Fiber Camp and the Knit North Yarn Crawl - That's a wrap!

It's been a few a weeks now since Fiber Camp and the Knit North Yarn Crawl, so its about time I write about all of the fibery fun I had in March!

 

Fiber Camp 2016

As always, Fiber Camp was a blast! Last year was my first time attending, and it was such a pivotal event for me in my knitting career. Up until then, I had been toying with the idea of designing and being more involved with the knitting community in general. The inspiration overload that is Fiber Camp is what ultimately pushed me to take the leap! This year, it was fun to return and teach a class. Ana Campos from the Toil & Trouble and I co-taught a class on designing and publishing knitting patterns. For me, it was a great way to share all of the knowledge I have gained in my first year of designing. Basically, the class was an overview of how to see an idea through from sketch to publication.  I'd love to organize these thoughts into a "real" class/lecture sometime down the road.

I also took a few classes, because the best part of Fiber Camp is learning new things. Last year, I learned about the pom pom maker from Sheeri, and let me tell you, now I always get compliments on my pom poms. I also spun yarn for the first time with help from Willa. This year, I learned some of the magic behind double knitting thanks to two awesome classes taught by Alasdair Post-Quinn of Fallingblox Designs. If you are into double knitting, you should be on the lookout for his upcoming book due out next winter. He has some jaw-dropping designs -- you can see a sneak peek of what's to come on his latest blog post! I also spun yarn for the second time thanks again to Willa and Joanna. I was thinking of making spinning an annual event, but now that I have my very own drop spindle and fiber (thanks to the swag bags), I may have to try it out more often.

Knit North Yarn Crawl

Fiber Camp was followed by yet ANOTHER weekend of full on knitting! I think March is my favorite knitting month. Though it was a crawl, I must admit that I didn't do much crawling. Instead I parked myself at Circle of Stitches and let the crawl come to me. The advantage of this strategy was that it allowed me to put some precious knitting time in while still getting to meet, mingle, and of course knit with tons of new people. Plus, not only did I get to see a bunch of Maritana shawls in the wild (see pics below), I also got help pick out colors for those about to cast on.

Check out the Maritana made by Mary-Kate (mkbourn on ravelry) in Shibui Kavo!

Just one hour left in the yarn crawl! Gorgeous versions of @newenglandknitting's Maritana shawl! #knittersofsalem #knitting #knitnorthyarncrawl #circleofstitches

A photo posted by Circle of Stitches (@circlestitches) on Mar 20, 2016 at 1:08pm PDT

I was a little bummed that I didn't get see all of the stores on the crawl, but perhaps my plan this summer should be do an extended yarn crawl and bike to all of the yarn stores on the north shore. Not all on the same day of course -- the north shore is VERY hilly, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that would kill me. Most importantly, I could convince Michael to come along for the ride :)

Introducing the 2016 Knit North Yarn Crawl Shawl, Maritana!

It was back in the fall while I was knitting in the extra comfy chair at Circle of Stitches when the store owner (and friend) Ana Campos asked if I'd be interested in designing the official shawl for the 2016 Knit North Yarn Crawl. I remember it so vividly because I was so excited and honored to be trusted with such a big responsibility! With that, I introduce you to Maritana!

Photo by Ana Campos

While I was eager to jump right in and starting the sample already, I must say that it took me a while to flesh out the exact design of this shawl. The design went through many different iterations of shapes, from an asymmetrical triangle to a biased rectangle, but there were a few details I was steadfast on from the beginning. I knew the shawl would be striped, and I knew the yarn colors I would use.

My idea board

Actually, let me back up here. Ana initially suggested to design the shawl in a dk/sport weight yarn, and then she steered me towards The Fibre Co. Road to China Light. Not only was I beguiled its softness, but I was mesmerized with the gorgeous color choices as well. What impressed me most was how well the different colorways go with each other. Even though I knew exactly what four colors I wanted to use for the sample right away, there were so many color combinations I liked just as much. So now we're caught back up to when I had four yarn colors to play with. Like I said before, I also knew I wanted to have a ton of multi-sized stripes. This led to hours of finagling in Illustrator to find the right arrangement and proportions of stripes. Then came deciding on the shape.

Ironically I'm not a huge fan of triangular shawls, rather I should say "wasn't". In the past, I found them awkward to wear and hard to keep around my neck/shoulders. My first instinct was to knit a rectangular wrap, but then again I didn't want it to take too long  and require too much yarn for the yarn crawlers trying to finish the shawl by the end of March. Then I thought about doing an asymmetrical triangular shawl, but this was right when Melanie Berg's Drachenfels design debuted. Given that almost everyone I know was knitting this shawl (myself included), I figured I'd want to make something different. It was then in talking with one of the employee's at Circle of Stitches, Carolyn, when I decided once and for all to make a symmetrical triangular shawl. It was her advice that "the bigger the shawl, the easier it is to wear" is what sold me on my final decision.

And let me say, I'm so happy that I did! This shawl has been my go-to knitwear accessory for the past two months now, because its soooooo comfortable and extremely versatile. I can through it on over a tshirt and jeans while running errands or wear it with a formal outfit at work. However my favorite part about this shawl is just how creative it lets each individual knitter be with their color choices. Check out some of the projects people have already started and even finished already!

Ana Campos, the owner of Circle of Stitches in Salem, is also making her shawl out of Road to China Light

Carrie McGowan of Oh She Dabbles, is making her shawl out of Anzula Cricket.

Laurie Hunt, the owner of Hooked in Essex, MA, made her shawl with Tenzing by Juniper Moon Farm

From now until the end of the crawl (March 20th), the pattern will sold at a discounted price on ravelry. You can also support your LYS by purchasing the pattern in store. You still get the discounted price. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Lessons Learned from Common Cod Fiber Camp

Almost a week and a half ago now (wow how time flies btw) I attended Fiber Camp 2015 hosted by the lovely men and women of the Common Cod Fiber Guild, and boy did I learn a lot! It was great to be around so many friendly people, and best of all, they loved talking about knitting. I saw so many lovely projects too that now I'm on inspiration overload.

Here's what I learned from the classes, the conversations, and observations....

• Buy a composition notebook with graph paper. As an engineer, I solely use graph paper at work. However it is all loose leaf, and I simply recycle each page after I'm done with it. At work, I like the idea of starting fresh for each task. Designer Julia Farwell-Clay gave a class on designing motifs and showed off her design notebook, which you guessed it, was a composition notebook with graph paper. I love the thought of all of the my ideas, good or bad, being in one place. Maybe this is a trivial point, but it did inspire me to go to Staples and buy one! In fact, I'm using it for charting the Gloucester Baby Blanket pattern again -- it's almost ready to go, just re-checking the math.

• Have an organized toolkit. As I looked around, most people seemed to have either a little bag or tupperware where they kept all of their knitting notions. I, on the other hand, have stitch markers loosely tumbling about in literally every pocket of my backpack. After camp, I was inspired to organize a little pouch with all of my knitting essentials: stitch markers (although I should get more since I've lost nearly all of them now), tape measure, cable needle, and a darning needle. Also everyone seemed to have this cool little tool (4 inches to be exact) called a "tool replacement", which has a crochet hook on one side and size 3 needle on the other end. It can be used as a cable needle or for picking up dropped stitches.

My newly organized knitting toolkit!

• Use a pom pom maker. Sheeri introduced us to these pom pom makers that make beautiful, full pom poms. Plus they are extremely easy to use! 

• How to spin yarn! This lesson came as pleasant surprise late Sunday afternoon. Willa brought some fiber and drop spindles and taught us how to spin. It was rather addicting, and now I can see why people love it. I'm holding off on this craft for the moment, simply because it seems too fun. But now I have my first mini-mini skein of my own hand-spun yarn. Even though it looks just as you would expect after spinning for the first time (that is... not so great), I was told I should keep it to see how far I progress. Maybe this summer I'll pick it spinning!

First attempt at spinning!

• Ways to hide yarn and justify money spent on knitting to my significant other. Fortunately Michael doesn't question yarn purchases, plus I haven't been buying much since I decided to go cold sheep. However, this quirky lady offered me some semi-solid advice on how to deal with Michael, in case he ever does question my need for a knitting stash... She said yarn can be hidden anywhere, from the back of the freezer to the sleeves of coat pockets to under couch cushions. She also said that if he ever says that I'm spending too much money on yarn, that I should say at least I have something to show for it at the end. Then find an activity that he spends money on, and say that his leisurely spending doesn't result in something tangible like a sweater. Although that's tough considering that Michael is a runner, and running is free... In reality though, I think it would be better for Michael to speak up way before I ever get to hoarding status, even though we will have a lot of space in our new apartment!! Here are some pics of the place....

My brother Thomas checking out the charming
features of our future Salem apartment.

Living room/dining room in our new apartment.

There was also a dyeing class by A Hundred Ravens, which a regrettably didn't take, but next time. I also learned more about the history of textured knitting, the do's and dont's of yarn selection for sweaters, seaming with the mattress stitch, picking up stitches, etc.

I also came home with some goodies too, including free ones, which let's admit, are always the best. I got the latest Rowan Knitting magazine plus two Bergere of France knitting pattern magazines as a raffle prize courtesy of Stitch House in Dorchester, MA. It's like I have Ravelry in print now. I also purchased From Folly Cove as I mentioned last post.

All of my Fiber Camp goodies!

[FO] Common Cod Spring Scarf

There was also a destash table where I picked up 3 skeins of Valley Yarns Goshen (48% cotton, 46% rayon, 6% silk) in Persimmon to make a bright, spring lace scarf. I started this project on the Sunday of Fiber Camp as I wanted to knit something easy while I attended the classes and talked with people. The lace pattern was a variation of the Sweet November Knit Shawl, just without the increases. Check out my project page on Ravelry for my modifications!