New York Minknit

Sock-a-roni…the San Francisco treat!

The sock goes to visit Laughing Sal at the Musee Mecanique

The sock…ready to defeat terrorists!

The sock, in its relaxed vacation mode. “Man, I love hanging out here on the grass…smoking weed…” Kidding! No weed was smoked. But the sock looks relaxed, no?

Anyway, first sock is done!

Here is a snippet from a hilarious e-mail that a friend sent me:

Thought you find this “career advice” column very amusing. It was a source of humor
in my day. It’s called “Career advice for the unattractive.” Basically, it’s like
“you’re ugly – you’ll be passed over for promotions and be forced to date horrible
freaks like yourself. Here’s how to make the best of it: take a hobby, learn to
knit, volunteer to help old people…”

This was the link: http://biz.yahoo.com/special/allbiz052406_article1.html

In case you can’t tell, all my friends find me judgmental. Some find it more amusing than others. Seriously, this column is so funny. My favorite part is when it suggests that the reader is so ugly that he or she may wish to look into a job where he or she doesn’t have to work with other people! I’m not sure the average shrink would say this is good advice.

Off I go to observe hippies in their native habitat. But first, I must sleep.

I haven’t forgotten about the sock…here it is post-heel turning. The stockinette is real purty and smooth, albeit somewhat painful to knit on the size 1 needles. I think I have early-onset SSS (Second Sock Syndrome), hence my itch to start something new with that other yarn.

Here’s the sock so far. Posting will probably be limited this week until I can figure out what’s messing up my Internet! 

So, I decided to check out Knit-A-Way in Brooklyn, after we passed it on the bus a couple of weeks ago.
Knit-A-Way is on a stretch of Atlantic Avenue that is bordered by rapidly gentrifying and/or gentrified neighborhoods. If you’ve read any Jonathan Lethem novels (I only read Fortress of Solitude, but apparently, they’re all the same) then you know about this neighborhood’s on-going tony-fication.

Look at the awesome needle selection!

* I ran smack into my college roommate and her husband when I was going to Knit-A-Way the second time, and she confirmed the un-gentrified powers of this street because they live about a block away from Knit-A-Way and they are unable to get a dog walker from any of the posh neighborhoods nearby because, as she says, “We are on this weird periphery where no dog walkers go.”

I’m watching SNL, and Tina Fey just did an item on the knitta crew and she said something like “And then they were beaten up by Los Crochetos Lobos.” Adam and I laughed and he said “If I hadn’t read that article, I would have no idea what they were talking about.”

 

KNITTA PLEASEOriginally uploaded by garbnzgh.

I was reading Gothamist today, and I noticed they did a funny little item about people who “tag” with knitting, instead of graffiti. (see photo above.) And I thought it was cute, and then they were talking a little bit about knitting blogs, and then…they mentioned ‘ol New York Minknit!

Well, I’m pretty embarassed because this is a pretty lame knitting blog, and full disclosure time here, I know Jen Chung, Gothamist editor, both in a professional and social capacity.

So if you’re looking for New York knitting blogs, check out the list on the New York Knitters ring button on my sidebar — there are lots of great New York City knitters and knit bloggers, including half of www.masondixonknitting.com, Jess from www.figandplum.com (who started the New York knitting blog ring), and a new-to-me blog (which I discovered from reading figandplum.com), brooklyntweed.blogspot.com. I love his urban aran sweater!  

Go forth and knit!

Kim says her hat is a little too short, which I suspected might be a problem. Here’s the thing — when I started making the decreases, I was worried I would run out of yarn (I also did the decreases two or three times because I was having problems) even though I also knd of felt that the hat might be too short.

Moral of the story: Believe the measurements. Trust the yarn. If I had not freaked out about running out of yarn then the hat would have been fine, AND I would have had enough yarn, because I had enough left over. Sorry Kim!

P.S. I think I thought it would be okay because I tried it on and I figured *I* had a big head. (I know this because when I was a kid I once got my head stuck in a restaurant chair and they had to unscrew the whole chair to get my head out!)

You can learn to knit for free in Bryant Park. And the research and main lending libraries are right by!

Oddly, Knit New York is downtown — a few blocks east of Union Square. Why didn’t they do it in Washington Square Park?

Also, as a new weird place that sells yarn, I noticed that Ivy League Stationers (“We give change with a smile!”), near Columbia, is now selling yarn and needles. But oddly, expensive yarn — like Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I mentioned that I didn’t know they sell yarn, and a couple weeks later, they posted a sign in the window that says “We sell yarn and knitting needles!”

So it all began on Friday night, when I used a gift card given to me by Sarah to buy the sock book, Knit Socks! aka the book shaped like a sock. Apparently I was so sucked into my new excitement about a future of sock knitting that Adam came right up next to me and yet I totally didn’t see him and clutched the only copy available at Barnes and Noble and headed down on the escalator. I was like, don’t mess with me knitters! I have the only Knit Socks! book in the store! (Note that the book is called Knit Socks EXCLAMATION POINT! Excitement is clearly soon to come.)

Then, even though my co-worker generously gave me her needles, the sock book teaches you to use  a set of 5 double-pointed needles (DPNs), not 4 (she gave me a set of 4 clover bamboo needles), so I had to drag Adam to Purl Soho before dinner to get a set. (I dare not defy the instructions of a book with an exclamation point in its title.) I managed to squeeze in right before it closed.

I’ve been thinking about making socks and at work knitting today, my co-worker got fed up with her sock yarn and needles and gave them to me.

The yarn is super cute, I think it is Trekking in the shade pictured. I am grateful because it’s like a ready-made sock kit, free! She is threatening to take the socks once I knit them…but that’s cool, since I mainly want to learn how to knit a sock.

And my other co-worker has this book shaped like a sock, and I might try to make a sock from that.