Oslo to Bergen via Norway in a Nutshell August 8 2012

These photos were taken during our trip from Oslo to Bergen by train-train-boat-bus-train, so there were certain *ahem* challenges to overcome. P and I prefer our photographs to be "unpopulated" so we go to great lengths to not include people in our shots as much as possible.

Oslo, Norway August 5-7th

Oslo, Norway

Norsk Folkemuseum,  Bygdoy. Rescued buildings from around Norway

Door detail and green roof, Norsk Folkemuseum.

17th Century Rigid Heddle Loom, Norsk Folkemuseum, Bygdoy

Gol Stave church, early 13th century. Relocated to the Norsk Folkemuseum, Bygdoy

Wood relief carving, South Entrance, Gol Stave Church.

Wood relief carving, West entrance, Gol Stave Church.

Wood relief carving North Entrance, Gol Stave Church.

Oseberg Viking Ship, Viking Ship museum, Bygdoy Norway

Prow carving detail, Oseberg Viking Ship, Bygdoy, Norway.

Ra II, Kon-Tiki Museum

Flam Arctic Expedition Ship, Flam Museum

Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo

Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo

Aries, Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo

Vigeland Sculpture Park Gates, Oslo

Boats in the harbor, Bygdoy

Keeping track

A quiet blog means a busy life!

This week I had a failed Ravellenic project, which I dropped like a hot potato. You see, next week I leave for Norway. I really wanted to knit a selbu mitten in Norway, but the yarn from my stash and the pattern I picked out weren't playing nicely. So, after checking to see what the weather in Norway will be like, I decided to cast on for a sweater.  Pretty reasonable to knit a sweater in two weeks for the Ravellenics, right?

Except, I leave for Norway on SUNDAY. I cast on for this sweater LAST Sunday night. And promptly had to rip out 4 inches because I can't read. So, can I actually knit a sweater and finish it so I can wear it in Norway? Hmmmm. I kinda doubt it, but I am going to give it a go.

The Sakasama Jacket is a really fun, simple knit, and I can't wait to wear the finished garment. Olga is a genius, and her clean, modern designs highlight unusual yarns, often Habu. (Although she is doing more and more designs for Shibui which means my queue is getting longer and longer. Witness the fantastic styling video she did for her Sanagi Transformer Dress.)

Olga Buraya-Kefelian's Sakasama Jacket

I thought I would do a quick pictorial of how I keep track of my increases and decreases when I am knitting. Everyone has a different method that works for them - my method is fairly low-tech.  I used to use those little dial row-counters, but the dial would get turned in my bag, or something would happen and I would KNOW the counter was off.  Below is my tried-and-true method.

Selectively photoshopped - the pattern makes much more sense than this!

For my size in the Sakasama Jacket, I am supposed to make increases every 5th row. Even rows are a little easier to remember - you will always be knitting your increase on the same side of the fabric, and will almost always be using the exact same technique to make your increase. 

Odd rows, on the other hand, will switch back and forth with which side of the fabric will be facing you when you do your increase (or decrease), and if you want your increases to all lean the same direction, you may have to do some fiddling.  From my little hash marks above you can see that I started with a knit increase (on a RS), then my next increase was a purl (on a WS). You can see that I have four hash marks to signify the plain knitting or purling rows, then I wrote down my increase row with how I had to make my increase - knitwise or purlwise. By doing this I can easily see the rhythm of the pattern, and it is easier to read my knitting. 

On my knitting I do this:

Each of those locking stitch markers is hanging on an increase stitch - they march up the side of my jacket neatly, and I have one marker in each increase. Yes, this method uses A LOT of markers (I also love the small coil-less safety pins, but for some reason I couldn't find a single one even though I know I have purchased at least 3 packs full of them. Where are they? In my vacuum cleaner?) With this method it is easy to count off your increases or decreases, and in my case I know the first increase stitch (denoted by the marker at the top of the picture) was a knit stitch, so even when I did lose my place, I was able to orient myself very quickly.

I also like the physical act of mark-making.  I don't like turning row counters or clicking them off on my iPad or iPod touch (yes, I have both) because those little actions do not seem to make a memory for me - the physical act of writing is much more satisfying!

I am not a particularly fast knitter. I get several hours at night when I can knit uninterrupted as P is always busy with reports or law school reading. I think one of my advantages is that I spend very little time ripping out what I knit. (the other day truly was a aberration, I swear!)  My method of keep track of shaping is one of the reasons why I can keep forging ahead.

(btw, I am now almost halfway through the jacket!)

From the archives...color inspiration

Clayton, NY

Back from Columbus and TNNA

I have returned from TNNA and my head is swimming. The show in Columbus is always a source of inspiration for the upcoming "year" (I can't be the only one that feels like the year starts in September?), and this year was no exception. This was my third TNNA, and I felt comfortable there.  I knew the lay of the land, the way my boss likes to operate, and I could just go with the flow.

I took five (FIVE!) classes this year - four of them business classes, and one on pattern writing.

My designer sightings: Martin Storey, Melissa Leapman, Norah Gaughan, Cat Bordhi, Gwen Bortner, Ysolda Teague, Gudrun Johnson, Stephanie Japel, Julie Weisenberger, Olga Buraya-Kefelian, Melynda Bernardi, Stephanie Dosen. and others. SO many others!

Trends that I noticed:

 Naturals. Naturals naturals naturals! Undyed, natural colored yarn from sheep, llama, alpaca, camel, yak, etc. I also loved noting that even among dyed yarns, companies are offering MULTIPLE shades of grey. (stupid book is making my favorite color into a titillating cliche!) Also, labels are reflecting breed-specific yarns.  More and more ranches are entering the market directly, and we are seeing much more information appear on labels because of it.

Novelties. God help me. I am not a fan of the ruffle scarf phenomenon that is going on right now, and companies are now bringing back furry, fuzzy, shiny yarn. Some companies are doing it right by blending the glitz with natural fibers, but others..... I definitely saw at least one line of novelty yarn that I recognize from 10 years ago, AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CHANGE THE LABEL. It makes me wonder if the stuff has been in a warehouse for 10 years. So disappointing.

Tonals. Truly variegated yarns are really on the way out - I saw very few spirally garments. The booths that featured variegated yarns looked really dated. The tonals were dominating - beautifully subtle changes within a color - and the color ranges some dyers were getting were very inspiring.

Chained yarn. I first remember seeing chained yarn almost ten years ago when SWTC introduced their Bamboo. My next run in with it was Rowan's Lima, and then their Alpaca Chunky (chunky lima). It appears to have spread far and wide from lovely fingering weight linen (Shibui's Linen), to mohair i-cord about as big around as your thumb. I love chained yarns because they allow you to knit air into your projects, but they don't have the greatest stitch definition because they can compress.

That is about all I can download from my brain right now. Further reflection would be required to get anything else out of me!

From the depths of memory

I have been spending most of my free time in the garden - pulling weeds, planting, transplanting, and mulching.  Sometimes Zeby tries to "help" by digging next to me. And when this happens a distant memory from my childhood surfaces. I must have had a children's book, perhaps featuring a dog or badger (?), who digs in the wrong places, because my brain will all of a sudden provide this little quote:

"Must not dig in the garden, must not dig in the sand....." and then a something-something about the seaside.

I have a feeling this may have been one of my childhood books that my parents read to me when I had to take my asthma medicine - then it was a sticky clear liquid that tasted like very fake peach or orange.

Anyway, my knitting time has shrunk dramatically, but I managed to get a swatch done.

And I have cast on and completed 6 rows or so. Not much, and not nearly enough progress for me to have a finished tank by Thursday when I leave for TNNA in Columbus.  Ah well. In the grand scheme of things it is unimportant!

Summer walk

If I had the fortitude to allow a mosquito to land on me unmolested I would have taken a photograph of that too, because the nasty creatures were just as much part of our walk as the greenery and the cracked soil.