Prog Blog- Pre-departure

One Suitcase and a Carry-On

It's Friday morning and the journey to Prague begins!
Plan A is to take the flight from CVG (Cincinnati) to JFK, then JFK to PRG (Prague).  Sounds like a good plan...except the four of us are traveling standby using our Employee Travel Benefits. Plan B is CVG to CDG (Paris), CDG to PRG. Plan C is I'll be at the shop later today.

Airline Employee travel benefits are a real perk for airline employees...at least they used to be. These days, the flights are sooo full that it has become more difficult to use the free travel privileges. Getting out of Cincinnati is the toughest part. When you fly "standby" you can go to the gate and after all the ticketed passengers board, you get to board if there are seats available. You can always tell the standbys...we're the ones with our eyeballs glued to the overhead screens watching for our names to appear on the "cleared" list.

When Delta and Northwest Airlines merged, Comair employees took a big hit when it came to standby travel. We used to have seating priority based on our hire dates. After the merger, our priority status plunged as all Delta and former Northwest employees are placed ahead of Comair employees (except on Comair flights). In other words, a Delta employee who was hired yesterday has a higher priority than a Comair employee with 32 years of service like Captain John. That hurts!

The Comair flight to JFK looks fair. There are 7 or 8 seats available and 9 people on the standby list. We are listed 1-4 so it looks good for us to get on! There are 16 seats available (15 in Business Class) for the Prague flight and 11 standbys listed. Wouldn't Business Class to Prague be a great Birthday present?

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and Bon Voyages!
I've packed plenty of yarn! I have Schaeffer Nicole for John's socks, Mochi Plus for an entrelac scarf and my Alchemy Silken Straw Color Affection. That should do me until we return.

The Pre-Prog Blog-Part I

Captain John to Junko: How do you spell Prague?
Junko to John: How would you spell it?
John to Junko: Prague sounds like Frog...so, P-R-O-G?

The countdown is officially on and I'm starting to get really excited about the upcoming and much needed vacation! One week before we leave! The plan: Prague and Vienna.

....But, I have to finish the three-day trip that I'm currently on, get my tax returns in the mail, get a mani/pedi, bid for next month, catch up on two weeks worth of shop stuff, get two weeks worth of shop stuff taken care of for while we're gone, and a four-day trip that starts on Monday and finishes the night before we're planning to leave. Yikes! In other words, I have two days off from flying to get my life in order and I think I'm scheduled to work at Knitwits. It is crunch time and time to get serious about getting things on my action plan accomplished.

Captain John and I are hoping to have the time and technology to blog about the trip. Captain John can't spell (that's why it's the Prog Blog) and I can't take a picture worth a dime so we're setting the blog bar very low...our posts might be blurry and full of typos but the adventures of traveling "standby" might be worth it.

It's a good thing that I will be traveling with Captain John and his best friend, Ed, and his wife Regina.
They are seasoned globetrotters and have been researching hotels, points of interest and transportation options for weeks.  I'm a great person to vacation with because I'm up for anything and I'm just happy to be included but please DO NOT put me in charge of any planning or coordination- just tell me where to be and when.

Sluggage Options

For the past two weeks, I have been obsessing about the following things:

1. Finding a suitcase that weighs nothing but holds everything so I can avoid being "That Person". "That Person" is the one group member who is always struggling with bags and stuff in the TSA Security Line, at the hotel, in the cab, etc. I have 3 candidates lined up in my living room.
2. Figuring out what to pack? Fleece or flip flops? Boots and a bathing suit?  T-shirts or turtlenecks? Captain John is limiting me to one bag and three pairs of shoes.
3. And most important...What am I going to knit?

Captain John has been dealing with the following:

1. Which airport should we fly into to? Amsterdam? Paris? London? Prague? And, which airport to fly out of? CVG-Paris, JFK-Prague, Detroit-Amsterdam? MSP-?
2. How do the loads look for non-revenue stand-by travel?
3. How will we get to Prague and beyond? Train, plane, car, bus?
4. Where will we stay? How long will we stay?
5. When do we leave? When do we come back?

Clearly, Captain John is the more valuable player of our twosome.

I'm off to audition my suitcase options to see who performs best in terms of ease of packing, ease of wheeling and the "Clean and Jerk" test (the ease of pick up, lift up to waist and then lift over head drill).

Ciao!

Ode to Elmore-Pisgah

Ballband Dishcloth from Peaches & Creme label

I grew up with hand knit dishcloths and I've never been able to use anything else in the kitchen. There is something really special about the toothyness and absorbency of an all cotton, hand knit washrag. I loved the way the yarn would tighten up with washing and the colors would fade with time. My mom would knit an endless supply of "Cast on 4, knit 2 YO, knit to end" Peaches & Creme dishcloths. They have showed up in my Christmas Stockings for as long as I could remember. They were always welcomed gifts for friends and family. In fact, I had never knit my own dishcloth until just a few years ago.

Easy Knit Washrag

The love of hand knit dishcloths is shared by all of the Knitwits staff. We call them "Spa Cloths", it makes them sound just a little more special. Some of us (Sheryl) even have special knitting needles for creating their spa cloths. When we started carrying Elmore-Pisgah Peaches & Creme, we also launched a Dishcloth Club called Peaches & Creme Sundays. We would choose patterns that taught different skills and techniques and we would gather around the round table in our wobbly chairs every other Sunday afternoon. It is through Dishcloth Club that many of our loyal Knitwits honed their knitting skills and made lifelong friends.

Peaches & Creme Sundays

Elmore-Pisgah WAS one of our favorite yarn vendors at Knitwits. Since 1920, they were the manufacturers and distributors of our beloved Peaches & Creme, the ultimate cotton dishcloth yarn. Their warehouse was located in Old Fort, North Carolina, just outside of Asheville and right down the road from Janet's parents. We liked chatting with Flo and the other good folks who answered our calls, we liked picking up the our orders ourselves and we loved buying yarn that was made in the USA! There was something really special about the timeless appeal of Elmore-Pisgah Peaches & Creme.

Last year, we called Flo to place a little order and a teary Flo answered and announced that they were closing their doors at the end of the week- a Canadian company called Spin Rite bought the Peaches & Creme name. It was a classic case of "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em out." We were heartbroken and angry--and we vowed to never buy the Canadian version of the yarn that put Flo and our other Pisgah friend out of work! Our little order turned into a very large order and we hoarded the soon to be gone yarn!

We have been searching for a suitable Peaches & Creme replacement for almost a year. Nothing felt right. It was like trying to find a replacement for your favorite pair of jeans. We had a hard time finding a suitable dishcloth yarn substitute--too expensive, too much yardage, too unAmerican or wrong "put up" (we want "ready to knit" without winding.

Last week, the newest issue of Creative Knitting Magazine arrived. As usual, we tore open the box and started leafing through the magazine. Janet and I found the dishcloth patterns at the same time and we both said, "Hey, those are cute. Wonder what yarn they used." The answer: Sassy Skeins!

Since 1995, the two talented women of Sassy Skeins in Key West, Florida have produced the Key West Karibbean Kotton Kollection, 36 great shades of 100% mercerized high quality, colorfast cotton yarn. We gave the ladies of Sassy Skeins a call and we liked what they had to say. The Key West Kollection met all of our dishcloth yarn criteria and we ordered a handful of colors (the ones they used in the magazine, to be exact). A few days later, the yarn arrived and it exceeded all of our expectations!

I took 2 balls of lime on my last trip and I crocheted a little bobbled clutch. I really enjoyed crocheting with the yarn. It is a braided yarn with a lovely sheen and it is easier on the hands than our Peaches & Creme.

Love the Sassy Skeins Key West Kotton Kollection

We still have a limit supply of "the Original" Peaches & Creme skeins. It will be a sad day when our supply is depleted. I don't think we will ever be able to "replace" Flo and our beloved Peaches & Creme but we welcome the addition of Sassy Skeins and the Key West Kollection with great enthusiasm!

Here's my mom's Favorite Dishcloth Pattern:

Cast on 4 stitches.
Row 1 - Knit across.
Row 2 and all rows until you have 33 or 39 stitches on the needle) - Knit 2, yo, knit across.
Next row will begin decreasing.
Knit 1, knit 2tog, yo, knit 2tog, knit across - you will have 32 or 38 stitches
Repeat previous row until 4 stitches remain on needle.
Knit across.
Bind off.
Weave in ends.
TaDa!
Repeat 1,000,000 times.

Knitting in 1997 and Today

In 1997, I started flying and needed a hobby to fill my time as a reserve flight attendant. I bought some Peaches and Creme yarn, a pattern and some knitting needles at Michaels and knit a baby sweater with an intarsia kitten face on the front and a striped tail on the back. Call it beginners luck-it came out pretty darn cute. I followed the pattern for the most part. I ignored or made up stuff for the directions I didn't understand. I changed the pattern a little as I knit and added the tail pattern for the back. I guess I have always altered patterns to fit my whims. Knitting was a perfect fit for my new lifestyle!

Flight Attendant Graduation 1997

In 1997, there were far fewer Yarn Shops in the area. My choices were Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Walmart. But... they had yarn, patterns and supplies. Later that year, I went to visit my mom in Tuscan, Arizona with my Red Heart yarn in hand. I needed more yarn so she took me to a little yarn shop near her house...a real yarn shop! I was like a kid in a candy store and I made my first "Big Girl" yarn purchase--some Rowan Yarn and a "Always Arizona" pattern.

Always Arizona pattern by Sealed With A Kiss

Well, since then many things have changed--including my fashion choices!
My first visit to a LYS (Local Yarn Shop) transformed me from a person who knit as a hobby into a real knitter and yarn snob. The LYS had yarns of every fiber, color and gauge. They had patterns for things I didn't even know you could knit. And, the best part...personal interaction-they offered help, assistance and classes!

For the next few years, I visited as many LYSs as I could find. Interweave Knits used to publish an annual Yarn Shop Guide that was always in my suitcase. I looked up "Yarn" in the Yellow Pages of every hotel room I stayed in and called to find out how close they were. I ventured to Ohio--which if you've read the blog, know that I don't like to drive outside of the zip code. Each LYS had a personality-some good, some bad. I built up my yarn stash with yarn "souvenirs" from every place imaginable.

Jump to the present. Wow! Things have really changed for knitters. The internet and Ravelry have made yarns, patterns, designers and fellow knitters accessible with a few clicks of the keyboard. Now, Curious Georges like me can research just about anything without leaving the zip code. In addition, YouTube tutorials, knitting websites and blogs offer 24/7 answers to questions when your LYS is closed.

The computer isn't a substitute for the LYS experience of touching, feeling and even smelling the yarns, and interacting with other yarn obsessed friends, but it is a wonderful way fuse the old school handicraft of knitting with modern technology.

I hope we are able to deliver that "Kid in a Candy Store" experience when they come to Knitwits. I hope our website helps knitters find us and want to come visit. I hope our blog will entertain and get knitters to know us better. And, I hope our Ravelry group and Ravelry page are utilized by fellow Ravelers. If you can't come buy...log on!

P.S.
Jill has scheduled a class at Knitwits called Unraveling Ravelry on Saturday, April 21st from 1:00-2:00.  This is our most popular class. Ravelry and Knitwits are THE knitting resources that I can't live without!

Packing for Prague

I'm leaving for my Prague/Vienna trip on April 20th and I have not a clue what to pack for my knitting entertainment. With everything else going on in my life and at the shop, this is what is consuming my thoughts!

I'm thinking socks are the way to go. They're small, they take a while, I owe Captain John a pair and I enjoy knitting them. But, a voice in the back of my head tells me that there is something far more exciting out there. What could it be?

I thought Color Affection in Alchemy Silken Straw might be the answer. I adore this shawl and know that it will be a tremendous amount of knitting but the end result would be worth it. I cast (casted?) on last week and started a test drive to see if it was road worthy. I'm thinking not. The yarn is rather splitty and requires very sharp needles, good lighting and each stitch (especially the M1s) requires concentration and needle dexterity. At the end of the project, I'm supposed to have 447 stitches on the needles. Yikes!  I'm thinking this is a project better left at home!

Color Affection

As usual, I log onto Ravelry for inspiration. I click on Patterns and look at "hot right now". Nothing looks familiar. Then, I realize I have "crochet" checked. I correct mistake and click on "top 20". I find two candidates, Quinn Sweater and Breezeway Cardigan both by designer Amy Gunderson from Knitscene Summer 2012. Drats! I don't have it yet.

Quinn Sweater

Breezeway Cardigan

I do a pattern search of the Color Affection designer, Veera Valimaki. Her designs are all stunning. I'm especially fond of Folded, a round neck pullover that is pleated at the front for more interesting shape. It’s stylish and cozy – all at the same time. The pullover is worked in one piece from bottom up.

Folded

 Is 800 yards of fingering weight yarn too bulky? Probably not. But, it's a heck of a lot of stockinette. Still in the running. I wonder if the Madelinetosh Steam Engine would work.

On a whim, I typed "Prague" into the pattern search. Stuff popped up, but nothing worthy of packing for Prague. Same with "Vienna". Back to the drawing board.

Next whim, check in on the YarnHarlot. I type her name into the people search and Voila! There she is. I looked at her queue, her favs and her projects. This woman knits LOTS of socks!  Just as I suspected, I've already knit many of her projects.

My queue now has 189 projects and 114 favorites. I have more UFOs than I can count. And...I still can't find a project to pack for Prague!

The Return of the Knitwits Blog!

About a year ago, the Knitwits Blog went missing.
I don't know what happened but it became increasingly difficult to come up with blog-topics and make the time to sit down and crank out a post.

Some of you may have noticed that my portion of the Knitwits E-News has become quite wordy over the past few weeks. I try and try to edit it down, but there is so much more that I want to say.  It was a sign from the Blog Gods telling my that it was time to resuscitate the Knitwits Blog.


Knitwits Blog, I've missed you!!!

Long Time No Blog

This is NOT my Living Room...but my spare bedroom is starting to resemble this!

It has been a very long time since my last blog.
I've been very, very busy but I can't tell you what I've been busy doing. Funny how that works. The pace of my life has been so frantic that I haven't had the mental energy to organize my thoughts enough to blog!

Today is the first day in a very long time that I don't feel like I'm running a race that I haven't trained for. I have a bunch of stuff to do but nothing that "has to be done" by a certain time. Phew! My usual breakfast is coffee and two Aleve, but today....just coffee!

Let me spend this Funday Monday quickly catching you up on my life.
I'm still trying to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months, I'm still flying, I'm still eating my way through Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with my Valentine and I'm still starting way more projects than I'm finishing. Friends have had babies and are having babies, have finalized adoptions and have watched their babies graduate. On the flip-side, friends have also had to say goodbye to loved ones. It's been an emotional few months. It seems that my "knitting completion factor" increases with my emotional state and the pressure of having a deadline imposed by Jill or an e-News commitment. The happier I am the more completion. The more stress I feel, the more scattered my attention becomes.

Writing a blog is very therapudic...it allows my thoughts to surface and my slow typing allows the thoughts to formulate. As I write this blog entry, I'm am thinking about quick and easy knitting projects for the summer and a Fall project plan to carry Knitwits through the Fall, Holidays and dreaded Winter. I am hoping that blogging will help me decide what to focus on.

I am blogging because I am inspired. Janet, Jill, Sheryl and I went to Columbus yesterday for the BIG TNNA yarn market. It used to be so overwhelming to see the millions of vendors and booths. This year, we walked the Columbus Convention Center with the intention of buying nothing and just soaking it all in. We ended up buying a few things, reordering a few things, and Janet and I had our hair done. We're real suckers for give-aways, good snacks and things that are sparkly. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves and realized that we had a pretty good handle on our inventory and offerings. The vendor booths were good sources of both inspiration and "what not to do".

As we formulate our Knitwits plans for the future, we're leaning towards doing knit-a-long activities that teach new skills and keep knitters accountable for completing projects. For the summer, we're knitting Monsters, doing freeform knitting evening bags, and working on the Knitwits Scarf-a-Long, In my mental queue, I have a Fair Isle bag or toy, a mystery blog-a-long colorwork baby sweater and assorted other baby stuff, and starting the "12,000 Gifts of Christmas". For the Fall and beyond, I'm thinking about Knitivities, a Stocking-A-Long, a sweater knit-a-long and a million or two other projects.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the Blog-A-Long. I think I'll spend the rest of the day working on the details. Ciao!