Knit Along: Noro Legwarmers from Yarn Company - Day 6

Startitis and finishitis...

I’ve never been much for willpower.  It is a standing joke in our house that if there is a sweet I like nearby, I’ll eat it.  Period.  It won’t matter that I’ve promised not to, or that it’s supposed to be for someone else, or that I’m already up a few pounds.  

So it’s a problem that willpower--or determination or discipline or any of those nasty words I rarely subscribe to--is what’s required to finish this leg-warmer.

Writers will tell you that in the final chapters of the book in progress, suddenly all sorts of new projects will take on a fantastic lure.  All at once you can think of twelve new stories itching to be told, projects clamoring to draw your attention from the tough job of finishing the current work.  This is no different.  I have "startitis"--or is it "finishitis"?  My eye has been drawn to loads of next projects and I can’t think of anything interesting to say about the final ten inches if tiny size 5 stockinette stitch other than “oh, goody, an increase row!”  

And that is not interesting.  I’m not even sure its dignified.   These pieces are beautiful, and deserve better than such prattle.

So where does that leave you, intrepid DestiKNITter?  Well, I’d consider it a true failing to bore you, so here’s where we’ll leave off.  I have kept you alongside for the biggest challenge of this project--getting solidly into the second piece.  I promise I’ll finish these lovely pieces from The Yarn Company, even if they do end up as something other than leg-warmers (sleeves on a shrug perhaps?), but I won’t make you watch when I have other lovely projects from my New York visit we can explore together.

Anymore than I’d make you witness my scarfing down the last chocolate Donette in the bag even though they were supposed to be a treat for my son.

Some ugly shortcomings are best kept private.

Knit Along: Leg Warmers from The Yarn Company - Day 4

Triumph over limitations...

I have come up with a handy coping mechanism for my wicked case of “second sock syndrome”--or in this case, “second leg-warmer syndrome.” 
 
When I bound off the top of the first leg-warmer, I was NOT ALLOWED TO GET UP OUT OF THE CHAIR until I had cast on and accomplished an inch of the second leg-warmer.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t allow myself to seam up the first piece until I’d done an inch of the second.  Sort of the knitting version of Mary Poppins’ adage “well begun is half done.”  Now that I’m started, it doesn’t seem like such a monumental challenge to keep going.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  This did make for a rather miserable 90 minutes as I cast off, cast on, drug myself through the first inch, and then did my least favorite task of all:  seaming.  I hate seaming.  And this twisty yarn kept tangling on every stitch, so that even a couple of decent TV shows and half of a good movie didn’t redeem the time.  This was sheer I’m gonna get it done willpower--something I don’t often possess in great quantities.

Will they end up on legs?  Or adapted to be sleeves?  I don’t know yet.  I do know, however, that there’s now a halfway decent chance that there will be TWO of them. 

And that’s a victory.

Knit Along: Noro Legwarmers from Yarn Company - Day 3

Stitch literacy...

Especially with a simple pattern, it’s fun to get to the point in your craft where you don’t have to keep staring at a paper.  It’s rather like that magical moment where you can cook without a recipe...it somehow feels more like art, less like science when you’re not continually peering at written instructions.   

Memorizing a simple repeating pattern is only half the battle.  You’ve got to be able to look at your knitting and see where you are.  My friend calls this “stitch literacy.”  

These leg warmers are a perfect example.  “Increase one on each side every 10 rows” (or in the case of my chunky calves, every six rows) doesn’t tax many brain cells.  You can either employ a stitch counter--and there are scads of adorable or practical ones--or you can learn to count your rows visually.  

Here my needle is pointing to the knit-one-in-front-and-in-back increase.  It’s that purl-looking loop snuggled in between the two columns of knit stitches below it.  Now, if you go by my favorite adage that “knit stitches wear v-necks and purl stitches wear turtlenecks,” you can count the v-necks up from that loop to know you’ve done your six rows.  

Remember, however, to count the stitch on your needle.  This means five v’s in your knitting with the sixth around your needle.  Here I’ve simulated that so you can count up yourself.  See?  It’s not that hard.  And you’ll feel oh-so-skilled when you can pick up your knitting and know exactly where you left off--even if your toddler has made off with your stitch counter because it’s shaped like a sheep and he was playing farm.

Knit Along: Noro Legwarmers from Yarn Company - Day 2

Deliriously simple...

I’d forgotten how different Noro feels before you wash and block it.  I end up so transfixed by the colors that I forget it has always struck me as scratchy at first--even though this is the first time I’ve worked with Noro Taiyo, which is sock weight.  Finer fibers don’t make it softer, it still has that scratchy, natural feel. It never stays that way, but I somehow expect the texture to live up to the spectacular color.  And it does, just not while you’re knitting it.  That’s a bit of a letdown for someone as tactile as me, because I’m so affected by the feel of a yarn.  I need that “oooo” factor as I work it between my fingers.  

It’s why I’m so picky about my needles, too, and why I happily plunked down good money for a set of KnitPick’s Options Interchangable Harmony Wood needles--but NOT until I’d touched them. They don't show up in this photo, but you'll see them soon.  That "gotta touch" impulse is why I hardly ever buy stuff online...I need to touch it.  Even technology like laptops and cellphones--I must know what it feels like in my hands before I buy it. What about you?

This pattern from The Yarn Company is deliriously simple.  A bit of ribbing, two feet of regular increases, a bit more ribbing, and you’re done.  I think that’s why Noro works so well in this project--I’d go bonkers with a tweed or a solid color yarn.  All that stockinette could numb your brain.  This is an excellent project for sitting in a lecture, watching TV, that sort of thing.  I'd never classify it as entertaining enough for travel, although it's certainly portable enough.  You don't even need a stitch counter if you can read your rows correctly (more on that useful skill in the next installment).

I suspect the challenge will come for me where it always does in these sorts of projects:  making myself stay focused long enough to do the second one.  I’ve got a single sock and a lonely mitten ready to stand witness to my “second sock syndrome.”  

Anyone got good ideas for cures?  Effective bribes--I mean incentives?  I’m all ears...

Knit Along: Noro Legwarmers from Yarn Company - Day 1

Visionary knitting...

A knitter can dream.  Really, there’s a whole world of creative possibility at her fingertips when she casts on.  We all envision ourselves to be artsy, crafty, intriguing people when we knit.  We picture loving hands encased in our mittens, think of our booties cuddling around itty-bitty perfect baby toes.  We knit to bring our affections into manifest fiber, to make a hand-made and comforting world out of the sharp-edged technology that surrounds us.  Don’t get me wrong, I love technology, but who wants to snuggle up in a Blackberry when they’ve got the flu? 

Hand-knitting (except that you can have exactly the color and style you want) isn’t ever about pure functionality.  If we wanted fast practicality, we’d go out and buy scarves at Wal-mart, right?

Which explains--sort of--why I swallowed the concept of knitting leg-warmers without so much as a gulp of realism.  Leg-warmers.  Really?  On a 50-year old woman who looks NOTHING like Jane Fonda did at 50? Or 60? Or probably even 70? 

The whole idea just sorta has 80s Flashdance written all over it.  That may be the root of its attraction, for I was skinny and carefree (and 18!) in the 80s.  I was a theater major, so I did own legwarmers. (No, you may not see a photo of that.)

Legwarmers, Frye boots, and prairie skirts...remember?  Rats, I bet most of you don’t, young fools, but I shall ignore that and press on.

The truth is I have no business knitting dancewear.  None, zip, nada.  But I’m gonna do it anyway, because I love the idea that I can knit dancewear.  Sure, I’ve secretly entertained the notion of transforming them into shrug sleeves when I’m done, but until these babies prove themselves unable to wrap around my clumsy chunky thighs, they’re leg-warmers.

And if the pretended grace somehow seeps into my limbs to get me through Shaun T’s Hip Hop Abs long enough to drop a few pounds, well then I’ll claim victory.  Because a knitter can dream.

NEW YORK CITY, ROUND 2 - Upper West Side

A morning of One-of-a-Kinds

The world was kind enough to afford me a second trip to New York City this year, which meant that I could dip my toes again into the vast ocean of Manhattan yarn stores.  Like last time, we’ll document my adventures one neighborhood at a time for the next three installments.

Longtime readers will remember my fondness for the upper west side, and I was delighted to have reason to get off the subway at 79th street again.  As I’ve said before, the NY subway isn’t that hard to master, can often be much faster than a taxi, and with the help of great apps like Hopstop, you can scale the mass-transit learning curve nearly in an instant.

Head for Broadway off the subway, and look across the street for the amazing:

Zabar’s

2245 Broadway

New York, NY 10024-5899

212-787-2000 or 800-697-6301

www.zabars.com

There’s a reason this place is known as the quintessential New York Deli.  There is more cheese in one room than in all of Europe, it seems.  Honestly, I stood in the cheese department with my mouth hanging open.  

Every square inch of this store in jam-packed with good food--and with rushing New Yorkers who want to grab their crackers and get out of there without your touristy gawking getting in their way.  

Their Deli Mustard is the stuff of legend.  Just a couple of doors south is the Cafe, where coffee and goodies can be had with a little more elbow room.

Wander further up the block to our fiber fix for today:

The Yarn Company

2274 Broadway

New York, NY 10024

212-787-7878

www.theyarnco.com

In New York for over 30 years but recently under the new ownership of the delightful Tavy Ronen and her brother, this store has taken on a whole new feel.

  I soaked up Tavy's enthusiasm on the phone (she was out of town for my visit but set me up with wonderful staff member Petra to play hostess) as she related her vision for a truly creative fiber resource.  You know you’re in a special place when you wander up the steep stairway to notice the hallway pipe has been yarn-bombed with a charming little cuff.  

Inside is a clean-lined, well-lit studio atmosphere that features yarn, fabric, and needlepoint supplies.  I found the stock truly inventive--yarns and projects I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Got a diva in you--or in your life?  Grab the pattern for this flamboyant Ostrich Scarf done up in Be Sweet’s Boucle baby mohair with an unforgettable ostrich feather trim. Relax, they’ve got the trim in stock, so you won’t have to hunt down a Broadway costume shop to get your plume on like my friend Danica here.  If you need to make a show-stopping entry at a party, or just make your everyday life a theatrical experience, this project is for you.

Need something a bit more basic?  Go for Irina's Scarf done up in the magical Zauberball Starke 6.  Zauberball’s striking colorway and a nifty little zig-zag pattern do most of the work for you, and you won’t have to worry about the graduations matching in your socks like I did last year.

For a truly distinct piece, I was instantly drawn to the Yarn Garden Bubble Ball Cowl by Be Sweet’s magical Bubble Ball.  I’d never seen anything like this, and the nice folks at BeSweet pack up everything you need to turn heads with this artsy little cowl. (Photo by Yarn Garden)

Yarn Company has carved itself a little nitche in dancewear patterns, so it makes sense that our Knit-Along from this store is a pair of Noro Leg Warmers in a pattern by Mercedes Diaz.  Letting Noro’s stunning color changes take centerstage, these legwarmers are elegant and not too bulky.   I don’t dance well, but soon I’ll at least look like I do.  Heavens, it’s the 80’s all over again!

After you’ve finished your shopping (and, if you’ve been very industrious, earned yourself one of Yarn Company’s sparkle-shiny project bags), get your Hollywood on by heading up to

Cafe Lalo

201 West 83rd Street

New York, NY  10024

212-496-6031

www.cafelalo.com

Don’t be surprised by the number of people grabbing the fence in front of the cafe while their buddies take photos--folks are simply re-enacting the famous scene from the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie You’ve Got Mail.  It is a charming place, the kind of cafe we all want to be seen in while in Manhattan, dripping in vintage French vibe and more kinds of cake than you could eat in twelve lifetimes.  

I had a lovely salad, they featured quiches that had to be six inches high, and this is definitely the place to nosh if your vegetarian or have dietary restrictions.  But who wants to be restricted in here?? The menu lists almost 50 different kinds of cake.  That means I could come back every Sunday for a year and....gain 50 pounds.  Still, Cafe Lalo is the best possible way to end a morning of pure indulgence on New York’s upper west side.