bags.

When Dinosaurs Have Tea Parties

Tooth Fairy Purse

Thing One has her very first loose tooth. So what does she need? A felted Tooth Fairy purse, of course! In the requisite 5-year-old girl colors: purple and pink.

Felted laptop bag from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. It fits my laptop perfectly. I finished the knitting and felting last week, and then bought the zipper while were in Oregon, celebrating my sister's wedding.

The view from the car as we headed north near Mt. Shasta. Note the bug spots on the windshield. We drove at night on the way home. Less scenic, but, with 2 young kids, waaay quieter.

Tie One On

Tie One On from Knitty, in Karabella Lace Mohair. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I'll be wearing this next month at my sister's wedding, over a silk tank dress that's blue and white. I know, it's an August wedding, but it's in Oregon, so the weather might do anything!

And speaking of Knitty, the summer issue is up. It's the Man Issue. I doubt I'll find anything there that I must knit--hubby never, ever wears sweaters. The only hats and gloves he wears are while skiing, and he prefers acrylic and nylon. Ah, but I do have a scarf planned for him in some scrumptious chocolate-colored alpaca. Right now, though, I can't even think about scarves. It's been above 100 degrees every day for over a week.

Dyeing for More

Allison's on vacation, so this was yesterday's project, in her choice of colors: pink lemonade, lemon-lime, black cherry, and grape. We did manage to spill a bunch of the dye all over the table, the floor, and Allison's leg (narrowly missed the dog, who would look pretty in black cherry), but it did clean up okay. Allison, at least, got to jump in the pool to wash up.

Finally, another FO

Mariposa, from Knitty. In Lion Brand Microspun.

Dyeing for Summer

During my parents' visit last week, my Mom and I made our first attempt at Kool-Aid dyeing yarn. The yarn was Knit Picks' natural Wool of the Andes, a steal at $2.99 per 100 gram hank. We used two methods to dye. One hank we painted in three colors and then microwaved. The other three hanks were each put in a gallon size baggie with some water, 3 packets of Kool-Aid, and a glug of vinegar. We then set the baggies outside in the hot sun for several hours.

Were were quite pleased with the results. Now I just have to decide what to do with it!

This is painted yarn, waiting to be microwaved. The colors are Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Lemon-Lime, and Lemon.

Here are some of the yarns, baking in the sun. It was in the mid 90's that day, plenty hot to fix the dyes.

Here are the solid yarns. From right to left, they are Switchin' Secret, Strawberry-Kiwi, and Grape.

And this is the variegated yarn.

Guess who had a strawberry popsicle at preschool today.

Finally another FO!

Ringer Tee in Rowan Calmer

The pattern is Nothin' but a T shirt, from Magknits. I don't know why this took me so long. It's actually pretty mindless knitting, just a little shaping. And the yarn is wonderful to touch. I guess it didn't help that I made it a size too large. And then work gets in the way.... Anyway, I like it, and I'll wear it even if it's too big.

Are you eligible?

A colleague and I are doing a study on how having been labeled a slut when they were in high school has affected women's lives. We could use more participants! If you are a former slut, or your classmates thought you were, click here to fill out our questionnaire online.

A dissertation on yarn

In my view of the world, yarn can be divided into three major types. First, there's the cheapo yarns. These are usually made of acrylic and sold primarily at large discount and craft stores. I am a fiber snob, but I do think cheapo yarns have their uses. I used to knit with them myself when I couldn't afford anything else and there were no yarn stores for many miles around. Cheapo yarns may sometimes be appropriate for kids' things because they're machine-washable and tend to wear well. Now the craft and discount stores are starting to carry nicer yarns, but they still have the cheapo stuff.

Second, there are the basic yarns. I don't mean basic in quality or price, because many of the yarns in this category are very nice and very expensive. Basic yarns are yarns you could knit a sweater with. Lamb's Pride is a major player in this category, but there are many, many others. Some of my favorites are Manos, Noro, Blue Sky, and Elsabeth Lavold.

Third, there are novelty or frou-frou yarns. These are the eyelash yarns, the fake furs, the odd glittery things, the railroad ribbons, and so forth. Crystal Palace and Berroco are two companies that manufacture a lot of yarns in this category. They have their uses, and I do buy them sometimes. But you're not going to knit a sweater out of them. Unfortunately, I think a lot of yarn stores concentrate too heavily on this category of yarn. They may be more glamourous on the shelf, but one can knit only so many frilly scarves. I think maybe these yarns especially appeal to new knitters who do make mainly scarves or ponchos.

All three types of yarn have value, but when I look at my stash, I find that nearly all of it consists of the second type. And my favorite yarns stores are those that carry mostly basics as well. When I'm going to spend many hours on a project, I want it to be something that will continue to look beautiful several years from now, and not dated.