The weather has turned to fall, at last. Steady days of cool temperatures. Some rain, but not too much of it. And it's clearing up every day. Which is good since I'm planning on going to an outdoor event, a local craft fair, on Saturday with my sister-in-law, so we're hoping the forecast is accurate.
One of the things we're sure to see, since we've seen them every year we go, is a bunch of knitted scarves, wildly overpriced. Cheap yarn, easy stitches. $40 and up. Basically a couple of dollars worth of yarn, and maybe an hour's worth of knitting. I've never seen many of them sell, which is both good, and sad. Good that people recognize that the product isn't quality, but sad that with an upgrade in yarn, and some interesting stitches, those scarves would sell well. And yet, every year, we see the same old cheaply made scarves, by the same vendors. Obviously, they're selling enough to continue, but not enough to put a little effort into upgrading their stock.
I'm surprized that they're allowed to return every year, given that this is a small, upscale community venture, called the Village Venture after the Claremont Village, where it's held every year. Lots of small shops and boutiques and restaurants line the streets of the Village. No chains, no outlets, all high-end products and services. And yet, they allow a vendor of cheaply made "handmade" items in every year. If I enjoyed knitting scarves, I'd be tempted to compete with them, but knitting the same thing over and over simply doesn't appeal to me. Guess they're safe from me!
Oddly enough, I am, presently, knitting a scarf. To send to my sister in Virginia. Where it does get cold enough to need a scarf to wear with a coat or jacket. I'm making this one in cashmere from the Lion Brand LB collection. With reversible cables, which are so much easier than I thought they would be. I picked up a copy of Lily Chin's book, Power Cables, which clearly shows how to achieve a wide variety of reversible cables. Very interesting, although I'm not sure I see the point in using reversible cables to make a pullover sweater, since you're the only one who will ever see the reversed cables, but still, it's neat to know. And I recommend the book to anyone who's interested in cables, or cable construction. Lots of information, and some patterns. Not that a pattern is really necessary for a scarf, but there's lots of information on constructing the cables in any width, with mandatory repeats info and ideas for using them. Just a really useful book.
I decided to knit this scarf before launching any of the items on my to-do list, since this has to be done for Christmas pretty early to mail it to Virginia to arrive in time. Better to be done early than to be looking for a mail service that can do miracles. And I am still knitting a little bit every now and then on my Vogue Early Fall sweater that's on tiny needles. (3s) Progress is hard to see on that, but there has been some progress. Tiny needles are so not my favorite, but I just fell in love with this sweater, so tiny needles it is. I just can't knit for hours with them, so I have to have something to switch off to with larger needles. The scarf is on 7s, which are much more comfortable for me.
Sometime between now and January 1, I'm also going to knit my first ever pair of socks. I've got some beautiful hand-dyed yarn and the DPNs ready to go. I just have to overcome my fear of DPNs (all those sharp pointed sticks!) and my confusion over how to figure out what size/number of stitiches to make to fit my feet. But I'm determined to knit one pair of socks in 2010.
And now I'm off to bed, since it's after 11, and I have to be up in less than 6 hours, getting ready to face my 32 10 year olds for another day.
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