Anzula

$70 Tank

2009-09-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get this? Someone you know (usually a nonknitter) comes up to you and says “wow, you must save a lot of money by knitting your own clothes.”

I get it pretty regularly. Happened to me last time I was visiting one of my cousins. Guess what my response was.

Absolutely! This tank only cost me about $70 and provided me with hours of entertainment.

I love seeing the look of shock come over their face.

WWSIP

2009-09-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

This Saturday is World Wide Spin In Public day. We will be meeting at the same place that we met for WWKIP, Teazer World Tea Market Downtown. Bring your spindles, wheels and fiber and spend the morning spinning with us. We will start spinning at 10:30 am. If you have never spun before we will have extra spindles so you can participate. We look forward to seeing you there!

Photo 1 courtesy of Teazer World Tea Market Photo 2 courtesy of Velma's World
You can read more about spinning in public over on Velma's World

Teazer World Tea Market

2405 Capitol St # 104
Fresno, CA 93721-2256

(559) 237-7037

What better way to spend a morning than sipping tea & spinning yarn.

Photo 3 courtesy of Teazer

ETA: We will be giving a fiber gift to everyone that comes out on Saturday!

One Day Wonders

2009-09-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

My niece went home with my sister on Monday & now I can't stop knitting baby stuff. Isn't she adorable!

Last night I cast on this little sweater. And by the end of the evening it was all knit up. I couldn't believe how quickly it went. The pattern is Inca-Dincadoo Cardigan from Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders. The pattern calls for organic cotton, but I used this lovely bamboo yarn & some funky sparkly pink eyelash yarn instead. I love how it turned out.

This morning I got up & sewed up the seams. And tada, we have a sweater! Now I need to go shopping for cute little buttons. Oh, and I am also casting on another sweater. This time I am using our sock yarn in Lizard Breath, which is also available in our sea cell & merino sock yarn.

For reasons I probably shouldn't share with the world, it reminds me of my sister & I absolutely have to knit it into a baby sweater for my niece.

Tips for Designing

2009-09-07T16:39:00.001-07:00

1. Listen to your yarn. Sometimes, you want to make something work, but the yarn just doesn’t want to cooperate. That is ok. Listen to the yarn & try something different.

2. Don’t be afraid to rip.

3. Play- sometimes the best creations come from just fooling around.

4. Try new techniques. Trying something new can cause you to think outside of the box, which can lead to a new design element.

5. Try new materials. Different fibers will speak to you differently. As will different needles.

6. Write it down. You really won’t remember it later.

7. Keep a notebook to put all your ideas in.

8. Use pencil when charting by hand.

9. Remember there are no rules, there are no knitting police.

This Just In

2009-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday our yarn & fiber are going on a little field trip. They will be spending the next two weeks at Ancient Pathways. During these fabulous two weeks you will get to oooh & aaah over our 40 lines of yarn & spinning fiber. Yes, that really is a lot of fiber. As a special little treat for all that were unable to attend Sock Summit, our three submissions to Dye For Glory will also be available.

Today I will be reskeining & labeling the last of the skeins that I have dyed especially for this show. This will also be the first time our new label will be seen in public. There are only a handful of skeins that will have our new label because as much as we would like to relabel everything. We thought it would be a bit wasteful to toss a thousand perfectly good labels. For those lucky few that will be able to get their hands on our skeins with the new label, we would love to hear what you think of it.

On a side note, if you look down & to the right you will see something new. We now have out Twitter stream on our blog.

ETA: Oh, and look up. We have a new logo! Watcha think?

So Much to Share!

2009-08-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

1. I know I should know how to do this, but I don't. And the first step to solving the problem, is admitting you have a problem, right? So, here it is: I don't know how to create links in my blog. There I said it. So what am I going to do about this? I am just going to put the website here until I can figure it out. (ETA: Kiel has shown me the way of the link, so I am including them now.)

2. You can now find Anzula yarn in two new shops. You could already get our yarn at Ancient Pathway in Fresno, Dulitz Tree Farm in Springville, and Janna's Needle Art in Fresno. Now you can also get our fibery goodness at Knitique in Elk Grove and The Knitting Room in Lodi. Exciting, right!

3. I am now a Thea. My little sister had a little girl last Wednesday. Meet Olivia Marie!

Isn't she beautiful! She decided to come a month and a half early. You wouldn't believe she is only 4 pounds and 6 ounces. But next to my sis, you realize just how tiny she is. I can't wait to meet her.

My sister was able to hold her for three hours here. I am so happy for her.

4. I have finished loading all of our sock yarn on Hyena Cart. I am really proud of this. I still need to get everything up on Etsy, but it's a start.

5. I realized something the other day when I got an email from Facebook. The email stated that Suzanne tagged a photo of me in her album. I clicked the link, and saw this:

I was confused for a minute. It is pretty obvious that I am not in this picture, but then I realized the yarn looked pretty familiar. It was Anzula superwash merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn. That is when it dawned on me. We need an Anzula page on Facebook. So, here it is: The Anzula Facebook Group
The sweater is pretty awesome, Suzanne said it only took 1 skein of our sock yarn. Pretty cool! I think I need to make one now. Ya know, cause I'm a Thea and all. She made it in a weekend.

6. We are going to be at Lambtown USA this year. Lambtown is in Dixon, and is going to be October 3rd. If you have not heard of Lambtown go here.
You don't want to miss it. There is a sheep to shawl competition, lamb tasting, classes, lots of fiber & yarn, and lots of other really cool things going on.

7. I love dyeing yarn, but sometimes draw a blank when it comes to naming the skeins. I was talking about this on Twitter the other day and someone said they would like to help. So I posted pictures on Flickr.com & created a Name this Yarn set. This all got me thinking. What would be cooler than to have you be part of the creation of Anzula yarn. So from now on I will be posting new yarn here, and you will get to be part of the naming process. We still only dye small batches of generally non repeating colorways.

8. I am going to knit on my silk & linen lace shawl now. Happy Knitting!

The Sock has Left the Building

2009-08-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Sock Summit has come & gone, and I feel like a little bit of me is missing now. For so long I have been preparing for this wonderful event & now it is over. Kinda crazy. None of this would have been possible without the help of a whole whack of people, especially our little corner of it. I am so thankful to every one of you that helped out*. From skeining, to labeling, to feeding me, to helping me back up my crazy trailer, to loading & unloading, to design input, to... I could not have done any of it without my wonderful friends & family. Thank you.

So... wanna see what we all helped create?

We started out with a blank canvas,

and worked to create something beautiful.

After the booth was set up we went to a dinner hosted by Lantern Moon at the Kennedy School.

Wednesday we got up bright and early to go to a class taught by Barbara Walker.

After class I went back to the booth,

and waited for the Market to open. We had a crazy busy two hours, then went to the Opening Reception.

Friday morning I went to Cat Bordhi's class.

then talked in the Color Me Crazy booth. Sorry no pic.
Saturday morning I went to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's class, again sorry no pic.

Then did a spinning demo.

Sunday morning I had a class with Nancy Bush. Who I have to say is the nicest, most humble, and incredible teacher.

Then after the market, went to the Luminary Panel.

Sorry about the grainy pics. I had to do some editing to get them to come out.

We went back to the market place after the Luminary Panel,

and were one of the last ones to break down.

One of the Canadian vendors & their crew helped us pack up the truck. Which was especially cool since we were short handed.

Now I am home again, and not quite sure what to do with myself. But it sure is nice to spend time with my hubby and animals. I'd like to say I don't have much to do, but that just isn't true. I have a full schedule of massages, am preparing to send out the Sock Summit special orders, and am meeting with LYSO to carry my yarn. Oh, and there is the constant updating of the Etsy & Hyena Cart shops. Yeah, not sure what to do with myself. Right...

*A special thank you to my husband Kiel, Diane, Susan, Wendy, Darin, Yelley & Wendi.

We have reached the Summit

2009-08-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, just wow. This really is an experience of a lifetime. There is so much to relay.

Wednesday morning Susan & I started the day walking about 3 miles in search of Voodoo Donuts, which was only about a mile from where we were. Unfortunately we started walking the first mile in the wrong direction. Thankfully the weather here is beautiful, and after the long drive it was really nice to walk around.

After our second mile, we decided to check out the convention center. St-1 & St-2 were buzzing around, we introduced ourselves & Stephanie Pearl-McPhee showed us into the Market.

Once we made it to Voodoo Donuts we met up with Wendy and had a fab lunch, not at Voodoo Donuts. After lunch Wendy dropped us off at the convention center so we could set up the booth. The booth went up so fast, it helped that there were 4 wonderful volunteers. A little later I met Cat Bordhi and Silvia Sterling in the Sock Museum.

Then Wednesday evening Susan, Sue and I went to the Lantern Moon dinner. Regina was supposed to join us, but was still laid over in Salt Lake City. Thankfully she got a flight first thing the next morning & made it here safely. The Lantern Moon dinner was wonderful, there was great music, we met vendors from all over & I met Jess, Casey & Mary-Heather. The bus ride home (I always call the hotel I’m staying at home when I’m out of town) was hilarious. A bunch of knitters on a yellow school bus, reminded us all of school.

Sue, Suzanne & I had class with Barbara Walker Thursday morning. It was an honor to be there & I learned to do mosaic knitting. I also relayed everyone's messages to her. She has an excellent eye for detail, and is a very patient instructor. One quick glance at our work & she could tell us whether it was right or wrong.

After class I went back to the booth, and the other vendors ribbed me for being set up already. I'm telling you, our team was wicked fast. I sat & spun, waiting until the market opened. Once it did, we were swamped. It was such a wonderful feeling seeing the knitters so excited about our Dye For Glory colors. Beer O'Clock almost sold out that first evening. We only have one left now.

When market closed we went to the Opening Reception. Tina & Stephanie gave an incredibly moving speech. It was amazing hearing all the trials they went through to bring us Sock Summit. Every step of the way businesses tried to tell them they didn't need to do as much as they were doing. They upgraded the size of the convention center three times! And each time they were treated as though they were nuts. Whether it was ordering fliers, making reservations, getting a server, or getting cake for EZ's birthday celebration.

They told us how thirty thousand people hit the website the moment the classes opened, causing the server to crash. They have a code amongst themselves, nobody goes down alone. When ever a decision is made, there are always two people present. That way no one person is ever to blame if something goes wrong. They shared that they believed they could do an event that valued the person and didn't have to compromise their morals. I love them for that. As a vendor I have noticed & appreciated everything they have done to honor us. It is invaluable having someone behind the scenes who has been there & done that. Knowing the ways in which she wished to be treated at past events and making it so here.

Friday morning I had class with Cat Bordhi, she gave us the tools to engineer new stitches. I created two new techniques while in class. There were a few really great moments during class. The best was when she noticed Back Mountain Studio's ABC stitch markers. She was really impressed with them, and said she had never seen any so pretty.

After class I went back to the booth and it was one great experience after another. I met a bunch of the people I know on Twitter. Had some teachers buy my yarn. Helped calm down overwhelmed knitters. Served people Beer O'Clock. My favorite moments were when knitters came up to the booth with a shout of glee, saying that they had been looking for me and needed something in my booth. So cool!

After the market Susan, Sue, Regina & I went into downtown and had Chinese food. Now we are back at the hotel resting and preparing to start all over tomorrow. Really looking forward to the Ravelry meet-up tomorrow evening.

Sock Summit Or Bust

2009-08-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for the Sock Summit, a 753.11 miles and 12 hours 3 minutes journey. In preparation for this trip I have knit socks.

Starting clockwise from the top we have aran weight superfine alpaca & merino, fingering weight silk & superwash merino knit & designed by Sue, sport weight yak & merino, dk weight corriedale, sport weight cashmere/superwash merino/nylon knit & designed by Regina, sport weight soybean & alpaca, fingering weight cashmere/superwash merino/nylon, fingering weight sea cell & superwash merino, and fingering weight camel & silk. All others were knit by me. The socks designed by Sue, Regina and the sea cell & silk one designed by me are all part of our Head Over Heels sock club. Sock Club memberships will be available at the Sock Summit. When you purchase your membership, you will get the two patterns that are already out to our current members and the advanced released kit that will get shipped out in September. Current members can also pick up their kit.

We will have lots of wonderful knit & crocheted samples. Amazing patterns by designers from all over the Central Valley.

The spectacular buttons by Victoria:

Fantastic stitch markers from Susan:

And of course the wonderful & amazing yarn by Anzula:

See you at the Summit!

Knitting Dyeing & Massaging Oh My!

2009-07-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

This has been quite a week. I have put off knitting on Beatrice, yup we have a name congratulations Ikkinlala!, to create a bunch of sock samples for Sock Summit. In the last 8 days I have knit 5 socks in my spare time: sea cell & merino, superfine alpaca & merino, corriedale, camel & silk, soybean & alpaca.

I have also dyed a few hundred skeins for Sock Summit. Including our submitions for Dye for Glory. I am super proud of the entries, they came out so beautifully.

Ode to the sock was inspired by the colors in the Sock Summit logo, and I don't believe it could have come out more perfectly.

The people putting on the Sock Summit have put their heart and souls into this event and I am so proud to be a part of it.

My next submission is in honor of all of the knitting beer drinkers, and especially Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Some days beer o'clock just can't come fast enough!

My final submission is in honor of the pursuit of the true red. 1 red shoe is named after my friend Becky's little red Miata. A true red is quite difficult to create, and I am happy to announce I have done it. If you think red is hard to dye, it is even harder to photograph. You will have to come out to the Sock Summit to see just how fab this red really is.

In between all of the dyeing and knitting I also need to pay attention to my other business. I saw more massage clients this week than I have in a long time. I guess when it rains it pours. I am so lucky to have two wonderful businesses that I absolutely love doing. I think the best part of my massage side of life is helping people function better. The majority of people that see me have chronic headaches, numbness issues, or loss of strength. It is incredibly rewarding to watch their symptoms slowly vanish.

Have a wonderful weekend!

eta: Oh & I forgot to mention, Go Vote!

http://www.ravelry.com/socksummit

There are over 200 wonderful submittions. You can find the Anzula submissions in the Kettled, Dipped and Random Stripes categories.

Sale Sale Sale!!!

2009-07-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

all yarn in our sale yarn category on hyena cart is 20 percent off. we are clearing it out do to being discontinued. use the discount code 4 sale at checkout. we have 41 skeins currently on the site, and another 41 skeins will be going up soon. happy knitting

Jolene

2009-07-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have had this song stuck in my head for a few days now and decided to share it with you. Here are a few of the renditions I found on http://www.last.fm/

Enjoy!

And not the same song, but still a good one.

Say My Name

2009-07-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Anzula superwash merino/cashmere/nylon sweater is almost complete & it needs a name. So we are going to have a little competition. Who ever comes up with the best name for this sweater will win a skein of Anzula yarn. To participate please leave your name idea in the comments below. Only names left in the comments will be considered.

So... What's my name?

Sock Hop

2009-07-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the Fresno Sock Hop. All three of our shops have come together it bring us really wonder sock yarn & events. Lots of local talent will be at each shop. Anzula sock yarn will be available at Ancient Pathways & Janna's. You will be able to check out our traditional wool, silk & superwash merino, silk & camel, superwash merino & nylon, bamboo, and superwash merino cashmere & nylon sock yarns.

Here are the deets:

Summer Sock Hop 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009

Because the projects you make with sock yarns tend to be small enough to stay clear of your lap, they are comfortable to knit with during these warm summer days.

Ancient Pathways, Janna’s Needle Art and Swatches are all participating in Sock Hop, another three-shop tour of Fresno. Each will feature different classes and or demonstrations
featuring sock yarn.

Plan to make the rounds; addresses, hours and other details provided below.

Janna’s Needle Art – 5091 N. Fresno St. (NW corner of Fresno and Shaw)
559-227-6333
Open Tuesday through Friday 9:30-5:30, Saturday 9:30-3:00
We feature sock yarns from Noro, Opal, Berocco, Crystal Palace, and locally dyed skeins from French 75 and Barking Dog Yarns.
Janna is not a dedicated sock knitter, so she will be demonstrating the short row technique used in the Mini Mochi Multi Directional Scarf. This great looking scarf works in any yarn, but looks and feels extra nice in lightweight sock yarns, especially self-stripers. You will also find sock needles, sock needle holders, and a fine selection of sock patterns. 10% discount on sock yarns all day Sock Hop day, demonstrations from 12:00 – 3:00. We look forward to seeing you!

Ancient Pathways – 1294 N. Wishon Ave – 559-264-1874
Open Tuesday 11:00am to 8:00pm and Wednesday through Saturday 11:00am to 5:30pm
ancientpathways@sbcglobal.net
www.ancientpathwaysyarnandfiber.blogspot.com
I stock sock yarns from two local dyers, French 75 and Anzula as well as yarns from Crystal Palace, Knit One Crochet Too, Cascade and Universal Yarns.
Meg and her volunteers will be demonstrating how to add beads to your socks and anything else using sock weight yarn. There are some lovely sock patterns already written to include beads and we will be discussing how to add them to any other project. Beads from Bead Artistry will be available for purchase. Pre-stringing and using a crochet hook will be covered.
Demonstrations will be ongoing between 11:00am to 3:00pm
10% off all sock yarns all day on Sock Hop Day

SWATCHES – 3204 N Van Ness Blvd @ Shields 559-230-2813
Hours: Wednesday thru Saturday 11- 5:30; Sunday 11 – 4
Sock Hop at Swatches includes:
Sock knitting classes and demos thru out the day.
Dr Sox will be here to help those stuck on their sock projects.
A Trunk Show featuring
TRUE LOVE FIBER hand dyed locally by Angela Johnson
LAVA Designs sock patterns by Lisa Van de Water
& baby items knit from sock yarns.
You will find us fully stocked with sock needles, patterns, and the following yarns:
Cascade, Berroco, Malabrigo, Noro, OPAL,
K1-C2 Tye Dye, and Rio de la Plata sock yarns at SWATCHES.
A 10% discount is offered on sock yarns in stock.
And of course, refreshments will be served.

THANKS TO MEG OF ANCIENT PATHWAYS FOR SUGGESTING THIS FUN EVENT!

See ya there!

As Easy As 1 2 3

2009-07-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly. I am going to be doing a spinning demo at the Sock Summit. Demonstrating how to spin striping socks.

First we will discuss the kind of fiber that would be best for socks.

Then I will show you how to spin & ply to create the perfect sock yarn.

After that we will discuss knitting the sock up.

This is an Anzula original pattern. I am in the process of writing it up. It will be available on Ravelry and at the Sock Summit. Happy Knitting!

Waiting Game

2009-07-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am currently playing the waiting game, and not loving it. I have dyed up everything I have, and am waiting for the next shipment of yarn to get here. I placed the order 2 weeks ago, and hope it gets here soon. I can here my dye pot calling me. I am really looking forward to working on the Sock Summit Challenge.

While I have been waiting I have been working on my yet to be named sweater. It is an Anzula original in worsted weight superwash merino, cashmere, nylon. Here it is with the flash:

And here it is with out. Which I feel better depicts the actual color.

The stitch pattern was inspired by one of the stitches in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. Again shown with, and with out the flash.

I am making an extra large, and it is using 7 skeins.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about the spinning demo I will be doing at the Sock Summit.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

2009-07-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

A month ago today I posted about the fab lace yarn I dyed. In the mean time I ordered swifts for reskeining and they showed up yesterday. Guess what I spent today doing.

Yup, that is reskeining three skeins at once. Look, no hands! That's cause we have an electric skein winder. It saves so much time & energy.

They look so pretty reskeined. Like candy. I just want to eat them up. Want more fiber candy?

Baby Llama & Merino/Yak. Merino/Yak is one of my favorite fiber blends to spin. So soft & lofty, it is like spinning clouds.

Last week we had an open house over here, so you could see what Anzula is all about. The yarn looked so good displayed in the house. It was really great seeing so many of you!

My wonderful guy picked some flowers to help decorate the place. Isn't he sweet?

What Used To Be

2009-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

I was going to spend today showing you all the fiber pretties I have been dyeing this week. But I don't have them anymore. Carole from Dulitz Tree Farm, which is also a yarn shop, came buy this morning and bought up all of our fiber. So if you want to see what I have been dyeing you are going to have to go to Springville and check it out. It is totally worth the drive, Springville is beautiful and Carole's shop is just amazing. That is where I got the yarn for my February Lady Sweater. Which I would totally show you right now, but I'm not sure where my camera is. So, in all reality, I have nothing to show you 8~). Happy Knitting!

Getting My Dye On

2009-06-02T15:23:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things in the world to do is to dye yarn. I am so lucky that I get to do it as a job. Today I dyed 20 skeins of merino lace in shades of green, orange, red, blue & purple
These were all dyed as semi solids. I can't wait to see what they look like when they are dry and reskeined. I have found that reskeining the yarn gives you a better idea of what the yarn will look like when worked up. It also better demonstrates the depth of the color.

The four skeins of blue look very similar now, but I have a feeling they will look quite different from each other when reskeined. Red can be a really hard color to get, but today I was really lucky. I was able to get one true red, and another that is a close second.

If you are looking closely, you might notice a pair of socks. I also over-dyed a pair of socks for a friend of mine. I hope she loves the color.

Never Not Knitting

2009-05-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

I knit. Everywhere I go, I knit. I thought this was normal. Then I went to dinner with a knitting friend and pulled out my knitting. She gave me a strange look, and I said: What? You're not going to knit? She thought it was quite odd that I was going to knit at a restaurant. I thought it was odd that she wasn't. But that is just how I am. I knit at concerts, baseball games, weddings, meetings, anywhere I go: I knit. People sometimes say they don't think they could have the patience to knit. I don't think I could have the patience to not knit. How else do you get through long lines, waiting at the doctor's office, watching a movie, or waiting for your food to come at a restaurant?

Mawwage

2009-05-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

I took part in a pretty special event yesterday, Meet in the Middle for Equality. The main message I took away was that it is important for us to share our stories. The only way we are going to change anyone's mind is if we make it real for them. So I decided to share my story.

My Mother is a lesbian. She came out when I was in high school. At that time I had many friends that were homosexual, and for them my Mother announcing her sexuality was a reprieve. They finally had someone they could talk to and share their feelings with. For this I am grateful, because I saw how difficult it was for my friends to come to terms with their sexuality. Choices shouldn't be a or b. There are many shades of gray out there. And we need to be accepting of that. My Mom is my Mom, and the fact that she is a lesbian doesn't change that one bit. She didn't change the way she parented me and my sister when she came out. She remained my same old Mom. She has been with her partner now for 7 years and I think it is a shame that they can't officiate their relationship. Partner is such an ambiguous term. I had a business partner, and when I referred to her as my partner people were not always sure what I meant. This is so unfortunate.

I feel that when two people want to make a life long commitment to each other, they should have the right to do so. There needs to be one universal term for what that relationship means. When two heterosexuals join in union we have a term for that, marriage. Everyone understands what marriage means. Lets stand up and give everyone that right.

While at MITM4E I was knitting on my sock. Ty-Dy sock yarn in 631 blueberry field. In my Plain Jane sock pattern. Sorry it's a bit blurry, took if with my phone.

Sock it to Me

2009-01-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

The next semester starts in a week from tomorrow. I learned last semester that I love to knit socks in my science classes, but can only do the straight knitting in the round while still taking good notes and paying attention. That means when I come to the heel, I have to stop until I have some down time. So here is my plan, because I have microbiology and physiology this semester and this means I have one or the other every day of the week. I am going to cast on as many socks as I can this week. Because, well, I shouldn't cast on or do ribbing in class either. Last semester I was really bummed when I realized I didn't have any knitting and didn't have any time to do anything about it. Thankfully I have a lot of sock yarn. Well, a lot in my world. Probably very little in many other's. This is what I started last night. I want to at least double the amount of ribbing I have right now.

Then it will be onto the next pair. Don't know which ones I will start next. I did a quick scavenger hunt through my house and came up with this:

I know I have more than this, but so far the other skeins are hiding. I am obviously not counting Anzula sock yarn. The yarn in the upper left hand corner is my hand dyed yak & merino. I made a sweater out of this yarn and am curious as to how it will work up as socks. I found 4 sets of needles, again I know I have more but they are also in hiding. Since I can't find many sets I ordered a few this am from Knit Picks, they should get here in 3 days. Hopefully they will actually ship when they are supposed to. I have not been having much luck with them lately.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today many of us are fortunate enough to share gifts with those that we love. For some reason this makes me very happy and very sad today. I don't know where this sadness comes from, but I feel it is important to share. Families are incredibly complicated and yet incredibly simple. What family really comes down to is a close knit community of the people you love and care about. Hopefully you are sharing today with those people that you love.

Namaste

Bad Blogger

2008-08-25T01:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been over a month since I last posted. So sorry. A lot has happened since I last posted, and yet also not much at all. I am still working on all the same projects. Plus I started a new plain jane cardigan on Saturday.
I participated in the Ravelympics and was greatly disappoint. Basically I feel that I was thwarted at every turn. I planned on finishing 4 works in progress plus a sweater that I was also going to design. I was pretty sure I was not going to be able to complete the sweater, but I figured I would be able to complete the WIPs. The first two projects were already practically done. They were two tank tops. Then at the last minute I ran out of yarn, and was not able to get more in time.
I figured no biggie, I could definitely finish sewing up 1/4 of a sweater and 1 and 1/16 of a sock. I was not able to find the sweater right off, but I figured I had plenty of time. I worked away on the sock, and it was going pretty well. I completed the heel, tried it on, and it was too big. Bootie! So I looked for the mate to compare it to and I could not find it. I looked in all of my many "knitting" bags and no luck. I yelled at my hubby for moving my knitting. He said he didn't know what I was talking about. I kept looking, and at the same time looked for my Sad Pullover. It was Saturday. The day before the Ravelympics were over. I finally came to the conclusion that I would not finish a thing. I was sad and disappointed, but sometimes this is the hand that we are dealt.
Then today I begin a spinning project I was commissioned to do. I finished the first leg, and started to look around for my scale to figure out how much I had done. And I could not find it. Since I am still not finished unpacking I started looking in any and all fiber related boxes. This led to a fiber reorganization. I spilled the guts of my fiber closet and started putting everything back. Guess what I found. My Sock. It was in a bag of organic cotton. Don't know why I thought to put it in there. I think I finished it the day I bought the cotton I put it in the bag when my purchase was rung up. Don't know why I didn't pull it out when I got home.
Then as I near the back of the closet I find my Sad Pullover. I actually remember tossing it in for safe keeping. Now. Too little. Too late. I have not finished any of my projects. I have not finished unpacking. I have not finished reorganizing. I hope this was the week of unfinished things, and since it is Sunday and the week is over this means I will get to start finishing things starting Monday. (Sorry that was a horrible sentence, don't know what to do about that.) Who knows, I guess we shall see. Ta ta for now.

Treasure

2008-07-18T19:46:00.001-07:00

We had a blast in the East Bay. Our first stop was Article Pract, and I got these.

Vintage buttons for Mr. Greenjeans and

a Lucy Lu Slide box for notions. I think it is a little entertaining that I will be using it to store notions because on the bottom it says "NOT Notions"

I also bought a really beautiful silk hank of Claudia's Hand Painted Lace. It tried to go live with Sue, but thankfully Sue has plenty of her own lace and sent it back home to me. It is in time out for running away, so I can't show you a photo.

We went to my favorite Thai restaurant for lunch, Lucky House on University. The scallops were so buttery good. Mmm, it makes me want to go back right now. Once we were fat and happy and after we got our geek on at the game shop, we went over to Laci's. Oh was the lace beautiful.
There I bought
beautiful cashmere and merino lace.
super soft wool laceand a bone crochet hook. Size O, I have never seen a size O. I can't wait to use it. Liz and Sue educated me about different methods of lace making and we convinced Sue to buy 00000000 knitting needles. That is 8 zeros, they are made out of piano wire. Crazy!

After Laci's we went up to Stash on Solono Ave. They had so much beautiful yarn and a great selection of books. I have to admit I went a little overboard with the books, but what are you going to do. At least I am going to give them a good home. If you want to see what books I got/have you can check out my library on ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/people/anzula/library (sorry I don't know how to make links yet)

Thankfully I saw the books after the yarn. This is what came home with me.
Yes, that is all lace. I think I may have a problem.

Berkeley Here We Come

2008-07-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, some of my buddies and I are going on a road trip tomorrow. We are going to cruise up to the bay area to visit Lacy's, Article Pract, and Stash. I wonder if we could stop in Elk Grove on the way home to visit Knitique. Funny thing, my aunt lives in Elk Grove and I am up there fairly often and yet I have never been to Knitique. Crazy!

I wonder which projects I should take with me. I currently have 7 active projects, but I don't want to take too many. I need to have plenty of room for bringing back goodies. Oh, and I hope it is not going to be smokie up there too. I really need some fresh air to breath.

Remember how I said I had a toe. Well...

I have big feet. I was following the pattern for the largest size, and I guess it just was not big enough. Cause you know that toe I showed you?

It was supposed to fit over all of my toes, not just my big toe. Oops. I was then supposed to continue in the round until it was the proper length. Well, that just wasn't going to work. So I measured my gauge, measured my foot and figured out how many stitches I would need to have to fit around my foot. 80, I had 57. That is a big difference. Like a 2 1/5 inches difference. As much as I would like to believe that my feet are smaller than they are, it just was not going to work. And I really wanted to keep these for myself. Unlike the last pair that I crocheted last year that became a Christmas present for my sister in-law.

So, out it came. Thankfully I am really enjoying the short row toe. It is just so neat. Now to cast on 40 stitches.

I made a toe!

2008-07-09T16:33:00.001-07:00

Or at least a toe covering
I am (obviously) working a toe up sock and I just took out my provisional crochet cast on. I love crocheting, but having to unpick a chain from the tail end and picking up stitches at the same time was a little maddening. But oh was it worth it. I think I am in love. It is just so neat that you can be working in one direction, then pick up stitches, and start working in the other direction. So cool!

Did I mention that this is my first knit sock? If I did I am going to have to apologize. I lied. A few months back I started these socks.

Did I say these? I am still on the first one. Two of my friends started them about the time that I did and they are both done. Unfortunately they scared my off because apparently the pattern did not work out well. They had to be creative with the heal and toe.

Seeing as I pulled it out and and photographed it, I am considering trying to finish it. Should I try to follow the pattern, or just wing it?

Too Hot to Knit?

2008-07-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

It is supposed to be 105 degrees here in Fresno today. I think we are going into a heat wave. Usually I love the heat, and it doesn't inhibit my knitting or crocheting for that matter. In the Central Valley, we are lucky enough to have dry heat. Which makes the heat more tolerable. But today it is muggy and the air is thick with smoke. I don't know how many fires we currently have going on in California, one article says 300. Not good for the air quality in Fresno.

So I am not only hot but sticky too. Makes for unpleasant knitting.

I am thinking about starting a set of socks. I have crocheted quite a few, but never knit. I am not a big fan of dps, so I am thinking about doing magic loop. I am going to do toe up because I have gigantic feet, and I don't want to run out of yarn. I think I am going to a short row toe. Quiet honestly, I have never done short rows, and I don't know what other types of toes there are. I am sure there are others. But I have a pattern that calls for short rows and my lovely friend Liz showed me a wrap and turn. Which is not at all what I expected it to be, but what ever.

I need to get 40 inch circular 0's and double 0's. I'll have to go to the yarn shop tomorrow.

Welcome

2008-07-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Anzula. I crochet, knit, spin, and dye. For the longest time I was mainly a crocheter. There were not many great patterns out there, so I created my own. After almost a decade of doing this, I got a little tired/bored of almost always coming up with my own patterns and so I branched out into knitting. And oh boy are there a lot of patterns. I am on www.ravelry.com and I have queued about 11 pages of projects. Almost entirely knitting related projects.

I learned to knit about 8 years ago. But that was it, I could only do a knit stitch.Which means that this year, when I decided to begin a more serious relationship with knitting, I had a lot to learn. Almost every project I embark upon teaches me something knew.

I learned to yarn over and cable with Mr. GreanJeans

I learned two ways to increase with Honorine

I learned the "right" way to yarn over with my Old Shale Shawl, and now I am doing lace with Juno Regina.

Right now Juno Regina likes me, but she had me in time out all last week. Although, now that I have said that I am sure something horrid will happen. Lets think happy thoughts.

So this should be interesting for whom ever is out there reading this. There are sure to be a lot of laughs to be had of my mistakes. Happy reading, see you soon.