Not Rhinebeck....

I'm trying not to think about it......


To take my mind off the afore mentioned Sheep and Wool Festival, I
went digging through the cupboards of my parents house in search of the English annex to my vast yarn stash. I didn't make it to Narnia but did find part of my Final Collection from university.



Entitled "Biker Boys & Teddy Bears", this was my first attempt at
designing menswear.

I sold a couple of the pieces and got a good amount of press. (Probably because I decked out the models in my home-made rubber jeans. One pair, worn by my boyfriend-at-the-time had holes cut out where the back pockets would normally be, his cheeks were out there for the world to see! It was funny to watch the audience's expressions change as he walked past them down the catwalk - heheheeee!)

Finding these brought back memories of life as a fashion student - it was good fun and a lot of hard work.

It's interesting to see that I'm still into the same colours, textures and motifs.

The last piece of menswear I designed was also heavily cabled but this time in a modest cream colour.





















I love the tanks on this sweater but it's much too big for me to wear. All that wool was dyed pink in a big pan on top of the stove! I'm thinking of ripping it out and making something for my 5 3/4 yo niece, Kate.



















This jacket may be cut up and recycled into cushions for my new pad - that's if Immigration get it together so I can get back home to the good old US of A! (although it is lovely and sunny over here and I am getting used to the regular tea breaks!!)



I did find this cone of red loopy mohair with which I plan on knitting a shawl . I bought it from the wonderful Texere to knit the long sweater with the blue cow-skull. It's not as soft as I remember - I suppose that's because I've been spoilt by using alpaca and cashmere lately........

Back in the UK

England, oh England, my green and pleasant homeland.....

For my new job, (which I was suposed to start at the beginning of October - oops), I need a new visa. A new visa means lots of paperwork, even more money and a visit to the US Embassy in London.
Now, I love the fact that I get to come home for an unexpected visit with the folks but why does it have to be now???? Only a few days before the US NE knitters event of the year - RHINEBECK!!!!!!!!!
This is the weekend that we look forward to all year as we exit the gates of the festival the previous year!!!!
I am soooo sad :o(
Not only am I missing out on all that fibreous fabulousness and the fun-filled weekend of hanging out with my SnB sisters and scoffing down mouthfulls of maple candyfloss and apple crisp, (mmmmmmmmmm, apple crisp....) but this year I'm supposed to be signing books in the Authors' Tent! My name is on the website and everything!!!!!! Even the great and powerful Harlot linked to me!!!!!
When I told my fella that I had to make this trip his first reaction was, "I'm going to miss you." Then suddenly he reacted, "You're going to miss Rhinebeck!!!!" I think that is when I realised that he really was the man for me - hehehee. I had thought of sending him, decked out with a long blonde wig in my place - do you think anyone would notice?
My Mum is knitting a doll for a charity event at her Women's Club.
I did think about dressing it up like me and sending it off to take my place, but the sale is this Saturday so the timing for that is all wrong too. Drat! Drat! Drat! Dratted Double Drat!!! (Sorry for that outburst but hard times call for harsh language!)
Oh well, I'll just have to live vicariously through the experiences of others and catch up on all the goings on in blogland........ have fun if you're going and don't think about me, sat here, thousands of miles away, drinking Yorkshire Tea, wishing I was there.... with you......

All that hasn't stopped me from knitting though.
I grabbed a few skeins of yarny yumminess at Annie's opening party and started to knit this wrap out of Great Adirondack Caribou. I loved the way the colours worked together in the skein but am not so happy with the shortness of the spacedye sections. I wanted it to be more stripey.
I'll put it to one side and see how I feel about it later before ripping the whole thing out.

Talking of ripping, I've been doing a lot of that with another project I'm working on. It's a commission piece for my new friend, Marlene, who works at Annie's a couple of days a week.
The top photo is a sneaky peek at the complicated cables on the back of the cardigan. It took quite a few atempts to get it looking just how I wanted it. Now I have to wait and see if she can get more yarn in the same dye lot. I really do live on the edge!