Nature

Things are undergoing some change here at Y2Knit West. More on that in another post, today we're looking at nature!

We are hopeful we have reached the end of the rainy season because we are completely and totally sick of the rain. As a result, we have had lots of vegetative growth, but I also hadn't seen my hummingbirds for over a month. We have bees and butterflies

, but no hummingbirds. I often don't see them but know that they are there because the nectar supply in the feeder goes down down steadily. But more than a month and nothing--no sightings, no fluctuation in nectar. So I was delighted to see them on Wednesday. Also the quail, sparrows and jays have been around.

I run on Tuesdays and Fridays. I missed the last two Tuesdays because of rain. Last Friday as I was on my last mile, running by a park, I saw these tw

o green parrots streak by. There are wild parrots in SF, but I'd personally never seen them. Kind of fun, and definitely a nice distraction as I ran uphill. Today's nature was a squirrel. I know

, not very exciting, but he got in front of me on a path, and he couldn't figure out how to escape--I was continuing to come along, he was running as fast as he could--looking back occasionally, as I got within about 5 feet of him he dove under the fence between the path and the planting beds. Otherwise, my nature is mostly dogs. SF is overpopulated (I say that as a non-dog owner, I know others feel differently!) with dogs, which must be walked. But everywhere right now is green and lush and blooming and pollen-y!

I have this crazy passion flower vine that covers much of our back slope. It produces varying quantities of bright peachy flowers all year round, getting particularly lush in the spring. Because of the rain, my back garden didn't get cleaned up for a couple of months and the passion vine got a little closer to the lower garden than usual. I was surprised to see that it has this cool-looking center which I had not ever seen from the distance I usually view it from. I had always been slightly jealous of Susan's which has this type of center. I was rather precariously perched trying to get this picture, so it does no justice to the awesomeness of the flower.

Knitter, heal thyself

Some physical symptoms over the last couple weeks resulted in a visit to Boonsboro Wellness Center yesterday for an evaluation and some acupuncture. I knew from following it myself that my blood pressure was up. There's no justice, clearly, as I take good care of myself. When I ran through the list of things to do to help lower blood pressure naturally, I was on mark for everything. Well, almost.

My self-reflection revealed I don't relax very much. I used to have some quiet time in the morning, meditative and/or knitting. Lately I haven't been doing that. It's the cobblers-children-have-no-shoes syndrome. I am very much aware of the benefits of quiet time knitting and tout them often. Apparently I need to pay more attention to myself. But not take myself to seriously. Relax. Enjoy! Knit!!

Boonsboro Greenfest

I'm looking forward to participating in this fine event on May 8. I checked out the website today and was very impressed by the recycling opportunities. I can donate the sewing machine that doesn't work.

Y2Knit will have a booth to educate about the joys of knitting and the wonderful eco-friendly products we knit with. Peni Renner, who crochets bags out of "plarn" (grocery bags made into yarn) will be with me. She's now spinning the plastic--don't ask me, just come out to see for yourself. I might try knitting some of it.

From the list of vendors, I expect some good food treats, educational and networking opportunities, and a chance to meet some great people. I asked to be near a couple of plant people I know, so herbs and starter plants are on the list of things to bring home. Last hear I got this awesome purple cauliflower from Deb (Harmony) that I hope she has again this year. It was so beautiful and tasted great.

If you live in the area, this is a great place to learn about sustainability projects and products in Washington County and to support your local businesses.

Yesterday was just a rush of activity that seemed not to stop until I went to bed. Susan and I had a call with our marketing consultant, followed by my AKD board meeting which was moved forward a day to accommodate Stitches South. I grabbed a quick lunch, packed up my things for teaching and Pilates, did some research on design companies (I have to understand each of the 15 companies--two students are doing the same one--so that I can guide them through creating their portfolio) for my afternoon class, then headed downtown. I got off the train and went to pick up a top I had ordered that had come in and picked up pants that had been relined from the tailor for Mitch. Spent 15 minutes giving tips to the tailor on how to make his website a brand statement and information source, then went to school. My class went by pretty much in a whir because I have to meet one-on-one with each of the 16 students. I brought a kitchen timer, gave it to a self-described ADD student who manned it for me (giving each student 5 minutes) while students worked in small teams. Some discussion on homework, showing previous portfolios, answering questions, following up with a few students and 2.5 hours is gone! Then a student asked me some questions while I packed up, my department coordinator passed on some information to me when I returned the portfolios, I put my things away and went to Pilates.

Hundreds with sinus pressure was agony. But after that I seemed to be fine, if a bit tired! My instructor Keegan always makes the hour go quickly, dishing out little bits of torture in amusing and realistic bites. I got a seat on the train (unusual), but I almost feel like it makes the trip up the hill more difficult as I start to relax. Mitch was out at a business dinner, so I made myself dinner and worked on some design knitting until he came home. We watched The Daily Show and I went upstairs to read.

Even though I did a lot, I didn't feel like I got any work done.

Earth Day

I wanted to do something in the shop around Earth Day, but never got it together. Still, I want to share how Y2Knit makes choices about yarn that we hope are friendly to the planet.

We consider how yarn is made and where it comes from. We favor small companies because we can trace the yarn more easily. We feel fortunate to work in an industry where many companies are making eco-friendly choices.

Here's some of the stories we love:

Brown Sheep Company, a USA company that sources most of their yarn from the US, built a water reclamation system so they can recycle most of the water used in processing the wool. I asked Peggy Jo what motivated them to do this and she responded, "because it's the right thing to do." I love doing business with a company whose owner talks like that!

Frog Tree Yarns is a non-profit works with native communities to provide livelihood through fiber processing. They know that employing women means kids eat and get educated. Frog Tree is part of Community Links, an environmental and international educational program focusing on the environment, community based education, fair trade and social justice.

Be Sweet is a certified fair trade company providing jobs in areas of high unemployment in South Africa, where 65% of the mohair in the world is raised. Again, women are earning money through fiber processing and adding substance to their communities.

Everyone loves Malabrigo for their lovely fiber. We also love them because the work with cooperatives to have the yarn dyed, providing jobs in Uruguayan communities.
Frabjous Fibers imports recycled silk and mixed fiber yarns. All of their products are fair trade, meaning that the spinners of the waste fibers from the weaving mills are paid a fair wage. We thank those who make our beloved felt balls!

Zitron, distributed by Skacel is another favorite. Not only does Zitron make great Trekking sock yarn and other delightful yarns in fabulous colors, but they are certified 100% organic. We appreciate their commitment to the environment.

This list is not limited to these companies, they are just some that come to mind now.

Tuesdays are always a little crazy for me. I start my day by running, which is nice, but it means I get a little bit of a late start. Today I didn't run. I've got what I thought might be flu, but now think is just sinus issues and it was pouring rain. I missed Pilates last night because I did think it was flu (my mother is under quarantine with noro virus) and I didn't want to infect the studio. So I should be feeling more on top of things because I have extra time, but I have more-than-usual to do, so instead I'm already feeling a bit frantic. The other thing that makes Tuesdays a little nuts is that I have to shift gears from Y2Knit to FIDM so I can go teach. Although I tend to teach the same classes from quarter to quarter, there is always stuff that needs updating, new ideas to be put into practice, and then the bane of any teacher's existence, grading homework! This quarter I'm teaching a class which was newly introduced last quarter, so although I've taught it once, we tweaked it a bit over the break and my class is twice as large as it was last quarter. I brought in a guest speaker, Josh Zerkel, last week for my Tuesday class, so now we've got to cram two classes into one! This is funny since Josh was talking to us about being organized and how to keep track of our busy lives!

So I post this to show my commitment to posting, but I've got too much to do to add photos!

Interchangeable Needles

A bit confused about interchangeable needle sets? Y2Knit carries the addi and Hiya Hiya. Here's the summary of what each offers:

The addi Turbo® Click system provides 10 different sizes of addi Turbo® tips (3.5mm, 3.75mm, 4.0mm, 4.5mm, 5.0mm, 5.5mm, 6.0mm, 8.0mm, 9.0mm, and 10.0mm), three different lengths of the new, extremely pliable blue cord (24”, 32” and 40”), and one connector piece which helps to either store stitches or combine your cords.

The Click tips require no tools to change; simply insert the cord deep into the tip, twist and release. The tips will remain secure until you change them, thanks to the Click’s revolutionary locking mechanism!

Click tips and cords can be ordered separately. The replacement/additional cords come in packs of 3 of the same size or a combo pack of the three sizes.

Taking orders now for the addi Lace Click system, which provides 8 different sizes of addi Lace tips (3.5mm, 3.75mm, 4.0mm, 4.5mm, 5.0mm, 5.5mm, 6.0mm, 8.0mm), five different lengths of the new, extremely pliable blue cord (16", 20", 24”, 32” and 40”), and one connector piece which helps to either store stitches or combine cords. Separate cords and tips are not available yet, but will be in the future.

While the 24”, 32”, and 40” cords from both addi Click sets are fully compatible with any style of tip, the new 16” and 20” cords are not compatible with the Turbo® tips. The length of the Turbo® tips combined with these smaller cords, will not allow for proper knitting.

Very popular are the Hiya Hiya Interchangeable kits. These kits come in four options:
4" small (sizes 2-8)
5" small (sizes 2-8)
4" large (sizes 9-15) (available soon)
5" large (sizes 9-15) (available soon)

Each kits comes with the designated tips and four cord lengths. A long screw ensures these won't come undone easily.

Additional tips and cords can be ordered, ala carte: tips in the sizes available in the kit and cord sizes 16, 24, 32, 40 and 60". The 60" cord is not in the kits. The cords for the small and large kits are NOT interchangeable, but work on both 4" and 5" tips for the small or large needles.