Whee! Fun Knitterly Things!

Dudes, you know how when people win something they always say things like, "I never win anything!", which is probably true for most people and it generally is true for me, too. But I guess I can't claim to be unlucky in this regard anymore because after winning the skein of Smooshy from Kristen I also won...

...a class at Vogue Knitting Live in September! There was a blog tour thing with a different designer giving away a class each day. I was the lucky recipient of a class from Carol Sulcoski's blog. Carol, as you may know, is the author of the very helpful book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn, a book which helped many a sock knitter figure out just what the heck to do with their beautiful skeins of sock yarn that looked great wound up but fell down flat when knitted.

I had been debating about whether or not to go to VKL. We Unemployeds really don't have money to drop on classes. And if I splurged on a class I would have to give up my right to cry "Unemployed!" as an excuse not to do other things, like buy that stupid mouth guard so I stop grinding my teeth at night. (I am wise beyond my years, truly.) But now I get to take a class (my first knitting class!) and stick around for the marketplace so I'll be sure to let you know what I find. I decided to take a Friday afternoon design class with Josh Bennett. I have always liked his designs, and I have never done any designing myself so I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

The other fun news I have is the new book that finally arrived in the mail: Knit, Swirl by Sandra McIver. The patterns looked interesting and I almost bought the book at the LYS in St. Paul when I was back visiting the fam a few weeks ago, but the hefty price tag held me off. Fortunately, I checked in on Knit Picks' summer book sale where it is being offered at 40% off so I snagged a copy. And let me tell you: I LOVE IT. I can totally see myself making several patterns from this book. The information that she provides about this unique construction method is so fascinating and I can't wait to start knitting one of the sweaters just so I can try it on. It is a beautiful book, with great photography, clear instructions, and a wonderful presentation. She even gives helpful hints on techniques both in the book and on her website. Highly recommended.

I'll be back shortly with a post about real-life stuff but I wanted to get this one out there.