*Gasp*

My Knitty submissions are in now. I can finally breath again.

Lots more to come as the week progresses (I hope.)

Blog Bits Saturday Sunday

Finally!

Certifiably Loopy lists schools with fiber arts programs. (No pressure or anything.)

The Red Scarf Project is earlier this year. More details are here.

Shut Up, I'm Counting finished her Treasury Shawl.

Persistent Illusion searches for the perfect heal, and muses on the philosophy of frogging. She also does major surgery on a cable.

Knitgrrl announces some knitting books that are going audio.

Needles and Things reviews "Join As You Go Afghans" and makes earwarmers.

Yarn Harlot has credit card problems, finds the perfect jacket kit, knits a whole bunch of it, discusses sock speed and finishes some famous socks.

Girl on the Rocks warned of the Octopus Revolution. She's also been weaving and looking at some "interesting" weaving patterns.

Empty Nest Knitter stocks a whole lot of Cascade 220. The store is open, but the grand opening isn't until next week.

I'm excited about Wendy Knits' new socks.

Knit and Tonic on painful knitting and guitar players who play with their toes.

The Sweet Sheep is giving out free yarn to some lucky "Run for the Cure" donor.

Knitspot gets ready for Christmas with some socks.

f. pea puts up the pattern for the Cris, the star-nosed mole. Next comes the Neuse River Waterdog.

The J-Walk Blog, a non-knitting blog, features a crocheted hat.

Amy Singer got the new Knitty up. And many of the designers are finally able to post their creations on their blogs:

-Knitspot on Totally Autumn
-Mochimochi on Woodins
-Sock Pr0n on Q (and a new contest.)
-Cosmicpluto on Roam (and an extensive list of yarn substitutions.)

Thank God she extended the deadline. Now back to work.

Blog Bits Saturday...

...has been postponed until Sunday. I'm just too tired. I've been working on Knitty submissions most of the day.

In the meantime, do check out the new Knitty. It should keep you busy until I get around to blog bits.

Yarn (Store) Pr0n: Gauge

Once upon a time, I thought Austin's yarn market was too full for any more yarn shops.

But after talking to other knitters, and listening to Stash and Burn talk about San Francisco and New York City's many yarn shops, I realized this wasn't true. I still have a lot to learn about the yarn business.

Gauge had it's grand opening last Friday night. Of course, I heard about it after midnight Friday and missed the whole thing. But I did manage to get out there Saturday afternoon. And again on Sunday, when I went with Lyndsey.





Gauge is located just off 2222, making it the closest yarn shop to my new apartment.

This what it looks like on the outside...











...and this is what it looks like on the inside.














Here's some of the yarn. I think this would be the "heavy worsted" to "chunky" display.



















It's sad how long it took me to figure out that the yarns were arranged by gauge. (Imagine that, a yarn store named "Gauge" that is arranged by gauge.) The little signs referred to stitches per inch. (Or at least I assume so. What would you do with yarn that is 1-3 inches per four inches?)







This is the lounge in the back. (Everyone in this picture looked up at me, confused, when the flash went off.)

There will be knitting groups and classes back there. Once the class schedule is set, there will be official "scheduled" knitting groups. Of course, as long as the room is free, anyone can come hang out and knit.

Also, see those books on the bookshelves? That's the "library." You can check out those books for two weeks. They also have Wi-Fi.


The owners have taken a lot of care to decorate the place. This display greets you at the door, including some jewelry that's for sale. (They have some t-shirts for sale, too.)











This little display shows some of the notions they have for sale. They have some ribbons and tape that will be perfect when I get around to knitting the Everlasting Bagstopper.












Here's another cool display of buttons and notions.














Here is a display of yarn by the sofa in the back room.














This was the only problem I found. I want to touch the Vegas. But can I? If so, how do I get it out? (This is the first place I've seen it, and I didn't see it available in the other parts of the store.)


(Another yarn I saw, but somehow didn't get a picture of, was Peace Fleece. It was the first place I'd seen it other than online. They even had their needles.












Speaking of yarn, this was on the front table display, and was also for sale. Vintage yarn! The label says 90% Virgin Wool, 10% "Vinyon" (I think.) Apparently, Vinyon is an early version of Rayon (Viscose.) Did I mention that I love old yarn labels?













Someone described Gauge as a "boutique" yarn shop. Not packed to the gills, but offering carefully selected brands. I was worried this meant I wouldn't be able to afford anything. But look, Lion Cotton and Cotton Ease! (I imagine they're mainly for beginners and classes. Everyone needs dishcloth cotton, and Cotton Ease is probably better for garments than Wool Ease in this climate.)

But if you are a true fiber snob, never fear. They also have...




...100% Mongolian Cashmere and...














...handspun yarn by Jamie Harmon (one I haven't heard of before) and...














...Claudia Hand Painted Silk Lace. This is the same stuff Lynn used to make her Icarus shawl.












Finally, this is Carly, the owner. (I hope I spelled it right.) She's "checking out" my copy of Handknit Holidays. (I had to look at it after listening to the Stash and Burn review of it.) Carly used to work at Hill Country Weavers. She remembered me before I remembered her.

I guess that's it for now. When I went with Lyndsey on Sunday, they all loved my latest "mystery" project. (I can't post it because it's for a Knitty submission.) I couldn't afford to buy anything this time around, but I'm looking at the handspun and the Claudia's Hand Painted for my next trip.

Oh, and there are some pictures of the official grand opening that I missed here.

Blog Bits Saturday

It's almost midnight. Do you know where your yarn is?

Rose-Kim Knits uses up some old sock yarn.

Hill Country Yarns sent out its first shipment for the sock club.

Yarn and Order remembers her dear grandmother's knitting.

Yarn Harlot has a version of "contract demands" (in a manner of speaking) and almost looses a sock.

Knit and Tonic debates gifting her "losers." (I say go for it, considering how picky she is. Most people wouldn't consider most of these losers.)

There is new yarn for sale from Barbe Saint John.

Persistent Illusion shows us how to use her magic cast-on to start small circles.

There is a pattern for a beautiful lace stole at Knitspot.

In another type of awesome, Mochimochi knits "Rainbow Busters." That is true creativity.

Finally, Yarn Pirate is having a boy.

Goodies

I'm way behind on my blogging, so I'm going to try and catch up before I leave again.

To my credit, I've resisted a lot of yarn purchases in the past week or two, including the clearance isle at Joann, a sale at The Sweet Sheep (which will end before i get my bonus), sale items at Sandra Singh, several good deals on eBay and the opening of Gauge. (More on Gauge later.)

But I could not resist the first Thursday sale at Hill Country Weavers

(From the top, clockwise: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky, Misti Alpaca Chunky (actually not on sale, but needed for an upcoming Knitty submission), Araucania Ranco and Dream in Color Smooshy.

Yes, I'm into blue right now.

I'm not even counting the Misti Alpaca and Debbie Bliss as stash, because I'm using them right away (I cast on Debbie Bliss this afternoon.)

The sale was sock yarn and other selections. I had my Knitty yarns, and was about to reach for the Koigu, when Suzanne came up to me and asked if I had seen the Araucania sock yarn next door. (They have a separate house next door that they use for storage most of the time.) I said no, and the next thing I know, I'm next door, trying to pick a color of Araucania (I guess Koigu will have to wait until next time.)

There was so much temptation, and so much on sale. I ended up talking with another knitting, and wander into another (non-sale) room. Suzanne came in and said we had to see what was in the box next to us.

"Close your eyes." I did, and the next thing I felt was so incredibly soft. I opened to find a skein of handspun 100% Cashmere, probably worth more than my entire purchase combined.

"It's like sex in a box," Suzanne said.

They also had some silk cashmere blends that were awesome. I can't remember the brand right now. Maybe someday I'll splurge on a single skein. Someday. Like after I get a raise.

The other goodies I've gotten were free.

Last Sunday at knitting, Lynn handed me a little vile of knitting-themed marble magnets from Amy. I knew Amy was moving, but I didn't realize so soon. She had given these out as gifts at the Saturday morning group, but I slept in. If I had known it was her last day, I would have made an effort to get out of bed.

Thanks, Amy!

I also found out this week that I had won one of the many blog contests out there. I'll be getting one of Schrodinger's sock knitting cubes. She has more for sale on Etsy.

Finally, I have to mention that Jules (the boyfriend) saw the Rubber Vomit Moebius and said I looked "sexy in an aristocratic kind of way." So now I have to keep it, of course.

He also said that in the last picture in the post (the one where I think I look possessed) I look reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor. I don't know about that one. But I'm not complaining. :)

FO: Rubber Vomit Moebius

When life, gives you lemons, make a moebius.

I was going to turn a lone skein of Bernat Galaxy into a skinny scarf for the Stash and Burn One Skein Contest. However, if I really wanted a scarf of a decent length, I should have cast on 12 stitches, not 15. It still may have not been long enough anyway.

So Wednesday night when I was at Bluebonnet, I ran out of yarn. I wasn't about to frog this thing. There is just enough mohair to make that nearly impossible. I figured I had two options, either find another yarn to add onto one or both ends, or make a moebius. After consulting some other knitters, decided to go with moebius.

The lumpy yarn made sewing it pretty difficult. I didn't have my Chibis, so I decided to wait until I got home. Of course, tonight when I wanted to sew it up, I couldn't find them, so I grabbed a large plastic tapestry needle from my Knifty Knitter. And then, not long after my finished, I was rummaging around on my end table and found the Chibis.

Like I said, sewing it up was a bit hard, but I managed to get the lumps of fiber through.

I consulted with Jules about the whole "snot scarf" thing, and he said he thinks it looks more like rubber vomit. I think that is more accurate and less disturbing (after all, it is fake vomit.) So I renamed it.

The last time I took my picture in the mirror, I don't recall it being so I hard. I took several creepy looking pictures. I think this one is the most disturbing.

I used one skein of Bernat Galaxy in "Neptune" and size nine needles. The whole thing is garter stitch. It's not the cool Cat Bordhi moebius like this one or this one. It's just the traditional strip, twisted and sewn.

I haven't decided what to do with it yet. It will either be a Christmas gift or sold on Etsy. Despite the rubber vomit jokes, it is a nice yarn.