Half of the world

halfmap
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

This is what I've been working on this month. I got a different color of yarn from each of the shops I visited on the shop hop. It's coming out better than I expected. Even the enlarged charts are sometimes difficult to read, though, which had caused a few problems. The northernmost portion of the Great White North appears to have been affected by global warming. Western Africa may have had some border disputes. I'm about to start the most difficult section, involving the rest of Africa and Europe.

Iron Knitter

I knit in Sock Wars I, II, and III. All three were frustrating experiences. It looks like I wasn't the only one with problems. Participation dropped 75% between SWIII and SWIV.

Sock Wars V is planned to start early next year. I have zero confidence that the bugs have been worked out, so I'm not participating in the "killing" portion of the festivities. However, a new activity has been added and I've already signed up. Iron Knitter is a bit like the Sock Knitter's Pentathalon. There will be six patterns. You knit the socks to fit yourself and post a picture of them to a Flickr group. A percentage of people to complete each sock go on to compete in the next sock. There's no mailing of anything, no sizing of socks to someone else's feet, and no relying on multiple flaky warriors. For $4, I figured I could take a chance on this.

Call me Cleopatra

tramp
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I know I said I'm kind of burnt out on knitting socks. But look at this yarn from Tempted. It's got real silver thread in it and it is pink!

I know I have enough sock yarn stashed to keep me busy for a year even if I was knitting socks right now (which I'm not). The person who was destashing both of these gave a break on shipping for more than one item. Plus look at the colors!

I don't have a sock yarn problem. I have lots of pretty sock yarn.

Handy Hint of the Day

If you are knitting the Vogue Map of the World afghan, you probably had enough sense to enlarge the charts before you started. I got through about 1/8th of it with a magnifying ruler and decided that continuing in that way was madness.

I displayed the pattern in Adobe Reader at 200%. I displayed the first section of the first chart. When my printer software allowed me to choose a Print Range, I selected Current View. I printed that section, then repeated with all of the other sections.

ETA: The englarged charts work great. I also put stitch markers in my work at the same places as the gridlines appear on the chart. I highly recommend doing that, too.

Doily

harvestdoily
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

As I was putting together this Harvest Moon Doily, a few things occurred to me. I'm now about the age my grandmother was when she taught me to crochet. I'm now old enough that there's nothing unusual about me making doilies. Finally, when this thing is dry, I'm going to rework the tendrils coming off of the pumpkin leaves.

Subversive Cross Stitch

I have this obsession with things that glow in the dark. When I saw that Subversive Cross Stitch had Halloween designs that utilized gitd floss, I had to check them out. The patterns cracked me up. There is considerable use of profanity, so stay away from the site if that sort of thing bothers you. I have to say, though, that in the case of the F*** Cancer design, it was appropriate.

Shop Hop: Stops 4-10

Stop 4: The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock.

What I liked: the shop's got a whole lot of yarn that I like. Today, though, what I liked and what I needed to buy were two different things. I bought Cat Bordhi's new book and kicked myself for not coming by when she was there last week.

Freebie: a sock pattern. This was my favorite. It has a kind of honeycomb pattern with the sweetest little cable-ish pattern up the back.

Stop 5: Knitting Emporium in Kennesaw.

What I liked: this shop is in a funky little house and it has rooms and rooms full of yarn. They've got this cool garden sampler that's made up of all sorts of interesting patterns. I wish I'd taken more time to find out more about it.

Freebie: a lace cowl, knit from sock-weight yarn.

Stop 6: Knitch in Atlanta.

What I liked: Knitch is a spacious shop with tons of yarn. They also sell a bit of fabric and have a section with fiber for spinning.
Freebie: a unique scarf patttern, knit on size 15 needles.

Stop 7: Sheepish in Decatur.
Lulu and I were getting pretty tired at this point. I couldn't find a way of getting her and a shop sign in the same picture. This is Lulu after we got back to the car after this stop.

What I liked: There was a good variety of yarn here. If I'm remembering correctly, they had spinning fiber for sale, too. I do remember a wheel in the window.

Stop 8: Needle Nook in Atlanta.

What I liked: I'd been to this shop many years ago. It seems to have a LOT more yarn than what I remembered. They have lots of patterns and also needlepoint supplies.
Freebie: a beaded scarf pattern.

Stop 9: Strings and Strands in Atlanta.

What I liked: This was one of the shops that was completely new to me. I was surprised by all of the yarn they had. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but it is true. There were several people hopping in this shop and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Freebie: cabled cowl pattern.

(Yes, Lulu's in the picture. It took me a while to find her, and I took the darn thing.) Stop 10: Cast-On Cottage and Needlework Garden in Roswell.

What I liked: I've been in this shop many times, with a variety of experiences. Today was the best. I found the yarn that I wanted as the main color for my world map afghan. I couldn't find enough. One woman checked in the computer and said that there should be more yarn somewhere in the shop. Another woman went into where the yarn was stored three times, eventually finding what I needed. Also, I had a 10% off coupon because of my birthday.
Freebie: How Water Bottle Cozy. It's so cute, I want to go buy a hot water bottle so I can make it.

Now I've got a ton of yarn and three new projects to do. I'm going to start with a nap!

Shop Hop: Stops 2 and 3

Lulu and I hopped (groan) into the Paulamobile and headed east this morning. We drove and drove and drove through the drizzle until we reached

Stop 2 - Main Street Yarns and Fibers in Watkinsville.

What I liked: Noro Kureyon Sock on sale for $7.20. The shop is spacious, with lots of different kinds of yarn. There's a separate entrance for what I think was a dye studio. I took a dyeing class at the shop's previous location and enjoyed it a lot. The staff was friendly and helpful. The icing on this particular cake was getting a can of diet Coke for the road. I wish this shop was a lot closer to me.

Freebie: a simple but striking cap pattern for bulky weight yarn.

We then drove back to

Stop 3 - Yarn Garden Knit Shop in Lawrenceville.

What I liked: There was a good variety of yarn and it's nicely displayed. It's just that I'm already a teensy bit burned out at looking a shelves of yarn. One of the people in the shop pointed me to the book room. There were more books than I'd seen at any shop so far and I like that they had a separate space for them. I wasn't in the market for any books, but then I spotted Curvy Knits Cambridge. It's a booklet of six patterns by Jillian Moreno and I want to make all six. If you are a person who doesn't make anything out of Vogue Knitting because the largest size is light-years away from what would fit you, hunt this booklet down.

Freebie: a Winter Shrug pattern made worsted weight yarn. I'm not much of a shrug person, but if I was, I'd make this one.

The duck and I will be taking a couple of days off before completing the Hop. In the meantime, I'll be figuring out if I've got enough of the green tweed I brought back from Ireland to make the cute vest in Curvy Knits.

Shop Hop - Stop 1

luluhop1
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

As a birthday present to myself, I decided to do the Atlanta Shop Hop this year. I've been wanting to knit Vogue Knitting's Map of the World Afghan. Since the Shop Hop requires you to spend a little at each shop, I'm buying the yarn for the afghan as I travel around.

Stop 1 was Only Ewe and Cotton Too! in Milton (formerly Alpharetta).

What I like there: no matter who is there, they are friendly and helpful. The shop's fairly small, but has an excellent selction of yarn and accessories. They've even got spinning fiber. Only Ewe shares space with a shop called The Bead Bug, so there are lots of beads available, too.

Freebie: each shop is giving away a pattern to Hop participants. Only Ewe's is a pattern for Advent Stockings. They are mini-socks that can be tagged with numbers and used as an advent calendar. They had a small Christmas tree decorated with the socks and it was really pretty.

Lulu and I will be heading east tomorrow.

P.I.T.A.

I was browsing patterns on Ravelry and happened upon this. Isn't it a riot? The pattern's currently in German, but the author states that there will be an English translation soon. AUTSCH! - das etwas andere Nadelkissen roughly translates to ouch, that was another needle kiss. The author is gitwerg. If you're on Ravlery, check out the pattern to see more photographs. Yay for another use for leftover sock yarn.