A blizzard is for knitting

The nor'easter-blizzard currently visiting New England (and several, more southerly states) has compelled me to think of all the happy knitters who are "hunkered down" (a term oft-used of late) with their needles and yarn. I count myself among them, certainly, though I keep reminding myself that if the forecast had played out only a wee bit differently, I would at the moment be staring, in an opiate haze, at my left foot in a fiberglass cast, since I was scheduled for surgery at 8 a.m.  Well, life turns on a dime, doesn't it? Along comes a Weather Event, accompanied by a Travel Ban, and expectations of power outages, foodlessness, and all that other sort of fun stuff, and the Surgical Center shuts down for the nonce. FORTUNATELY, none of the bad stuff has come to pass except for lots and lots of snow (it's still falling). We have at least two feet, but there are higher drifts.

I am now knitting that hat with the vulgar but realistic message mentioned on the previous post. I shall post an image of the FO soon, I hope.

Where is the Subaru?

Where is the nuthatch?

***

Luckily the snow didn't hit until after Brandon Mably gave his workshop at Knit One, Quilt Too in Barrington, Rhode Island, on Sunday the 25th.

It was overwhelmingly well-attended, and all of the knitters, strung around the perimeter likecloselyplacedpickets in a fence, diligently followed the "poppies" Fair Isle graph distributed at the start. Brandon played mixtapes of music to knit by so as, he said, in a voice that brooked no dissent, to discourage talking and encourage knitting. Many knitters sang along to the Beatles, highlights from the musical "Hair," and other pop tunes that delivered me swiftly to my high school cafeteria at lunchtime, ca. 1971.

You can see, behind Brandon, some of the poppies swatches pinned to cardboard; here are more. (Mine is in the middle, on the pink plastic needle.)

It was intense, gentle knitters, and it was long. The room was very hot and very cramped. (I kept getting flashbacks to knitting on the rush-hour N train as I traveled to and from school, in those dark old days when I also used knitting needles as protection against muggers.) Knitting in such close quarters, with no table to hold my yarn or other stuff, was like one of those dreams I sometimes have, in which mechanical entities like computers and cars repeatedly malfunction, and I wake up just as I'm about to delete my magnum opus, or drive over a cliff. 

After a while I just couldn't stick it out. And so I left an hour early, despite Brandon's stern warning that I would be missing the best part.

What is this thing called elbow room?

Did I learn anything at this workshop?
Yes.
Was it worthwhile?
I believe that many of those who attended would reply affirmatively.

Charming handknits from the needles of Brandon Mably and Kaffe Fassett.

As if I needed another reason to buy yarn...

I decided to participate in the 2014 Great Rhody Yarn Crawl in Surgical Strike Mode. Wait till Sunday, hit two places, See, Prey, Leave.

Destination Numero Uno: Knit One Quilt Too in Barrington, Rhode Island.

Gentle knitters, it was my follow-up visit to this beautiful, new-kid-on-the-block LYS, and I loved it even more the second time around.

Yvonne Weiss, Inventor, Developer, and Proprietor  is one of the kindest needlewomen ever. She brings graciousness, hospitality, and creativity in various ways, shapes, and forms to her lovely enterprise.  (Think: inspirational materials, in-house designers and resident knitting experts. Also, the shop has big windows and is filled with light--a somewhat rare feature among the LYS in New England.)

Two more bonuses:  the chatelaine of Casapinka was knitting one of her amazing designs, just inside the front door, where she cheerfully greeted non-recovering yarnoholics.

And I met for the first time, but I hope not the last, Holly Kennedy of Fish Belly Fiber Works (New Hampshire), who was displaying her gorgeously dyed skeins.

Thus began my downfall:

The two skeins on the right were dyed by Fish Belly; the cobalt blue is Madeline Tosh "Fathom."  All fingering.

Then, Destination Numero Due:  Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, where the culminating ceremonies of the Yarn Crawl were held. I couldn't stay long, but was happy to see Linda Perry of Thistledown Yarns, June Gonzalez of Rising Sun Earthworks (from whom I bought two splendid sets of ceramic buttons), and the Westcotts (Iris and David) as they demonstrated an antique sock knitting machine.

Thistledown Yarns and patterns on display.

The Westcotts and their venerable sock knitter.