WOW! Technology is great when it works but a nightmare when it doesn't.  I am so fortunate to have Catrina, my Technology Magician.  I am one of the many victims of the iOS 8 update.  My iPad can no longer talk to Weebly and neither can my iPhone.  I have had to learn to write "Knitting:  A Love Story" in a much more complex way.  My Weebly Ap on iPad was oh so easy.  At least I am not the only one who is having trouble.  Catrina says Facebook is full of iOS 8/Weebly issues.  Now, enough of that!  Let's get back to 50 Things Knitters Didn't Have 50 Years Ago.

I love fiber, skeins and balls of yarn.  I am ecstatic when I see a LYS  filled with beautiful colors of yarn.  But I am old enough to remember when our choices were limited.  Knitting was great then but it's oh so better now.  TILLI TOMAS yarn is my next "50 Things Knitters Didn't Have 50 Years Ago."  TILLI TOMAS was a mainstay in my Survivor Shawls.  Can you see the beautiful sequins and beads in the yarn?  They give anything you knit a great sparkle (and you know how much I love sparkle!).  The yarn is yummy, the colors beautiful and there is sparkle.  What more could a knitter want!      

Remember when I mentioned the first time I saw Prism's Wild Stuff at the Quarter Stitch in New Orleans?  Well, the Wild Stuff was knit into an ENTRELAC vest.  It was hanging from the ceiling in beautiful muted shades of greens, purples and brass.  It looked woven.  What was it! How did they do it!  Well, it was the magical ENTRELAC.  I still wonder "Who was the first person who took the time to figure this out?"  Warning:  ENTRELAC is challenging to get a gage.  You only really know how big your project is going to be as the woven fabric appears.  I have knit many ENTRELAC projects, but I've given them all away.

This is my start of something called a Baseball Jacket in ENTRELAC.  I like the ENTRELAC look better when each row of squares is a different color (right leaning squares one color and left leaning another) so I never finished this.  This is one of my many TBFL (To Be Finished Later) projects.  This one I stopped because I didn't love it and discovered something to knit I did love.  

This is the picture that started an infatuation.  I was in the fabulous Yarn Barn in Lawrence, Kansas leafing through a Interweave Knits and saw this.  It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before.  I read the article and learned about VALENTINA DEVINE.   Look at this!  With all I've told you about what I love, are you surprised that I became obsessed.  This really was the first time I ever saw knitting that wasn't one row on top of another.  

My knitting buddy Linda and I got to take a class from VALENTINA DEVINE at Crafty Lady.  It was a wonderful day!  VALENTINA is fabulous!  Her life story is amazing, her sense of of design and color unequaled and Kaffe Fassett is her friend.  As you can see, this is another TBFL but I love it and have decided to finish it.   She brought a table full of her designs for us to look at and touch (no drooling, please!)  It was like being in a bakery and saying, "I want to try that and that and that and that."  She is such a nice person.  If you can get a copy of the spring 1998 Interweave Knits, do it.  The article and philosophy are worth reading. The article is called "The Kaleidoscopic World of Valentine Devine."  What a perfect title! The most fun part (or the most challenging depending on how you view it) is choosing the multitude of yarns you need for a project.  I decided I wanted copper yarns for this project.  Once again my stash grew but I loved every skein I bought.   The article and the woman completely changed how I look at knitting.

Well, the three things we've looked at in this post are TILLI TOMAS, ENTRELAC and VALENTINA DEVINE.  More to come  

I am having a terrible time. Ever since I did my IOS update on my iPad, Weebly kicks me out when I try to post. I will try to do this from my cell phone and see what happens. I am a knitter, a lover of fiber and an ok writer but I am not a tech person. I guess I need to visit Apple Store.

Speaking of technology (what a perfect segue), RAVELRY is my next "50 Things". I can't believe how it has changed how I approach knitting. If I am struggling with a pattern, need some ideas on how to use a specific yarn or just want to explore the ideas and thoughts of others, Ravelry is where I head. The hardest thing about Ravelry is remembering my password. If I am struggling with a pattern, someone on Ravelry has figured it out.

My next posts will be on VALENTINA DEVINE, HANDDYED YARNS and TILLY THOMAS in my 50 Things series, but the pictures haven't transferred from my iPad to my phone! Technology is really biting me. I have always said I an TI (technologically impaired) and I guess this proves it. I hope I get this figured out and fixed soon. I am so excited to talk about Valentina. Keep you fingers crossed.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this, please let me know! 😢

What a big week! The photographer came to take pictures for the Homestyle article. I can't wait to see the pictures! I am never happy with pictures of me. I was so busy talking about "Knitting: A Love Story," Survivor Shawls, the cradle full of yarn, I forgot to be up tight about getting my picture taken. Maybe that will help. It's just that I have this picture of me in my head that never gets captured by film. Go figure! The date for the article is October 10.

In organizing the Stash Studio (thank you Jan Roys for attaching the studio label to the knitting room), I found many things to finish and write about. In addition, the Knitting Room has become the Stash Studio. I found old writings about knitting that I had forgotten all about. When I was working, I would spend my time in relentless, unending meetings by fantasizing about yarn, planning knitting projects and dreaming about LYS. To appear to be present, I would take notes (about knitting.)

Now, let's continue with 50 things knitters didn't have 50 years ago. We've already talked about the two tools which have saved many marriages the SWIFTER and the YARN WINDER, EXOTIC YARNS and INTERCHANGABLE NEEDLES. I am really into this so let's go!

One of my favorite techniques that wasn't around 50 years ago is FELTING. I love felting. It is like being a magician. You take something huge like the picture above and Ta Da . . .

The stitches disappear, it becomes a fraction of it's size and you can cut it without fear of unraveling. As a matter of fact felting blunders become fabulous hot pads, all you have to do is cut them into squares. This is a Noni bag that I found while reorganizing. All that had to be done was that magical shrinking process. I don't want you to think I'm an addict but a couple of years ago we needed a new washer. I refused to have anything to do with an HE/front-loading washer. Why? Because you cannot open them mid-cycle to check when you are felting and they do not provide the agitation needed to felt. I would love to make a felted jacket but what if I missed the "fit me" point and it became a Barbie sweater? Maybe some day I will brave it out. Felted slippers are ever so warm and great gifts. When I first discovered felted slippers everybody on my Christmas list got them. Jan Bags and slippers: two of my favorite gifts to give.

LAURA BRYANT has changed the landscape and the brilliance of knitting. She is the fabulous artist who became a fiber artist and brought color and texture to yarn. She began hand-dying when it was a rarity. Her signature yarn was the breath-taking Wild Stuff. I remember the second I first laid eyes on Wild Stuff. It was in The Quarter Stitch in New Orleans. I stopped in my tracks and held my breath. What was this skein of yarn containing different shades and textures? Of course, I brought some.

I love Wild Stuff. Laura and her company Prism introduced the first eyelash yarn. She continues to innovate in color, pooling and many other areas. I was fortunate to take a class from Laura through Crafty Lady at the Grosse Point Yact Club. It was early in her career but I knew I was in the presence of genius. I am currently working on her Ikat wrap on the cover of the fall Vogue. Someday it will be finished and I will post it. If you are thinking of doing it my tip is "do not fear!" The pattern is confusing but do exactly like it says. Take some time to read the pattern, think about it and read it again. Get comfortable with the concept. Don't drive yourself crazy with the gauge.

Go forth and knit!

This is my stairway to heaven otherwise known as the knitting room. It is cleaned, organized and ready for company. I would like to interrupt my "50 Things You Didn't Have 50 Years Ago" and take you on a little tour of my place of solace.

One day five years ago, Dick decided he wanted to use our third bedroom for something other than a depository for my yarn. His solution was to build a room over our garage for me. Our ideas were very modest, then the architect got involved. I love architects! We have a beautiful open stairway off our foyer leading to heaven. I have a wonderfull 20x22 space that is all mine. I have alluded to the size of my yarn stash, now you can check it out for yourself. Besides being a great place to knit and keep yarn, it is fabulous during Christmas season for keeping the gift and wrapping clutter out of the public part of the house.

Well, here we go!

Welcome to my little piece of heaven. Of course, I have a table and comfortable chairs for social knitting. The chairs were once our deck chairs but I claimed them as soon as the room was finished because they are perfect for knitting. They rock a bit and you feel suspended. The lighting makes taking pictures a little difficult from a glare but you get the idea. I have two sky lights that brighten the room and make it fabulously relaxing on rainy days.

This is my library. I love knitting books. If you could see the titles you would discover that I have them grouped by category (color, techniques, baby, men, scarves and wraps, felted, etc) and the authors are alphabetized within each category. I hope you don't think I'm too anal but I want to be able to find a book when I want it! The picture above the bookcase and the one to the left are very special to me. Fiberworks and Wonders Knitting and Weaving was one of my very favorite yarn shops in Toledo. It was owned by two guys who loved color as much as I do. When the shop went out of business 😥 I bought the two panorama pictures of the shop. I love looking at the pictures and remembering the great times I had there. It was at Fiberworks and Wonders that I first discovered the wonderful Nashua. I made the afghan for Donn of Nashua. I added much color to my stash from Fiberworks and Wonders.

This is Lydia my dress form. I really wished I had taken Lydia to Lawrence so my pictures of the vests would have been better. Lydia is wearing the Survivor Shawl that will be featured in the HomeStyle article.

When I am working on a project, I keep the yarn I need in my cradle which was also my dad's cradles which was also my dad's grandfather's cradle. It is over 130 years old. The yarn currently making residence is the pink for Survivor's Shawls.

The top shelf contains single patterns organized in notebooks and knitting magazines. The middle shelf is all about buttons. Hundreds and hundreds of buttons. Old, new, wooden, glass, handmade, jet: you call it I probably have it. The bottom shelf is accessories.

This is where I wind my yarn. I love to wind yarn. It relaxes me like nothing else. I can wind small balls and large balls. I can wind partial balls and discover how many yards I have with a digital counter.

Last but certainly not least, this is what made this room possible--my yarn stash. I should reorganize my stash every few months. When I organize, I always scare myself with what I have and I don't add to it for a while. I think I could never buy another skein, knit until I die and still have enough yarn to knit a scarf that circles the equator. I love every skein. When I moved my tubs upstairs, one woman said,"I bet you found yarn you forgot you had." My response was, "Have you ever found children you forgot you had?" She looked at me puzzled. Did you notice that my tubs are labeled? I also have all of my many tubs of Noro together, the Nashua together, the Magic Ball yarn together, etc.

It has been exciting to take you on a tour of my yarn room. I hope you enjoyed it.

I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post. This is the first time I have broken my twice a week vow. But I do have I a great reason. I have frantically been organizing my yarn loft for my visit from the photographer for the Detroit News. I also having been knitting up a storm. I have two great new projects on needles which I will share with you soon.

Since our trip to Lawrence, Kansas for Donn and Andi's 50th anniversary celebration, I have been thinking in terms of 50. In the next few posts, I am going to talk about 50 things knitters didn't have 50 years ago. I have been having fun thinking about the fibers, tools and techniques that weren't around 50 years ago. Here we ago.

These are the most important inventions ever for the knitter--the SWIFTER and the YARN WINDER. I have vivid memories of the men in my family (grandfather, uncle, dad) whining as they held a skein of yarn while my grandmother, aunt and mom wound a ball of yarn. There often was a little swearing but there was always much grumbling. My grandmother was amazing. She could wind a perfect center pull ball before the yarn winder. Some how she attached the yarn to her thumb and ta da, she had a center pull ball. I never got the hang of that. My balls were always the outside pull that you found yourself chasing across the floor. When Dick and I married he became the next generation of male skein holders. I think he was the worst. He would never hold his arms up level and the yarn would fall off. What a mess! Or he would try to make it go faster by moving his out stretched hands and the yarn would fall off. With this would be the continuous whining of, "How much longer?" "My arms are tired!" "I can't do this any more!" The happiest day of our married life wasn't a vacation or the purchase of our home but my purchase of the swifter and yarn winder.

The next fabulous invention was INTERCHANGEABLE KNITTING NEEDLES. These are my favorite Dreamz by Knitter's Pride. It doesn't matter if you use their single pointed, double pointed or interchangeable, the size 5 is always brown, the size 8 is always red, etc. The size of the interchangeables are printed on the on every needle, too. How many times have you needed to use circular needles but couldn't tell what size you had? Annoying! You would think that with interchangeable needles my needle supply would be smaller. Not the case. I still keep buying needles when a new kind comes out. Sometimes because they're pretty, sometimes because they're square, sometimes because they're clear. I guess I just love knitting needles.

50 years ago we didn't have the gorgeous EXOTIC YARNS we have today. It used to be wool (mostly scratchy), cotton, worsted, baby, fine with cashmire thrown for those who could afford it. But today we have buffalo, alpaca, mink (shown in the pictures), qivit, hemp and the list goes on. My goal is to knit something out of every exotic yarn. I have used buffalo, and believe it or not it is soft as a cloud. To get buffalo yarn, the hides are bought from companies who sell buffalo for meat. For obvious reasons buffaloes can't be sheared (like putting your life on the line to get that soft under coat.) Buffalo is the perfect yarn to knit a scarf for a man. I knit one for Donn and included information on the path from buffalo to yarn and he loved it.

These are my first three of the FABULOUS 50. I have many more (47 to be exact) to share with you.

It has been so much fun to introduce you to my Lawrence family. Now for the fabulous Erin. I first met Erin when she was 7. Everyone was a little nervous about how Erin would respond to me because Dick was her favorite. She approached me skeptically. It wasn't long before we were buddies. She was 7 with the vocabulary of a college graduate. What a hoot. When she was in kindergarten she led reading for the class. I adored her and she thought I was her cool aunt. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and I was officially welcomed to the family.

Erin loves polka dots and primary colors so the Bubble Scarf seemed to be the perfect gift. I remember when she opened the package, giggled and said, "Oh my god, this is so cool." That is the reaction every knitter longs for. We fantasize and dream about those words or something similar with every stitch. In case you couldn't tell, I love making Bubble Scarfs.

Of course, Erin has been the recipient of a Jan Bag. She has tried to convince me to start a business. It was after this conversation that I realized I only want to be a "want to" not a "have to" knitter. My pay is the "Oh my god, this is so cool!" comments. Besides, I don't think people would pay what I would need to charge just to pay for the yarn. If it wasn't made from Noro Kureyon, it wouldn't be an authentic Jan Bag. One of the great things about the 50th anniversary party was meeting people I have heard about for years. I got to meet Erin's friend Kandy. Kandy told me her favorite color is green (in case I want to make a bag.)

Last but certainly not least is the mitered afghan. I love this so much. It took me weeks to find the perfect yarn in the perfect colors. The yarn is Ultra Alpaca and it is scrumptious to work with. Erin and I love to shop together. One year our luggage was lost on our way to Duluth for the Parson family Christmas. Erin helped me pick out the coolest jeans, or at least what a 10 year old thought was the coolest. She has taken me on many shopping tours of Lawrence. Then there was the summer she flew to Michigan to stay with us and go to see REO Speedwagon and shop at Fairlane. We had a ball.

Now you have met my great family from Lawrence. Inspired by the 50th anniversary, I have compiled 50 things you couldn't have used knitting 50 years ago. What a riot!