I admit it, knitting socks isn’t my favourite thing. Oh sure, I always have one in my purse in progress, but I don’t usually get startitis for socks the way I do for sweaters. The sock WIP in my bag right now has been in progress for over a year. Yikes. Enter the genius of Elinor.

See, Elinor cranked out a whack of socks every year. Upwards of a dozen sometimes. I’ll pause and let that sink in. A dozen socks. A pair a month. 24 socks in a year. She totally puts me to shame. (And I deserve that shame. 14 months for a pair of socks? C’mon, Caro, get it together!)

In an effort to revive her love of socks (and not have to wear store-bought socks) she’s devised a sock design contest. All the details are over on Exercise Before Knitting, but essentially, design a pair of socks and if they’re awesome, you might win stuff.

Elinor has asked me to sit on the judges panel, and I have to tell you, I’m stoked. I can’t wait to see the designs folks come up with. I’m sure it will revive my own interest in sock knitting. One can only hope, ’cause I have to get these current socks off the damn needles!

Way back ages and ages ago before we moved, sometime in June of 2009 I started working on a new quilt. I still haven’t blogged about it here, but I think it’s time is now. I’m not 100% in love with where this is going, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

I picked a block out of an old quilting book I have. The book is Scrap Quilts and the block is the Flying Squares. It’s a bit fiddly with one inset corner seam, but I’ve worked out a system to make it easier. The fabric is all from a MoMo Wonderland jelly roll I picked up in Virginia.

My gut feeling is that it desperately needs some solids to balance things out.

I wasn’t planning on any sashing, but I think it might help steady things a bit.

I dunno. I like it, I’m just not in love with it.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Every year at SPA, there’s a fashion show. It’s low-key without a runway or anything, just normal folks showing off their finished knits from the year.  Everyone is incredibly supportive and appreciative and I love the vibe. For the second year in a row, we’ve proven ourselves to be the loud group in the corner, but I’m choosing to think that folks like the fun we bring. We’re that loud group of college buddies at an uptight wedding.

Some of the finished knits in the fashion show aren’t to my taste per se, but the knitting itself is always great. Shawls like this amazing thing knit based on a table cloth pattern.

Or this group of women from Attleboro (I think?) who all knit the same sweater. Fun to see the different colour combos.

Or this amazing cardigan knit for a teenage son who loves Jimi Hendrix.

Or the winner of this year’s Ugliest Sweater contest, the Terror Fish. I have to say, I don’t think this is by any means an ugly sweater, I think it’s just mis-understood. Look at the genius of this sucker! The husband caught wind of the pattern from a blog post Stitchy McYarnpants wrote a while back. He paid $30 for the pattern on ebay and his amazing wife knocked out the entire sweater, intarsia and all in under 17 days. All so that he could wear it for opening day of fishing season. Now THAT is love.

Isn’t it amazing?

So like I said, it’s not all my cup of tea, but it’s fun to see what other folks are up to.  Where else are you going to see this sort of knitting diversity? All hail the knitting retreat.

This weekend my girls and I all drove up to Freeport, Maine for our annual trip to SPA. (I love that SPA doesn’t stand for anything, it’s just capitalized for emphasis.) In what is quickly becoming tradition, we always drive a little farther and finish up our caravan at Purl Diva in Brunswick.

The owner, Ellen, is fabulous and is running a shop after my own heart. Great yarn selection, attention paid to lighting and most key, heaps of seating so you can sit and knit.

Loki, the shop dog is great too. She’s really well behaved and an asset to the store.  How can you resist those sweet eyes? Resistance is futile! Pet me!

I was tickled to see my friends’ designs all knit up and sprinkled around the store.

Look! An FLS!

Vespergyle Mittens!

Tea Leaves!

Fiddleheads!

I firmly believe that if Purl Diva wasn’t a two and half hour drive away, it would easily slip into the role of my local yarn store.  If you’re in the area, you really should check it out. (And save me a lemon Starburst from the candy bowl, please)

I’m headed up to Freeport, Maine to go to SPA this weekend and just like the last two years, the weather is calling for snow. I’m good with one last big snowstorm and then I’ll officially be over winter.  Bring on longer days! More light! Green things!

Until then, how about a healthy dose of spring flowers from the archives.

They feature a few different styles, but basically it’s super duper friendly smiley Japanese folks serving hot dogs, Japanese-style.

Turkey dogs, pork dogs, beef dogs or veggie dogs on a regular bun but topped with daikon radish and miso or teriyaki sauce and nori. I know it really sounds weird, but holy smokes, it’s delicious.

terimayo. nom.

Vancouver has a weird by-law that the only street cart food that can be sold is hot dogs, so this is a fantastic alternative when you just need something on the go downtown. Crazy tasty.

The signage cracks me up too. Ice-Cube! 10 times!

Word on the street is that they’re opening a brick and mortar location on Robson Street so they can serve a few more options than just dogs, so I’m putting that on my list for the next visit. Might help alleviate some of the giant lines too.

Last spring (or maybe even the spring before,) The Husband suggested an art collection project to me. His thought was to take my beloved Fisher-Price sewing machine and to see what different illustrators would do to interpret the icon. The idea appealed to me greatly, but being knee-deep in other projects and in a state of perpetual distraction, I didn’t have the time to devote to sourcing out folks who might be interested. I just left the idea rattling around in my head as a Someday project.

Last month, on a particularly crankypantsy day for me, The Husband dug a stiff envelope out of a pile on his desk and presented it to me as a wee pick me up. As soon as I opened it, I started to cry. He had done all the leg work and commissioned a few artists he’d found to draw up the sewing machine. I have to tell you, I’m completely enchanted.

The first is by Grant Gilliland:

On flickr as the Gross Uncle
I love the stark black and white and how the sewing machine knobs seem to be a face crying out with hard work.

The next one to arrive by Jillian Evelyn:

She’s here on flickr too.

(Seeing this reinforces thoughts of the F-P sewing machine tattoo I’d been considering.)

And my favourite so far by Thom Glick:

(I find it amusing that in this blog post where he put up the sewing machine illustration that some of the commenters were all, “WTF? Why would someone request that?”)

Aren’t they all fun? I want to see MORE! I’m envisioning a wall in my studio with each one framed and continually adding more as they come in. I’m completely in love with this project.

I’ll throw it to you guys now. Who else should I get involved? Are you an illustrator? Want to take a crack at it? Ping me! Let’s set something up! (Many many exclamation points. Can you tell I’m stoked?)

Let the knitting olympics begin!

Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!

I can’t tell you anything about it (we were sworn to secrecy) but you’ll have to watch on Friday night. So freaking fantastic.

We’re off to watch my old boss carry the Olympic torch in the rain later this afternoon. I’m telling you, so much great stuff happening here. The city is crackling with excitement.

calm before the storm

Olympics? In my hometown? OF COURSE I’m going to be there. Or here, really, because we flew out a couple days ago and are already in town soaking up the crazy excited vibe.  Vancouver is positively jumping.

countdown clock at the VAG

It also happens to be The Husband’s birthday week, so expect to see many more photos of beers and friends and light shows. LOVE this city!