I Knit NY: bts with Kristy Glass Knits

 On a summery early October day (remember summery weather? )I was in New York shooting the excellent brand new book I Knit New York* from One More Row Press--the first in their series of Knit Like a Local.

I was so focused on my work that day, I didn't realize Kristy had filmed us in action, including my very enthusiastic two thumbs up to the model, somewhere around the 7.20 mark on the 10 minutes video. 

And as long as we're all video-sharey today, here's our beautiful and multi-talented dancer model Becca, doing her thing with her band, the Gentlemen Brawlers. 

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 I bet Kristy didn't know I caught her in action too.....

Shot while the model was changing, and as you know , given 10 minutes, knitters gonna knit.I have A LOT more to say and share about this book, so I'll be back on the topic soon.


* You can order the book online or if you are coming to VKLive in NYC this weekend, stop by the Backyard Fiberworks booth and get a signed copy from Kathleen Dames and Alice O'Reilly, the talented partnership behind this project. Bonus-see the samples and get some of Alice's yarn :-) ** If you do not follow and watch Kristy Glass Knits channel, you are missing out on some of the best knittertainment around, as well as seeing great interviews, meet people,and see books and ideas reviewed by this talented and passionate social media rock star.

FO (day before)friday: wingfeathers

 Wingfeathers by Cal Patch, in Rifton yarn from Jill Draper. And my new Chucks! 

Shot before the snowstorms started, a week ago.

Were I a more restrained blogger, I'd simply caption this "What Beverly said". 

But, I am not. Still, go over and read her story of the shawl.
More and more,  I make things with meaning attached to the materials. A special yarn, a pattern that's suggested or created by a friend, colors that remind me of a very specific geography,  the handwork done in a moment that stays with the piece forever.  This? Has it all.  
The Rifton yarn is a joy to work with, I wish you could see the subtle speckles and color blends. It's softened,  drapier now, a week after blocking, than in these photos. The color is exactly the Atlantic in winter,  the views I never get tired of.

550 yards, almost down to the last yard. I added a picot edge. I am no ace crocheter--I may hook out a Big Ass Granny Square blanket now and then, but I rarely follow a crochet pattern. That may change, I enjoyed this so much.

Three Wingfeathers underway, mine on the left, in two Rifton colorways. The yarn comes wrapped in a muslin cloth, a lovely detail. It's a limited run, so if you feel inspired, go get it now.
oh and about those sneakers..they really have knitting on them! An impulse purchase while in NYC. Love. Pretty much them and the Wingfeathers=my winter uniform. Except , of course, for the 2+ feet of new snow on the ground making real boots a necessity.

the Starcroft yarn has popped up in NYC!

Here's the full view of the sheep shots from Nash Island that I put in the Starcroft Fiber Mill popup this week at lf8elevate

these three are all there as large , mounted, coated photographic prints, and as small lovely cards singly, and as a set with those below

I made a limited printing for the week but will re-stock and sell by mail, too.  If you are interested, send me a message at  galeATgzucker.com

Jani Estell herself, perhaps a little stunned,  just after we finished setting up the pop up shop on Monday. Instant yarn store!  It was magical how beautifully it fit in. I hope you have a chance to visit this week (Jan 13-18th).

POP UP ADDRESS: 80 east 7th street, NY NY between 1st and 2nd Aves. 
HOURS:  12-6   thru Sunday only  till 9 pm Thursday 1/16.
on Thursday 1/16 and Saturday 1/18 there are gatherings with Jani, Kay Gardiner (who masterminded this) and FOJ (Friends of Jani)  knitwear luminaries like Kirsten Kapur and Mary Jane Mucklestone and I hear Laura Nelkin will pop in the pop up too.

3 hours earlier, standing in a chilly drizzle in the middle of East 7th street, as Kirsten Kapur/Through the Loops, Jani and Yliana unloaded the woolpacked-to-the-gills car.  You know Kirsten has many talents, and it turns out one is making delicious cascading arrangements of yarn.Sooo tempting.

Here's Jani and her husband Grant, on Nash. Keep in mind they live in the woods, in a town of 400 or so, Down East (that's way north in regular geography) so this whole shop in NYC for a week is just...radical, I guess, is the best word to use.  I feel like you need to see a little more of Jani's "real life" to understand where the gorgeous handyed yarn she's brought down comes from.  I'm super lucky to have crossed paths and become friends over the last few years.  Helping out at the roundup and shearing on the island is a standout joyous top ten day of any year.

Jani commuting to work with the flock, by lobster boat, with Alfie Wakeman, the island owner. Cleat, the orphan sheep last year, rides along.

The view Jani is used to. Not quite lower Manhattan. Still, no parking.

 Tossing a just sheared fleece onto the skirting table . All of her yarn comes from the island sheep.

yeah. Couldn't resist ending with this one.

island sheep yarn in nyc

 

Borrowing the artful history writing of Kay Gardiner, as it appeared on Instagram recently

 "True story. Once upon a time in the 1970s (approximately), two little girls named Kay and @galezucker were NOT allowed to start flocks of sheep. So they became Camp Fire Girls. Which was great, but not the same as having a flock of sheep on a lighthouse island off the coast of Maine. To repair this psychic injury, when they grew up Kay and Gale persuaded @janistarcroft to bring her Nash Island wool yarns to a jewel box of a shop on East 7th Street in NYC, @lf8elevate One week only starting January 13. 

Join us on January 15 from 6-9 and January 17 (Saturday) from 3-6 for knittin' and chattin' old skool."

 I can't add much except to say 

• the Starcroft yarn is very special, and never available in NY before.

• there'll be a flock of knitters you'd enjoy the company of at the shop, during the knit and chats on Thursday and Saturday

• Jani graciously invited me to share some of my printed photographs and limited edition postcards from visits with her Nash Island sheep--all sepia toned, including the one above--so that'll be in the shop, too

• This whole crazy adventure is Kay's brainstorm, and I never say no to riding shotgun when Kay's behind the wheel. Join us!

postcards from Rhinebeck 2013

Thanks to all who let me know they enjoyed the Rhinebeck Style video. And mwah! to those who re-posted, or FB'd or tweeted. Feel free to share  You totally get me. Work on the book version proceeds, with a bit of fire under me now.* 
 It was a weekend where everything comes together:  perfect autumn weather, great energy, beautiful yarn, stellar community, and oh! the knits everywhere. Plus sheep and alpaca and goats.This year I taught workshops on the weekend mornings: Photo Safari: NY S&W Festival. Love my  students who gleefully joined in as we photographed the fair, as our subject and our backdrop. My assistant Ariana was along to pose in knits, for exercises shooting backgrounds & angles. **. She's wearing a Through The Loops Vestry Street. I know you want to know.We visited the livestock barns. An experiment with the 2013 festival poster as the background for Through the Loops Germinate shawl. I give it a not-quite-thumbs-up.
I stayed at a shared large house-  Ariana and I missed the group photo but you can see we were in excellent company- organized by Yarny Old Kim, whose scrappy long socks I covet. *** Wish I'd had more time to hang out there, it was full of good cheer. Some parts of our  potluck left me a permanently craving. (hello! Steve's mac and cheese and homemeade kimchi)Foodwise, at the festival: Waiting in line made much easier by knitspotting/knit ogling.Very happy to get our Flammkuchen. Butternut squash, beets, fennel, creamy ricotta cheese (or was it goat?), flame cooked. Kirsten got bacon on hers, and do you love the sweater she's wearing? Design not yet released. <hint, hint cough> 
Jill Draper and her inspiring sweater.The ever stylin' Ellen Mason,aka Odacier, in her Mary Rebecca sweater and  signature cardi/dress combo with plaid scarf, colored tights, and boots. She and my other style muse, Sonya Philip were walking around the festival together. Someday I want to have them style me.  Not for a day.  Like, my whole wardrobe. Thrilled to see the patterns I shot for Green Mountain Spinnery and their new ebook on display at their booth. I didn't get there fast enough to buy Weekend Wool , their new worsted weight yarn - by Sunday they only had a few skeins left.**** True only for their wares.The Sunday morning class had a photo session with a couple of fleecey girls.Shooting at sheep eye level, in open shade. Aren't they gorgeous, even in a crowd?Sheep eyes, Love'em.  • • • • • • • • • • 
Ok, starting next post I'm going to ramp up into gift giving mode, with a bunch of book reviews and book giveaways. I've been saving them for just this time of year. Watch your feed, I'm hoping to git'er'done !  

_____________________and now for the footnotes: 

*La Shannon Okey herself is going to be sitting down with me on Monday, up close and personal, to get this book from almost-done to press ready. I am looking forward to it like crazy. Shannon's a force to be reckoned with. I love me a force, and a good solid deadline.  Like a publisher sitting next to you .

**Ariana will also be assisting me when I teach at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC in January 2014. It helps to have her model,  so no student misses shooting for a minute--and also, for those who don't want to pose in the knits but want them shot on a lovely smiling person. Ariana is a talented film maker & editor herself, and a knitter, so she knows what's what.

*** I don't know why but I can't find a link to her blog! Kim is all kinds of awesome. She organized the house, the potluck, is a brilliant knitter and finished weaving in the ends on those socks Friday night as we sat around eating & drinking , following a breathtaking Hudson Valley moonrise. I know the photos you may have seen signal riotous hilarity 24/7 but Kim and the rest of the roomies are so much more than that. Smart, artistic, talented. And good cooks too.

****I never shop much at the festivals-I'm an indecisive shopper even in a quiet limited setting--but I had a mission this time. Too bad I browsed Saturday and by the time I went back to purchase on Sunday, I missed out on the Weekend Wool selection but also a super chunky hand dyed skein I wanted from Briar Rose was history, so were the skeins I was eyeing from Still River Mill...I did finally buy some yarn. But that's another post.

we're so chill we wear mitts

Last weekend, no not the one that dumped 36" of snow on me, the one before, I had the honor of teaching a Photography for Knitters workshop for  The Village Knitter . 
This is what it looked like when we strung up a temporary clothesline on Main Street in Babylon NY. 
And here is Stephanie, aka Crooked Knits, shooting. Let's play a game. How many handknits can you spy her wearing? The funnest, if I can mangle English here, part of the workshop is usually the part where we bust out of the room and go all hands-on, giving everyone a chance to try some of the hints tricks direction photobullying I have been laying on them during the slide talk part. This group didn't let a few degrees fahrenheit stop them. 
A class so cool they had to cover themselves in wool. It was a blazing good time, in direct contrast to the icy wind blowing off the Atlantic a block away. Afterward, I ended the day knitting and yucking it up at Ann and Katy's yarnshop , my sponsor, The Village Knitter. This is the kind of yarn shop you hunker down in. Big open table to sit at. Great selection of yarn. Super friendly owners and workers. Talented knitters and raucous conversation. We are already planning a spring/summer Photo for Knitters adventure, to take advantage of the lovely photo opps for knitwear in the town, while not suffering frostbite at the same time.

 On a not unrelated note--you can't ignore the snow here this week, mostly because we have run out of places to put it.

This is not a special pile or even the tallest on the street, it's just your basic corner. Good weather for knitters though. Suddenly everyone loves a wool mitten.

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I'm brewing up a few more workshops between now and the summer-  in New Haven CT, Maryland and Massachusetts. Want one at your guild, shop or group? Give me a shout.

class acts

Slackerly blogging , I know! Before I touch another airplane bag of weird tasting crackers, let's get back to March and some  Photography for Knitters classes, all over the place. 

If this looks like fun and you happen to be in Little Rock Arkansas or Southaven MS , right by Memphis, then you could  join me at Yarn Mart or Hank of Yarn, respectively--next week! I'll also be showing slides & telling and leading some yarn bombing/making at the Arkansas Literary Festival, it's Craft Activism on Saturday afternoon, April 14th. Very cool--I am looking forward to every single minute of this adventure.

Jill and a display at the Wildfiber counter in Santa Monica CA. If I was one of those people who can decisively grab a skein or ten quickly, I would have- it's a very happy making yarn store. And I should have.True to my indecisive retail-challenged nature, not a single skein joined me. Fail!

The class, though, was win. Looking at the clothing & lack of sun, you'd think I was faking this as Santa Monica, right? Such an interesting & talented group, from beginner knitters to experienced designers. I wanted to add a happy hour segment to the class so we could all get better acquainted and look at each other's work.Maybe with a nice fruity cocktail. Return visit, on the to-do list.

Closer to home , last Saturday at Katonah Yarn in Katonah NY.  A sympatico group, we could have happily sat there, out of the gray drizzle surrounded by the welcoming yarniness, and chatted till midnight. (In fact, at times  we sounded like that was the plan.)  We were blessed with a mid-class driveby modeling by Carrie, full reportage with photos, here . Thanks to Kay's indoctrination good parenting , Carrie knows not to question the gleam in knitters' eyes when they are holding cameras and she is in a fabulous bulky cowl. Katonah's own Liz Kaplan is shown here with the traveling trio. Betsy brought her Fussy Cuts blanket (from Craft Activism) -brilliantly knit from Silk Garden Chunky. Why couldn't I have thought of that? Chunky=done faster yet still all the fun of the Noro.

Houseboat in Santa Barbara, back to Cali. Note lace curtains in porthole windows and brushed metal handmade chairs on sundeck. If I disappear and you hear about an incident at the Santa Barbara Marina where a woman shows up and commandeers one of the smallest vessels docked there, muttering something about just wanting a quiet place to knit.....well, no, I wouldn't know anything about that.

rhinebeck: better late than....

Photo Heavy Monday would be Photo Heavier today if the new cheapo card reader hadn't immediately broken and corrupted a 2 gig card full images from Rhinebeck. Luckily I had a few on another card from the NY Sheep & Wool Fest last month.

 

This year's hats on my friends from New Haven- LOVE the fat sequins.

 

Nanney Kennedy's Seacolors yarns from her Meadowcroft Farm. 

 

None of the setting's beauty but all of the fun I had with Ann & Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting.

 

Sister Lulu and I found this amazing B&B at the last minute, right on the Hudson in Tivoli. 

(from the Lulucam) It was less a fawncy B&B, more a visit to an eccentric auntie who last left the premises in 1942. In a word, fabulous. Although unconventional: I had a direct view of the Hudson- and a jar of home canned pickles as a bookend.

I spent a great deal of my time at the Craft Activism table in the author's area.

with great company like Craft Activism contributors Kirsten Karpur

and Ann Weaver, helping me show the Fussy Cuts blanket while I continue to flap my hands

Happily I was right next to Anna Hrachovec who shares my hand skillz. I LOVE her MochiMochi work.

Gnomes vs Snowmen!

 

I finally met Laura Nelkin (in her Iota capelet) ! She is so tiny- she seemed so much larger on Twitter, where we've become friends. This photo also demonstrates that restraint in color and a natural palette is a better choice than...what was I thinking? An explosion of color in my attire.  Note to self: please knit some solid headbands. Please.
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thanks to my sister, Linda Hali Zucker , for documenting the action in these photos in the authors area or this would be a Photo Slim post!