The Callie Bib Tee is complete. You can see that there are several modifications. First, I added waist shaping and extended the overall length of the project. I also knitted the lace sections in a complimentary second color and increased the length of the sleeve and body lace sections. I am super happy with how it turned out, despite it being yet another brown sweater. (aren’t you all supposed to keep me from knitting in brown?)

There was quite a bit of finishing to this project. It is worked in pieces (two front lace panels, one front, one back, and two sleeves.) As I was sewing away, Phillip asked me what I was doing. I explained that I had to seam everything together but that I hated finishing. He said that maybe he would learn to do finishing so that I wouldn’t have to do it but that he didn’t want to be called a “finisher.” He wants to be called “the closer” instead. My husband is hilarious. I have no delusions that he will learn to seam sweaters together. None whatsoever.

Photo courtesy of Connie Chang Chinchio

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Celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend by supporting your independent, locally owned businesses. Here in space, we are open our regular hours for your shopping enjoyment!

Friday: 10 am – 7 pm

Saturday: 10 am – 7 pm

Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm

Monday: 10 am – 7 pm

Visiting from out of town?

We are located just five blocks from the King Street Metro station (blue and yellow line). Little tip: exit the train on the north end (this is the back of the train, if you are coming from the city). That exit is a lot easier and short walk to King Street. Then head away from the Masonic Temple, towards the water, on King Street. We are on the corner of King and N. Fayette. There is a sign on the corner to direct you. Here is the WMATA site.

Driving? There is free street parking on North and South Fayette. Metered parking is available on King street. When in doubt, park farther west and you will face less traffic and find more parking.

On Sunday we hosted the first of two dye workshops this summer. The group played with lots of color. Here is a great shot of all the variations of color that could be achieved from our dye selection.

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Last night a big crowd gathered to start the fibre space installation of our Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. We estimate around 30 folks were in and out throughout the night. It was wonderful to see crochet novices join with experts and learn from each other. Several people dug some amazing novelty yarns out of their stashes for the project. Furry, frilly things make wonderful pieces of coral! We joked that this project was a great use of all the novelty from five years ago (that we all bought like crazy). This wonderfully ingenous person (Charles!) brought curling ribbon, which makes amazing red coral. Others brought shredded plastic bags, fun bright acrylic yarn in jumbo skeins and others used scraps of amazing luxury fibers that were left over from other projects. (we will have coral made from Madelinetosh Wren!)

I have never personally taught anyone to crochet (outside of edging), and it was really neat to help seasoned knitters move from “throwing” when they crocheted to using their hook more efficiently. The experience actually inspired me to start a crochet cami this morning. It is this stitch diva pattern. I bought the pattern and yarn years ago because my mom said that she would make it for me. When we were packing up her place last weekend I came across the bag of yarn again and remembered how much I wanted this little thing in my summer wardrobe. I am hoping that it doesn’t take more than another day or two of work…and from what I can tell, a darn good reason to crochet is how fast it works up!

Photo courtesy of Stitch Diva Studios

Last week seems to have been the longest of my life. I got back from our trade show, excited about all the new amazing yarns that we ordered for the fall, only to find out that little Heinz had been limping all weekend and was running a huge fever. Our first vet felt that it was bone cancer. The oncologist felt that it could be a cyst but that we should amputate his leg, as it would resolve both a cyst and bone cancer (yikes!). The surgeon that we met with on Saturday also felt that it was just a cyst and that treating it with the doggie version of ibuprofen for now seemed perfectly reasonable. We went through the emotional ride of thinking that we would be putting the dog to sleep, to wondering if we could possibly amputate his leg, to finding out that a little drug for a few weeks might just do the trick. We will know more in a month, when we take x-rays again, but for now, Heinz is happy and out of pain and running around like usual.

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I have lost count on my commitment to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months. I think this one is 7, but that is only if the “post it note” counts…

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And here is what we brought home:

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I have decided that the Persephone / post it note is a huge fail and I am ripping out the silk section and will re-knit it in the main color. At this point, I can’t look at it and have left it in my cube to die. I started this project instead. It is a class that I am teaching this August. Since there is so much opportunity to modify the pattern, the class is likely to focus quite a bit on the math of adding different shaping to the waist and bust. I completely reworked the shaping on this thing. I decided to use a brown shade of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool (you are shocked, i know). It is intended to be worked on larger needles (using #7 on this sport weight yarn) for a drapey fabric. It is working up really lovely. I should be done this weekend and will post photos right away! Also, did you know that we will be getting a worsted weight version of this yarn?!

In the meantime, have you selected your yarn and color for our next knitalong? I am thinking Berroco Pure merino DK for a more wintery project. It is time to start thinking about fall and winter sweaters.  I am also starting to ponder my holiday gifts…making a list of those that I intend to knit or crochet for and scoping out patterns. If I don’t start now, I will never get them done. I think people might be getting socks this year….hmm…I wonder if I should commit to knitting socks for other people. That seems sorta dangerous.