I’ve been doing so many knitterly-related things lately but for some reason I don’t seem to have blogged about any of them yet; not sure why.  Anyway, I’ll start in chronological order, which means a quick re-visit of my trip to New York.

A lifetime soaking up the mythology of New York of course had built up so many pre-conceptions of the city, it was always going to be some feat to reconcile that with reality.  I only had six days in NYC, and we were staying quite a long way out of Manhattan, so commuting seemed to eat in to quite a bit of my sight-seeing time!  The weather varied between intensely hot and humid to downright pouring with rain, so various touristy things needed to be squeezed in as much as possible.

On to my knitting adventures…

When doing my pre-departure planning I discovered that there are something like two dozen stores in NYC that sell yarn.  That’s ridiculous!  I know New York’s population size swamps that of London, but clearly there are some knitters in New York.  On my first trip on the subway I was very pleased to see a fellow knitter; NY subways are so much more spacious than the London Underground so I think knitting is a more viable option.  Plus having air conditioning is an absolute bonus; there’s nothing like having yarn stick to your hands in the intense humidity.  Anyway, I managed to pull out my knitting on the subway a few times, so one knitting accomplishment achieved!  I loved the mosaics in the subway stations:

As we were staying in Brooklyn, the wonderful Brooklyn General Store was my first knitting destination.  What a great place!  I think this was actually my favourite of the yarn stores I went to.  Good range of yarns, all beautifully displayed in wooden cube shelving.  Plus they stock my beloved Japanese fabrics from Kokka.  Sadly I arrived not long before closing time, so I had a quick wander around and took a quick snap on the way out.

Next stop on the journey was the famed Purl Soho.  Very cute little store, and given just how small the premises are, they seem to punch above their weight in terms of reputation.  Lots of nice yarns and the sales assistant was friendly and helpful, despite also managing a group of knitters around the table and simultaneously winding yarn.  I didn’t even go in to the fabric store; perhaps because I was distracted by the delicious plum tart that I bought a few doors down?  Scrumptious, but a shame about the paper plate.

Even though I’ve been to Avril in Tokyo, I couldn’t possibly go to NYC without stopping in to Habu.  For this adventure I took along my aunt and her friend.  This is one of those New York stores that is tucked away upstairs in a nondescript office block.  The concierge took one look at the three of us and knew instantly that we were headed to Habu and pointed us in the right direction with a chuckle.  I find that Habu is one of those places where you need to do your research beforehand; being faced with such an assortment of tiny skeins, balls, and cones of yarns spread out in baskets on the floor might be a bit intimidating for the uninitiated!

I spent ages playing with all the yarns, and came away with three cones of yarn – amazingly this was my only souvenir yarn from the whole trip!  But there was lots of inspiration…

I also went to Knitty City.  This store has a real mix of yarns, with lots of highly sought after goodies (the Malabrigos and Madeline Toshes of the world) but the layout didn’t really work for me – lots of yarns nicely displayed on shelves but lots that were also in mixed boxes on the floor.  It took me a few laps around the store before I was confident that I had fondled all the was to fondle.  I picked out some Koigu KPM in a gorgeous green colour, but after doing a couple of laps while holding it, I realised I didn’t like the feel of the yarn, so that went back on the shelf.  I had one must-buy though, for which I needed assistance to find: a copy of Amimono Spring/Summer 09.  I know the season has past, but this was on my list of things-I-can’t-get back-home, and I’m a bit behind with my knitting anyway.

During my week in NYC I also managed to stumble across Seaport Yarns and went to the famed School Products where my friend purchased a couple of skeins for her ‘New York shawl’.  At various times I also stood outside the front doors of Downtown Yarns, String, and Annie’s, but sadly not at a time that they were open.  Clearly, NYC just has too much to see in a short space of time.

I did also fit in some of the ‘regular’ NYC touristy stuff, but the weather was just too rainy to get photos.  We spent a few hours wandering around Central Park (wandering to the point where we went in the wrong direction and ended up where we started!)  Even though the weather was still definitely summer, the park’s squirrels seemed to be preparing for autumn just around the corner…

I know they’re just the same as London squirrels, but they seemed so friendly and happy to engage with us.  Kind of like the locals that I met during my stay; incredibly friendly and willing to chat.  It’s a great city, and I’m already planning my next visit.

… and not in a good way.

I was hoping that my next post about It Cannot Fail to Please would be a photo of me showing off the finished item, perhaps while frolicking in the streets of New York (that’s where I’ve just been for the past week, but that’s another story).  I was planning on finding a nice New York art deco building for a photo shoot, echoing the era of the pattern.  I had it all planned out, but it just hasn’t happened that way.

I finished knitting the sleeves (again) back in London and brought them with me to sew in.  One sleeve is now sewn in – and of course, I’m not happy with it.  The sleeves have turned out absolutely huge, although I have no idea why.  The photos of other completed projects on Ravelry all seem fine.  I doubt that my gauge could have change so much between knitting the body and the sleeves, so I don’t understand what happened.

(Apologies for the out-of-focus photo, but you get the idea).

See how much the yarn is bunching?  It’s in  complete contrast to the body, which is nicely fitted, although perhaps on the snug side.  Sadly it’s not just a matter of being puffy, as there’s literally an extra two inches of fabric throughout the whole sleeve length.  My bingo wings aren’t that big yet!

I can’t believe how much time I have spent on this pattern, completely out of proportion to any potential end result, I’m sure.

So, dear blog readers I need your advice.
Should I:

a) – Sew in some of the extra bulk and be done with it?  I would possibly never be happy with the jumper, with a massive seam, and leaving it unworn in the cupboard where it will mock me forever as another failure.

b) – Start the sleeves over yet again, playing with the numbers to modify the sleeve width, and possibly making them shorter as well while I’m at it.

c) – Curl up in the corner and cry, and swear that I will never knit another thing again.  Oh, that’s right, I’ve already done that!  If anyone has another option C, please let me know!

I had really hoped to wear this to knit night next Monday, but I just can’t see that happening right now.

What I needed after last week’s disappointment was an instant gratification project.  And what’s faster, cuter, or more satisfying than baby booties?

I can see why so many thousands of knitters have used this pattern by Saartje – the results are so, so cute.  Made from very very soft yarn, and matching fabric buttons from my extensive button stash.

Love.

After spending the past week in bed with the flu, this evening I finally summoned the strength to pick up my knitting.  After an hour or so, the second sleeve was done – that means my entire It Cannot Fail to Please was done!  Knitted!  Mostly seamed too! Ta-da!

Except that I compared the two sleeves and realised that I’d skipped an entire pattern repeat.  The whole second sleeve had to be frogged.

Damn.

There has been some, although not alot.  Progress has been much slower than I hoped, but I’ve been (mostly) faithful to this project, and it’s very nearly done.  One sleeve to go.  Even so, that’s still an awful lot of leaves to knit up.

I plan to knit like the wind this weekend, and once this damn project is finished, I will wear it constantly for days and days and show it off with glee.

Being a post-grad student, and needing some serious encouragement a few weeks ago to get me through the semester, I signed up for the Grad School Swap over on Ravelry.  I’d been disappointed with yarn swaps before, but this was a small group (postgrad students) and had a great theme: Green.  So I was in!

I had a great time putting together a parcel for my swappee (the lovely Lene from Denmark) – I love working to a theme, and I had loads of ideas.  I ended up going more for a green colour / British theme, rather than eco, but that’s just how it worked out.

My package arrived last week (from a blogless Linda in Germany), but I only just managed to get a photo.  I’m so thrilled with what I received, especially my first ever skein of Wollmeise!

I’d never seen Wollmeise before ‘in real life’, so now I get to see what all the fuss is about.  The colour is amazing (Pesto), a strong and vibrant green, and the yarn is spun differently to most sock yarns I’ve used.   I think I’ll be using this for something scarf-like  for a splash of colour in the winter.

I also received a few other goodies in the package, but the ‘consumables’ didn’t last long enough to be photographed!

Finally, I handed in my uni assignment today (at 4pm to be precise).  Hurrah!  I’m free!  And just because I haven’t spent enough time staring at my computer, I decided it’s time to update the blog.

I did actually manage to leave the house for non-work purposes twice this week, and both happened to be knitting related.

Wednesday evening saw the long-awaited ‘Knitting from the top-down’ class at Socktopus, taught by the very lovely Jared Flood (Brooklyntweed).  Unfortunately it also coincided with the London tube strike, so the class was delayed an hour whilst we fought London traffic to get there.  Although I went there with the intention of learning more about top-down design (my very favourite method) I actually managed to learn Magic Loop as an unintended bonus.  There was more knitting than fan-girling, so no pics of Jared!

I do have a picture however to document the glorious sunshine that came out for  Worldwide Knit in Public Day yesterday.   I cast aside my essay for a few hours and joined in the London SnB Knit Crawl – the first chance I’d had to work on my current knitting project for ages (although I clearly wasn’t paying attention and had to rip back most of my work).

I won’t say too much about the afternoon, but I was very impressed with the design work that went in to these cupcakes:

I actually baked a giant batch of cupcakes tonight myself (surprisingly good, strawberries n’ cream), as I’ve been doing a bit of batch-baking as part of my Unicef fundraising.  I’m starting to get a little cupcaked-out; who knew that was possible?

What a great month it’s been, hearing from loads of lovely knitters, sending best wishes for the fundraising, and making donations to UNICEF.  So, today being the 1st of June, it was time to draw the winners.

I had no idea how exciting it would be to give away yarn (almost as exciting as being in with a chance of winning some, I expect!)  I’ve been so anxious to see who the winners would be.  I had such a horrendous day at work today, so I was pleased to come home and fire up the Random Number Generator.  Each entrant was allocated a number, in the order in which they donated.  Without any further ado, (because I know you’ve all just skipped ahead to the results anyway), the winners are:

Victoria

Sarah (I don’t have your email address, so please get in touch!)

Emilie

Leah

Congratulations to everyone who won yarn, and a massive, massive thank you to everyone who donated to UNICEF – I really do appreciate it.  Hmmm, I’ll have to get thinking about what yarny event to have next.

I had such a wonderful time in Edinburgh last week for my mini-holiday, and the city really is as wonderful as everyone says.  I actually spent some time peering at the lettings listings in estate agents, dreaming of renting a flat with massive ceilings, living a new life in a city that’s completely accessible on foot.  And then I remembered that I don’t want to leave London just yet, so I ditched my relocation plans.  But I’ll be back for another visit!

Of course, there was knitting.  The four-and-a-half hour train journey from London gave me a good knitting opportunity, but there was more when I arrived:

McAree Brothers.  I’ve had fantastic service from their online store, so I thought it was only right that I visit their bricks and mortar shop.  Lots of very dependable yarns piled high, from the likes of Rowan, Sirdar etc, and a wall brimming with every type of knitting notion you could think of.  Oh, and the store was on the same street as my B&B – how handy was that?

Next knitting stop was the lovely K1 Yarns.  Actually, I went there twice; once to buy yarn, and then I went back for the Thursday night knit-in (um, and to buy more yarn!)  Sarah and the knitting regulars gave me a very warm welcome and helped me feel right at home.  (Secretly I was quite glad that Ysolda is currently travelling in the US, as I’m sure I would have been all awe-struck and shy like I was when I saw her last year in London).

The store fronts on to a very well-known street in the old town, so there were tourists streaming past, with several stopping to take photos.  Apparently a group of knitters equals a tourist spectacle!

This was the perfect place for some souvenir yarn shopping, so I snapped up some Fyberspates yarn (sock and laceweight) in K1 exclusive colourways.

There was actually lots more to my week than knitting, but it did rain rather alot, so getting photos was tricky!  Here are a few snaps of my week wandering the streets of Edinburgh:

Scottish hardiness: don't let a spot of rain spoil your picnic!

A huge thanks to those of you who have made a donation to UNICEF – I’m aiming to raise a massive £3500, so every contribution helps!

If you were thinking about entering the raffle, there are only a few days left, so now is your chance.  Right now, your odds of winning are looking remarkably good, so this could be a particularly lucky donation to charity.  Who wouldn’t feel good about supporting supporting children in need AND getting your hands on some yummy yarn?

One of the prizes (see previous post) is a skein of A Swell Yarn Shop Duets Skinny Sock yarn.  It’s a fabulous base yarn, but maybe blue just isn’t your colour.  So, in the interests of maximum satisfaction, the winner of the Skinny Sock can actually choose their favourite colourway from my entire Skinny Sock stash:

Want to win?  Just make a donation over at my UNICEF page, and then leave a comment here to let me know you’ve donated, and you’ll go in to the draw at the end of the month.  Keep your fingers crossed!