KFI: Rhinebeck Walk With Me Contest

I've been bragging quite a bit about the yarn windfall I received in the form of all the KFI sample yarns.

Speaking of Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy!

It recently occurred to me it might be a good idea to appease the Yarn Fates and maintain my good yarn karma by sharing my good fortune.

And if I can score some more fans for the KFI Facebook page in the process so much the better.

Clever Idea
As you know, I'm going to Rhinebeck this weekend. Just me and mom.

Since KFI doesn't sell directly to consumers they don't have an official presence at the fair. I'm just attending as a yarn lover, although I will be slinking around looking for garments made with KFI yarn which people will hopefully let me photograph and post on the FB page.

I thought it would be fun to work my trip to the fair into a contest.

What I'm going to do is wear a pedometer to track how far I walk. The person who guesses how many steps I take or gets closest without going over will win that lovely skein of Tirua by Ester Bitran you see at the top of the post.

(Directions on how to enter are at the bottom of this post.)

Yarn Selection
Deciding which yarn to use as a prize was a hard task.

I was able to eliminate a large swath at once because they were low yardage single balls.

I debated over some of the bulky yarns with decent yardage that seemed large enough for a hat or cowl, but ended up eliminating them as well since they might have been pushing the one skein project envelope.

Finally I settled on the Tirua. It's a wool/acrylic blend, 3.5 sts/inch, with a healthy 163 yards. I think that should be enough for a cowl or such. I did a search on the gauge/yardage combination on Ravelry and came up with over 1,000 projects.

Hints To Help Your Guess
The official fairground website says it's a 162 acre facility. I'm pretty sure the vendor area of Rhinebeck doesn't cover all those acres. I'm pretty sure a large majority of them are taken up by the open space surrounding the fairgrounds proper that are used for parking.

Mom and I are planning to be at the fair all day Saturday (9-5) and half the day Sunday (10 to noon or so). [It's going to be a four hour drive and I want to get home at a decent time.]

I plan to put the pedometer on when I get dressed in the morning and take it off when we get back to the hotel at night. This means it will be counting my steps when we go to breakfast, walking through the parking lots, and attending the Ravelry party Saturday evening, as well as the time we're actually at the fair visiting vendors and exhibits.

I have the pedometer set for a 24 inch stride. I reached this number by randomly stopping when walking across my kitchen and then measuring the tiles. Keep in mind I might walk slower at the fair than I do under normal circumstances. I don't know how that will affect the count.

To keep things honest I'll post a picture of the pedometer Saturday night then reset it for Sunday morning. I'll post a second picture Sunday afternoon when I'm back at the car ready to head home. The combination of those two numbers will be the total.

That's why I have 7 p.m. Saturday (based on the FB time stamp) as the cut off time for guesses. If you guess after I post the picture you'll have an unfair advantage.

Oh, it's just like one of those "guess the number of jelly beans in the jar" games!

How To Enter
You must enter your guess as a comment on the KFI Facebook wall by 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Oct. 16 (2010). Guesses left on my blog won't count since the goal is to get more fans. :-)

If you're already a fan you are all set to enter. If not, you'll have to "like" us first. See how clever I am? (If you don't have a Facebook account, I'm sorry, you can't play.)

Your guess should be the number of steps you think I'll take (not miles, miles seemed too easy).

The first guess (by the FB time stamp) with the correct number of steps, or the first guess that is closest without going over, will win.

Simple? Walk on!

KFI: Katia Rizos Scarf

The second yarn I received was Katia Rizos.

This is another novelty yarn with a construction that reminds me of a cross between a tape and a ladder yarn.

As you can see, the bottom 3/4 of the yarn, which is on the right in this picture, is wee feathery strands supported by parallel binders. The top 1/4, which you can't see well, is spaces formed by little squares of the feathery strands.

It's all very secure.

For this yarn you knit into the loops at the top of the strand. Once again, it is easier than you would expect from just looking at it. Because I'm very helpful, I've made you another video.



[Edit Nov. 21, 2010: This pattern is available on the KFI website.]
To a degree, Rizos was easier to work with than the Triana because the loops were already open and available. It wasn't necessary to spread the tape or search for the loops like with the Triana. On the other hand, the Rizos isn't as flexible as the Triana, so it was necessary to stay closer to the tips. But don't let that scare you. It wasn't like working with hard cotton. It didn't hurt my hands at all.

The pattern says something about skipping a loop every second stitch or something that made me go "eh?" When I tried to follow that directive I thought it was all a bit too loose and not ruffly enough. So I alternated between working every loop and every other loop. Sometimes I would work two stitches then skip a loop for the third stitch. Sometimes I skipped a loop for every stitch.

It was pretty freeform. I think it did influence how much the tape ruffled and was rather pleased with the results.

The finish scarf is remanicent of a feather boa, without all the shedding and fly away bit. At the risk of sounding silly, I think it's a little more sedate than the Triana scarf. So if you're in the market for a quick, fun scarf but don't want to be too flamboyant, Rizos might be the yarn for you.

Again, the pattern will be available on the Knitting Fever Inc website later this year and the yarn should be in US stores in November 2010. According to the Katia website Rizos comes in 10 colors, but I haven't heard how many KFI intends to bring over.

KFI: Katia Triana Scarf

Last week I got an e-mail from KFI saying they were sending me a ball each of two new Katia yarns along with patterns for scarves.

They wanted me to knit them up quick as I could and mail them back. The completed scarves are going to be used as samples by one of the sales reps as he or she visits local yarn stores.

I had an exciting week tracking the package online waiting for it to arrive. The suspense ended on Friday after lunch. yeah!

Now I had some idea what to expect because the e-mail had included PDF copies of the patterns. Along with the written instructions there were also photos, which were totally necessary because of the unique construction of the yarn. [Edit Nov 21, 2010: Since you didn't get the e-mail you can find the pattern on the KFI website.]

I decided to go with the Triana first. When in the ball it looks like normal yarn with a chainette construction. That is deceptive because what you are supposed to do is spread the fabric out to open up the mesh and then knit into the holes.

It sounds pretty crazy, I know. The pictures included with the pattern were very helpful and I was able to jump right in. To help you out I have made this little video of myself knitting with it so you can get a better idea of how it looks.

After working a few rows I decided the best course of action might be to open up all the mesh all at once so I didn't have to pause in my knitting.

Since that was going to be a pretty straight forward activity I decided there was no reason I couldn't do it at the Library Knitting group and packed my stuff up and trotted off.

The ladies in the Library Knitting group agreed the Triana was the darndest thing they'd ever seen. But they also asked where they could get some. Hmm, but nobody asked to try it out. Maybe I should have offered?

Several people on the KFI Facebook page are also enchanted.

I hope everyone is patient because I found out the yarn is still in transit and won't be available in US stores until November. The pattern will be available on the Knitting Fever Inc website around the same time. According to the Katia website Triana comes in 11 colors, but I haven't heard how many KFI is going to bring over.

Yarn Wrangling
Anyway, I was sitting in the library spreading mesh and someone commented that if she tried doing that she'd probably end up with a tangled mess. I realized she was probaly correct and went back to knitting.

I found the best course of action was to spread a few yards as needed. They tended to mostly close up again, so attempting to open the entire ball at once would have been futile.

As you can see in this picture the knitting moves along quickly. That was only an hour or two of knitting time and look how long it was already! Size US11 needles just can't be beat sometimes.

After working a few rows I had the hang of working with it and was able to chat away during the knitting group without any issues. Well, my needle did slip out of my hand at one point and fell out of the project, which was pretty heart stopping, but the stitches didn't run and I was able to easily pick them back up.

Like Potato Chips
Now you know me, I don't usually hold with novelty yarn and generally only work with it under duress for my mom. However the Triana was much easier to work with than I expected and was kind of mezmerizing. I found the ruffles that formed very amusing. The yarn is also rather springy, which makes it easy to work with because it doesn't resist you.

The resulting scarf, with its ruffles and its holes, reminds me of something out of the Jetsons or a deep sea creature.

I was done the scarf by Friday night. I would say it took about four hours of knitting time. Which is pretty awesome considering I have no attention span when it comes to making scarves.

After I finished I found it necessary to swan around the apartment in my robe and the scarf and declare, "I'm ready for my close-up now, Mr. Demille."

Hookless
For you crochet only folks, I'm sad to report I couldn't figure out how to make it work.

First I worked along the long edge slip stitching through the mesh to make a base chain. That started to draw the fabric into a corkscrew, which was kind of interesting.

Then I tried to imitate the knit construction of turning the work and crocheting the mesh to itself by going through the base chain and drawing other parts of the mesh through in a slip stitch and single crochet type fashion, but it just kind of bunched up.

I think the first attempt had more potential, but I only had the one ball so I couldn't follow the experiment through to its conclusion. Maybe a more determined crocheter will come up with something.

KFI: Debbie Bliss interview Part 2

The website Let's Knit2gether has posted the second half of their video interview with Debbie Bliss.



Is it silly to say the knitwear in the video is awesome?

(It's still to wide for my layout. I debated messing with the dimensions but I didn't want them to be distorted. ha!)

Slightly A-Skew

I have returned to my long abandoned Skew sock.

You may remembered I started this sock back in July. It was quickly dropped because of the move. I just didn't have the time to focus on a complicated pattern.

Oh, sure it looks like it's all written out, but that is expecting you to make the size in the pattern. I'm downsizing it for my little feet, which is where things got complicated.

Getting through the foot was fine because it was pretty straight forward knitting. Things got tricky when I hit the gusset section and the increases that entailed.

There are numbers throughout this pattern. Numbers, numbers, numbers. And they all had to be recalculated for my measurements.

Now that things have settled down I was able to give it the attention it needed and I think I'm on track.

I'm on track for something, that's for sure. I've made it through the left heel.

I increased the gussets to 82 sts total compared to 102 and kept the heel stitchs (the ones that get Kitchenered) to 12 sts compared to 15. The 12 stitches were sort of arbitrarilly selected and maybe not the best choice. After working all the indicated decreases I had 11 sts between the heel marker and the end of round.

One stitch short of a heel. ha!

So I just took out the last decrease in order to get the correct number.

To graft it I logically went to the far end of the ball. However the free end was in a tan section and the heel stitches were purple. To compensate I reeled out the yarn until I reached a purple section. I figured I can stand to loose the length since I usually have plenty of yarn leftover.

It took me two tries to kitchener it shut.

Things basically went fine, but I thought it was a bit loose so I started working the slack out only to discover that I had split the yarn. I ended up having to pull out around five stitches so I could free the yarn, the go back forward. By then I decided the double pointed needles on the sides were just getting in my way. A quick transfer to some waste yarn took care of the problem. I think for the second sock I'll put the side stitches on waste yarn before I start Kitchenering.

I'm glad I fussed with it. I think it looks really nice now.

There are some decreases coming up for the leg. That will be easy because I'll be aiming for the same number of stitches I had in the foot.

The real question in all this is will the damn things fit?

I don't know if the circumfrance is good. I don't know if the foot is long enough. I don't know if the heel is deep enough.

And I won't know until I try it on, which I won't be able to do until I work a few more rows.

To hedge my bets I have lifelines in where I stopped working the foot even and then at the start of the heel shaping. I figure those are the two wildcard points that I might need to go back to if the fit isn't good.

In the mean time, it's after 9 pm. If I don't get off the computer I won't get any knitting done tonight.

My Kind of People

And just what kind of people is that?

Why, fiber enthusiasts, of course!

For the first week or two up here it seemed I was tripping over them every time I turned around, which is pretty awesome.

They were pretty easy to find. Especially considering it was still summer so it's not like I was wearing my handknit sweaters or anything. Although I have been identified as a knitter by my socks.

As you know when you meet new people, at least here in the States, the usual question is "What do you do?" This is even more sensible in our situation. Obviously Hubby is teaching, which is why we're here, so how am I occupying myself in this rural area?

Of course my main answer is I'm a freelance writer. Then when I mention I'm running the social media presence for a yarn distributor that usually prompts a response about their own knitting or crocheting.

One woman on campus has even had her crochet patterns published in a few magazines.

Indeed, word has spread about me and some people sought me out in the cafeteria and other social events. Today over lunch the business manager told me she's starting a baby sweater and she might track me down if she needs help. :-)

We Run in Packs
During the first week of the month, when school was starting so Hubby was in meetings and we had to stop unpacking 24 hours a day, I ran off to the library to get my card.

It happened to be a Friday. I asked where the craft books are? And the librarian immediately informed me that the knitting group meets from 3-5 on Fridays.

How convenient.

Obviously I had to go back.
I put on my Coquille Shawl, which I'd just finished knitting, so they would know I was serious, and grabbed my ball of Debbie Bliss Glen so I could crochet swatch with it.

The yarn, an alpaca/wool/microfiber blend, is very nice. My swatch...not so much. I was trying to work a ripple/chevron stitch without a pattern and made a hash of it.

Anyway, the women were nice. There were three sisters and a rotation of two or three others who came and went during the time. They had fun peppering me with questions about where I was from, and why I was in town, etc.

And they all admired my shawl, as you would expect.

The next few weeks I was busy on Fridays so I couldn't go. But I put my foot down and went this past Friday and it was nice and relaxing. With the bonus of they remembered me. :-)

I keep hearing rumors about a craft group starting on campus, but they haven't set a date yet. Totally understandable if they are half as busy as Hubby has been.

I'm happy I've found them all. Of course I have my online yarn friends to talk to, but that isn't quite the same as the constant contact I had in CT working in local yarn store and all.

Although I suppose the new arrangement is better for the budget. hmmm.

Still getting to hang out with other fiber people in real life will prevent me from needing to crawl into the credenza with my hoard in order to feel surrounded by yarn.