I'm in UR stash kn1tting UR n0r0

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Knitting Tourist

We love to visit the Norskfolkmuseum but rarely get out there. We are still discovering new things in the place. Like this lady quietly knitting in one of the cabins -- how's that for a summer job!

And I don't know how I ever missed it before: the weaver's shop. Really, all things fiber, and lots more than just knitting. There were old spinning wheels and huge looms (both of which I failed to get pictures of) and some great displays on lesser-known fiber crafts:

Nålbinding, which I think ususally looks a little stiff and awkward like this:

but can also look soft and airy and beautiful like this:

I wish I'd bought the learn-to-nålbind kit. For that matter, I wish I'd bought the learn-to-use a knitty noddy (knitting nancy, strikkelise). As it is, I saw this display:

and bought just the knitty noddy, thinking "hey the internet is a big place, I'm sure there's good instructions somewhere..." Well, sometimes even Google can't help you, and you know how it's harder to find things in a really big place sometimes? If anyone has any pointers to online tutorials or anything, please share.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Little Boy Blue


A dear friend of mine is expecting her second little boy, and it took me the better part of her pregnancy to decide what to knit for her. I finally decided the project should have two special elements: 1) it was to be my first Baby Surprise Jacket (truly a milestone) and 2) it would be knit from yarn that I bought while I was with her, so long ago, before either of us were considering having babies (more than in an abstract sense anyway).

I bought the yarn in Munich, not even at a proper yarn store, because I was not even enough of a knitter to seek one out. It was a department store in Muenchner Freiheit... I can't even remember the name it was so long ago! The yarn was intended to be my first pair of socks (having already knit 1.5 socks, I thought I was ready for two!). The pattern was beautiful but ill-fated as a sock, not stretchy. I had to frog it off of my foot after the first time I tried it on. So I hope this is a better fate for the yarn.

And, knitting the BSJ for the first time... it reminds me of the first time I ate a mango. I couldn't stop. And I could not get enough (indeed BSJ #2 is en route right now). A truly delightful experience.




There's a third special aspect about this project. I've had two wonderful birth experiences, both at home in the water. The same midwives attended both births. During my second birth, the senior midwife was knitting through most of it. It felt so serene... just right somehow... like "just another normal birth, nothing to get excited about, I guess I'll just knit". It gave me confidence to feel she was so relaxed that she could knit! Two days later, she gave us the finished product: a perfectly beautiful BSJ. The first time I'd ever seen one, and I knew it was a special pattern right away. It turned me on to Elizabeth Zimmermann, and started me on the path to being a better knitter.