akabini

We interrupt the blogging for a moment of Shameless Self-Promotion:

I'm teaching a weekend workshop for Madrona Fiber Arts
(they of the fabulous February retreat in Tacoma)!
And it's coming up soon, so I wanted to flog it here
in case some of you hadn't heard about it yet.

From Suzanne's bulletin:

JUNE 7-8, 2008: TOP-DOWN SWEATERS MADE EASY
Karen Alfke’s Top-Down Sweaters class has sold out at the Winter Retreat every year we offered it. Here is an exclusive opportunity to immerse yourself for 2 days with Karen and create the top-down sweater that you want – your size, your design, your yarn, any gauge! Karen is a well known and sought after Puget Sound teacher and designer. Her line of “UnPatterns” is her creative way to teach you to be an independent knitter. Those who have taken her classes love her enthusiasm and her clever techniques.
WORKSHOP FEE of $225 includes continental breakfast, lunch and snacks for the 2 days and folder with all the details, pattern and instructions to construct your own top-down sweater.

IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION, TO RESERVE A SPACE, AND/OR REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS, EMAIL SUZANNE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AT suzanne@madronafiberarts.com

The inside scoop: this is a TWO-DAY version of what I usually have to cram into one day at conferences. I don't usually have the opportunity to really go into the lovely gory details of choosing yarns, swatching, sizing, shaping, and the great little design tweaks that go into the Unpattern garments I knit for myself. And since it's driving distance from my home, I'm bringing EVERYTHING - all the sweaters, all the swatches, all the notes... no luggage restrictions, baby (except for the size of my car)!

Plus, Suzanne's home is a delight- such a gorgeous space, ideal (in fact, built for!) group learning. And if you stay overnight (as I am), it's like a big ol', knit-and-design slumber party.

E-mail Suzanne to get registration information.
I believe it's limited to about 20, so hurry hurry!

So glad someone managed to snap this nice candid shot of me getting ready for the Guild meeting the other night:
 

Because – clearly – once I get going, it's hard to keep me in the frame:

Caption contest, anyone?

[Thanks to Birthday Girl and Blogiversarian KarenJo for the action shot.]
[And thanks to Dad for the knitting Grace shot!]

Boyhood and I packed up the jalopy on Wednesday, stayed overnight with friends in Seattle last night, and today we're in...

SPOKANE!

The only other time I've set foot in Spokane, I ate a very, very, very tall sandwich.
My aunt (yes, the one who taught me how to knit!) took a picture.
That's how I remember.

We were on a cross-country odyssey from small-town Iowa to small-town Silicon Valley - an epic girl road trip if ever there was one.

Twelve years later, here I am, knitting for a living, and getting ready to teach 3 workshops to the eager knitters of Eastern Washintgon at the lovely A Grand Yarn.

(There's still room in tomorrow afternoon's "Cuff Craze" sock class! Call now to reserve your spot, chitlins!)

If you would do me the favor of imagining the rushing Spokane Falls, the trees on Snoqualmie Pass in the snow, and the rolling hills of late-winter Eastern Washington, that would be great, thanks. The camera was deep in the bowels of the way-back of the wagon.

[p.s. Obligatory Knitterly Content: Bound off the back of my Jo Sharp Crew Neck Pullover around the Columbia River this afternoon. Both sleeves (micro) all done already, so when I finish the front, that's it! Might even have that piece done when we get home. Depends on the drive on Sunday... we may take detours.] 

Quick synopsis, so you don't think I've dropped off the planet after bingeing on yarn at Stitches...
• Taught four classes in which I had a blast - hope my 75-odd students did as well. For the first time, my Sunday classes were the perfect subject matter at the right time for everyone's energy level. Felt like the best run through yet for The Wonders of Linen Stitch and Cuff Craze: New Twists on Sock Cuffs.

• Flight home was uneventful (much less hair-raising than the Chicago-Baltimore leg on the way in).
But would someone please tell me how I could hand out 75 folders with handouts, give away 20-some-odd Unpatterns, and yet have my bags be only 6 pounds lighter on the way back?

And no, before you get sassy and ask to see how much YARN I might have acquired at the market-
Zero.
Zippo.
None.

Amazing amounts of self-restraint, only assisted by the total lack of time between classes.
I've discovered that if I don't head to the market and have a look-see during the Thursday night preview (which they're extending to a three-hour affair, closing at 10 pm), I don't get to see it at all.

So the three sets of stitch markers can hardly account for the heavy bags on the way back.
They ain't made out of plutonium, people... But they sure are purty.

And, y'know, sometime in the next week I'll have a chance to actually unpack.

Yegads, I love Stitches.

So many knitters!

Just sitting around at tables, chatting about their projects, fondling each others' garment sleeves…

I mean, where else can you have a deep philosophical conversation about gauge while waiting in line at Starbuck's?

(Outside of Seattle, that is.)

S. and I are whooping it up, though - it's eight o'clock local time, and we've finished our room-service dinners, knit one row, brushed our teeth and headed for lights out.

Party animals, us.

More tomorrow! and then more the day after that!

And if I end up coming home without one of these, I will be very much surprised.