Arctic Lace Book Launch

Day 6

I'm home. So it's not really day 6, but that's what I'm going to write about now. Did I really spend a week in Alaska? I left on September 27th and came back on October 3rd (well, I left Anchorage on the 3rd and arrived in Denver on the 4th). So that's Wednesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday, depending on how you figure it. Too long to be away from home. Sometimes I feel like a little kid at a slumber party when I'm away from home. I want to go home, but it's too far to call my mother to come and pick me up. Next week I'm off to two more knitting retreats in Boise, Idaho and Allenspark, Colorado. I'm sure I'll have fun but I know I'll be very ready to stay home for a long time after that next trip is over. I really do not like to travel much at all.

But back to day 6. Yarn shops galore. Well, we only went to two shops, but they were both worth the trip to Alaska! The two shops we visited had both been vendors at the market, and we wanted to see more.

Yarn Store Stop 1: Far North Yarn Company

I don't know anything about getting around in Anchorage. I don't remember enough from my trip in 2004, and I didn't drive anywhere on this trip. So I can't tell you how to get to this shop. But here's the address & phone number if you'd like to visit: Far North Yarn Co 2636 Spenard Road, Anchorage, AK 99503; 907-258-5648.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the shop was this gorgeous lace shawl. I was hoping I could find the pattern so I could get a copy for my collection. I don't knit a lot of lace from other people's patterns, but I like to collect them for inspiration. It turns out that this is not a published pattern. The shawl, called "A Winter's Daydream of Spring" was knitted by Michael Galante, a veteran who lives out in the bush somewhere. He also does gorgeous embroidery, and I saw some samples of his embrodery work in the class I'd taken on Friday morning. The shawl won first place and best of show in the Veterans Creative Arts state competition last March. I hear it is only the third or fourth thing Michael has knitted, which is completely amazing. This is the type of thing you expect from a life-long knitter, not from a newbie. Wow!

The rest of the shop is full of equally beautiful samples to help show off all of the different yarns. Kaye, the owner, has done a fantastic job of creating an environment that is cozy and warm, and at the same time filled with energy. In one corner of the shop is a table for knitters to gather around and for classes, right in the middle is a couch and a few comfy chairs, and all around are the beautiful yarns and samples. It's the kind of place that feels just like grandma's kitchen. The only thing missing is the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

My grandmother always made little knitted and crocheted toys in between bigger projects, so I had fun discovering the knitted stuffed animals around the shop. The samples were of a wide variety of projects, however, showing something for everyone. From kid's clothes and adult sweaters, to winter accessories and felted bags. The store was so well designed, you can find what you want in just a few minutes, but you'll want to allow more time to explore and just to relax and soak up the atmosphere.

Yarn Store Stop 2: Knitting Grounds

The second shop we visited was Knitting Grounds (401 E 92nd Ave # 4, Anchorage, AK 99515; 907-336-5648). Like its owner, Zaynab, Knitting Grounds is upbeat, hip, and funky. The shop is in an industrial warehouse, and the architecture suits it perfectly. You can easily imagine groups of knitters sitting here drinking margaritas and knitting a fiesta of color. (In fact, Zaynab did tell us a few stories about rowdy knitting parties that have taken place in the back section where there are couches and tables just inviting you to stop in for a drink and a stitch.)

I suspect a lot of young customers pop in here. If not for the yarn itself, to check out the latest incarnation of this local knitting poster boy.....

I've fogotten this young hunk's name, but apparently he's quite the knitting celeb in Anchorage. Although some customers have inquired, he is not available in different ages! He has his own line of products and is a knitter and designer. I heard that he's quite talented, but still needs some polishing on the technical skills. I'm sure none of his fans are too worried about that right now.... the pecs and biceps make up for any lack in knitting acumen.

We didn't stay too long at this shop, because we got there just a bit before closing and because Zaynab was planning to come to my book signing at Borders later in the evening. We did stay long enough for me to find some beautiful green extra fine laceweight merino yarn and a pale mint kid mohair to trim it with. I keep buying these extra fine lace yarns, but I haven't knitted anything with them yet. Maybe in December or Jan I'll have some time!

After we left Knitting Grounds, we headed over to Borders. It was pretty quiet there. During the actual time of the book signing, no-one showed bought any books, but several people came up to chat a bit and to pet the qiviut! But afterwards, Catherine came to knit, Zaynab came to get a second copy of the book for a friend, and I did get to sign one book for someone who had not heard of Arctic Lace yet. She was very excited to make the discover while I was there to chat and sign her book. It was just as well that it was kindof quiet, because the shop had sold almost all of the books they'd had (about 30) during the past week. I signed the 3 that were left, and we went back to the hotel to crash.

There was a day 7. Mostly just waiting around for the time to come to go to the airport. I know there was one thing I wanted to write about that day, but I'm so tired right now I can't think of it. If it does ever come back to my mind, I'll add a late note to this blog. Otherwise, Adieu! I had a great time in Anchorage and I hope you've enjoyed reading about my trip.

P.S. Both of the shops listed above also had charity knitting sections, but I'll write more about that later on Knitting for Change.

A couple of missing photos

Here are a few photos I wanted to post earlier in the week but couldn't find:

This is the mohair and the rosewood needles I bought at the vendor market.

These are the Peruvian dolls and purse I saw at One People: One World.

After I posted the blog entry about the red Russian Shawl I'd bought for $24, a friend from home emailed me to ask me to pick up a shawl for her, too. Here's the one I chose.

Deb and I took over 200 pictures during our trip, so it's hard to decide which ones to post. I just wanted to show all of the stuff that I love, most of which is about knitting, since we spent most of our time at the Yarn Expo inside the Hotel Captain Cook. There are lots of interesting paintings all around the hotel, and the clerk at one of the gift shops told me that most visitors photograph all of the paintings. I wasn't really interested in documenting what the hotel looked like, although Deb did photograph one particularly striking painting. I wasn't really in Anchorage to visit or see Alaska this time, either. It was to introduct Arctic Lace in the place where it began, and to thank everyone who helped me with the book. I thought the Expo went off without a hitch and I had a wonderful time. I'd love to attend again in the future. I was sorry it ended so soon, but also ready to go home. (I'm always ready to go home after 3 or 4 days of a trip.) But there was still a bit more to come. I had a book signing scheduled at Borders on Monday nigth and Deb and I wanted to take a little time to check out yarn shops in the area.

Day 5 - Fun and Fiber Everywhere

The vendor booths were set up around the edges of the ballroom. In the center was a fashion show runway surrounded by large, round tables for sitting, knitting, and socializing. There were a couple of areas set up for spinning, too. During the day, the whole place was buzzing with activity. I don't think it started to slow down at all until 5 or 5:30, just a little while before the 6pm closing time.

Besides the formal booths and exhibits, there were amazing things floating around all over the place, because we fiber nuts can't stop ourselves from carrying our cool projects around for show and tell, especially when we know we will be surrounded by hundreds of other like-minde fiber fanatics! Here are two of the most interesting things I saw.

This hat, which I got to try on, was knitted with bear fur that was going to be thrown away by a taxidermist. Yes, that's me wearing it with one of those phoney photo smiles that my husband hates. The problem is that it takes so long for the darn camera to snap the picture, that my real smile turns into this fake one. But please look at the cap. The musk oxen around the crown are knitted with the bear fur that Claudia Neklaon of Alaskan Woolies had spun. She may be the only person in the world who has spun bear fur, or at the very least, she is one of a few. I told her to write an article about it for SpinOff, but she just laghed. I was serious, I know people would love to hear the story of how she came by this fiber and what it was like to spin. The yarn is dense and thick, and the cap was REALLY warm and soft. I could only keep it on for a few minutes for the photos. I got my picture taken with Claudia but she made me promise not to put it on the web, so you'll just have to look at me and the hat.

This afghan is not quite as unusual, but still not your typical knitting project. It is made out of dog hair. That's not terribly unusual. I've known people to spin the fiber from huskies and other furry dogs who shed in clumps during spring. But in this blanket, dach square is a different breed of dog including German Shepherd, Collie, Newfoundland, Old English Sheep Dog, and many others. It was really fun to see the different colors and textures of the yarn from different breeds. None of them seemed to be blended with wool, but I was wondering how you could spin with the fur from the short hair dogs. I don't know who made it and I couldn't find anyone to ask about it. I don't have dogs and will probably never spin dog hair anyway, but I still find this fascinating. It was one of the most beautiful blankets I have seen, and also quite soft and warm.

During the afternoon, several events took place at the market. First, the mayor and his wife were gracious enough to come by and to welcome everyone to Anchorage and show their support for Yarn Expo. Their young son was also there, running around in a qiviut cap that the Oomingmak Co-op gave to the mayor as a gift, and he also took some of the children's workshops. I'm not really that impressed by politicians for the most part, but it seemed to be quite important to the locals that he was supporting the Alaska Yarn Council and the Yarn Expo. Sorry these pictures are not very good, but it is really hard to take a good picture in a poorly lit room, espcially of a running 3-year-old!

After the mayor and his wife spoke, it was my turn to give my slide show. Everything went well, except that my computer went a little crazy and just showed whatever pictures it wanted to. My editor, Deb, was trying to control the slide show (which is quite easy, you just push "next" or "previous"), but the computer was not cooperating. Even so, I got to talk about some interesting things about musk oxen, qiviut, and my 2004 trip to Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Unalakleet that didn't make it into the book. I am going to change my slide show over to PowerPoint in the future. Even though I don't really love Microsoft products, I must admit it does usually show the photos in order and without changing slides on its own volition! So much for taking a short cut and using iPhoto. It worked when I tried it myself but it just wouldn't cooperate with other people looking on!

After the slide show, I had a break and then went to teach a 1-hour breakout session on lace knitting. I went over some tips on how to read charts, how to do YOs and decreases, and how to fix the most common misake in lace knitting, the missed yarn over. Then I passed around some projects and swatches so everyone could feel the qiviut and other fibers and get a close-up look at the lace patterning. It was fun and I think everyone learned something, but it's hard to go over much in detail when you only have an hour and there's not enough time for everyone to knit at least a small swatch.

Well, that was about it for the day. I met a TON of people and talked about all kinds of topics from fishing, to berry picking, to spinning, to knitting and publishing.

(By the way, Deb pointed out to me today that the wildlife place we visited is inside the Federal Building with the courthouse and other government offices. That's why we had to go through a security screening to get inside. That sure makes a lot more sense than screening visitors to a wildlife exhibit! I am not very observant, I guess, becuase I did not pay any attention to what else was inside the building, or to the big letters that say "Federal Building" out front. I was too busy looking at the hot dog vendor outside, because his dog was in his truck parked on the street, and the dog REALLY wanted to get out of the truck and come up on the sidewalk. But he behaved and stayed in the truck.)

Day 5 - Vendor Market

I've been talking all about my teaching and the launch of Arctic Lace, but I know all of you knitters have been waiting for my report on the vendor market. So before I write about the rest of the day, I'll give a preview of the shopping opportunities. Starting at 10:00 on Sunday morning, one of the hotel's ballrooms was transformed into a world-class fiber shopping mall. From raw fiber for spinning, to yarn, needles, and notions, to ready-to-wear garments, there was something for everyone at this vendor market. The quality and variety of products available at this market rivalled those at the Taos Wool Festival in New Mexico and the Estes Park Wool Market in Colorado. It was a real treat for everyone who attended. Admission was $5, and that included unlimited shopping, beverages and snacks, a fabulous fashion show, my lecture on arctic lace, and a vareity of free one-hour breakout classes. Kids under 12 were free, and there were also quite a few classes specifically for children.

Several vendors had qiviut fiber, yarn, and knitted items. Here's some handspun, hand dyed qiviut that was especially yummy. It is enough to make the Skeleton Scarf from Arctic Lace or any slace scarf about 10x45 inches. The light green skein on the right is a qiviut/merino/silk blend. Some of the other skeins are cashmere blended with wool and silk. The yarns were beautifully even and all oh-so-soft to fondle. The sample scarf shown is a type of feather and fan pattern, and it shows how nicely this yarn knits up in a very easy lace patterning. This was spun and dyed by Amy D. Unfortunately, I did not get her contact information captured in the photo! If anyone from Anchorage is reading this and you know how people can contact Amy to buy yarn, please let me know and I'll add a link here.

In the same booth I found 2 beaded lace scarves knit out of kid mohair that gave me the itch to do some beaded lace knitting myself. I have no idea when I will have time to do something like that, but I'll be spending as much time as I can scheming about it until I am able to get something on the needles. Right now, I have to finish up this book tour and finish the projects for Kitty knits and finish some editing work, so it will be at least Thanksgiving before I can do any personal knitting.

Of course, I couldn't be satisfied just looking in one booth, so eventually I made my way around the room. I finally got to meet Dianne Nash from Windy Valley Musk Ox Farm in person. We have been corresponding by email on and off for a couple of years, and Dianne allowed me to use a photo of her spinning and a photo of some of the musk oxen on the farm in Arctic Lace. She had ordered 3 boxes of books to sell at the Expo market and she sold out before lunch! She also had the booth stocked with qiviut, suri merino, pima cotton, and even some guanaco-blend yarn. I had ordered a couple of balls of the guanaco before my trip, but it hadn't arrived yet. So I was excited to be able to touch it. Wow, talk about soft. But the feel is totally different than qiviut. It's not as fluffy/furry or as light, but it is more buttery, if that makes any sense at all. This picture shows the guanaco yarn in the lower left corner. I didn't get a good picture of the guanaco shawl, but you can see how the natural red color of the fiber is muted into a pale reddish-tan in this yarn which is a blend of guanaco, merino, and silk.

There were all kinds of other cool products including locker hooking, clothing from Ireland and England, beads, yarn, yarn, yarn, Alaska-made hats, felted bags, yarn, sweaters, rosewood knitting needles, all kinds of notions, and (of course) the Oomingmak qiviut scarves, nachaqs and stoles. Did I mention yarn? I bought myself a kit that included a chevron lace scarf pattern and some wonderful mohair that was hand dyed in Sitka. I also bought a pair of rosewood needles to knit the scarf, so I can be using everything from Alaska to make the scarf. That way I can extend the memories of this wonderful trip while I'm knitting at home this winter. I haven't gotten the photo of the kit off my camera yet, and Deb is out at the museum with the camera, but I'll try to get that picture added before I leave tonight.

Another interesting thing I saw were these cute felted soaps. They were made with a layer of fiber felted around a bar of soap and you could buy kits or pre-made soaps. What a great gift. It would be a really fun project for a kid to make, too.

There's no way I can do justice to this market with just a few words and photos, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of what you missed if you weren't there! Even if you don't live in Alaska, you want to find a way to get to this event in the future at least once. I guarantee that you'll want to come back again and again.

Maybe that's enough about fiber shopping? Is there ever enough about fiber shopping? But I should write about the other events of the day, too...

Day 4

Day 4 was my Arctic Lace workshop. Before I left Colorado, 12 people had signed up for the class and one was on a waiting list. Apparently at some point we'd set the maximum number of students to 12. I decided that I could handle the class with up to 20 students, and on Friday (while I was teaching the Amish Oval Rug class), 4 more people signed up for the lace workshop. It was the perfect number for the classroom, and we filled every chair around the tables.

It was a really fantastic group of students. I wish I could list every one here, but I met so many people, I can't remember all of their names! This was one of the most fun workshops I've taught anywhere. All of the students were very excited about learning new lace techniques (even the few students who really know more about lace knitting than I do!). The group included brand new lace knitters, those who had done a little bit of lace knitting but wanted to learn more, and those who were expert lace knitters but who enjoy taking classes and picking up new tips along the way.

In this workshop we went over the properties of different types of yarns that can be used for knitting lace (almost anything goes), what types of knitting needles are best for new lace knitters (the less slippery the needle, the fewer dropped sts), basic stitches used in knitting lace, and an overview of reading and knitting lace from charts. Then we knitted a small swatch. Well, the chart was small, but some of the swatches came out to be over 9 inches tall, because we were working with worsted-weight yarn. I find that using heavier yarn and large needles makes it easier for new lace knitters to practice the stitches without worrying, at the same time, about getting used to working with fine yarn and tiny needles. After you make a couple of lace swatches on worsted- or sport-weight yarn, you'll be comfortable enough with the stitches to do a practice swatch with lace-weight yarn.

After lunch, which was served in the classroom, we all blocked our swatches. The students were quite impatient about waiting to see the results. They kept asking me to feel their swatches to see if they were dry. In general, I suggest leaving blocked pieces pinned out over night, even in a dry climate, to make sure the blocking is set. It's very difficult to tell if wool is dry by feel, because the fiber can hold up to 30% of its weight in water and still feel dry. However, if your piece feels cool to the touch, it is most likely because it is damp.

I learned a few things from the students, too. I passed around several of the qiviut projects from Arctic Lace for the students to look at and touch (every knitter knows you have to touch the yarn and knitting to really understand the fiber and the stitching!). The moebius scarf that I had made out of "mystery yarn" purchased at Knitting Frenzy in 2004 (the shop is not around any more), was apparently one of the early versions of the yarn line developed by Dianne Nash of Windy Valley Musk Ox Farm. Dianne didn't like the dark purple color or the texture of this yarn, which is a shame because this was my favorite yarn! One student in the class had some of Dianne's original purple yarn with her. The color was very close to the yarn that I had, but her yarn seemed to have less twist than mine, so I wasn't 100% sure it was the same. I meant to show my scarf and the leftover yarn to Dianne on Sunday at the Expo market to confirm the source of my mystery yarn, but I completely forgot.

One of the students sitting at the head of the table was Irene, who also was a volunteer at the registration desk for the market on Sunday. I had a great time talking to her because, just like me, she is half Lithuanian and half Russian. She speaks Russian, as did several other students in the class. I never learned any second languages when I was a child. My grandparents spoke Lithuanian, Russian, and Yiddish, but my parents only spoke English so the languages from the old countries didn't trickle down to my generation.

As a side note, while I was here I heard from June Hall (who lives in England but is currently visiting Lithuania) to confirm that I will be teaching at Woolfest in the UK at the end of next June. After that, I plan to go to Lithuania for a week or so and meet with a knitters' and spinners' guild there. June goes to Lithuania frequently to work with the knitters and spinners there, and has featured Lithuanian knitting at the Woolfest in previous years. She is in Lithuania right now and is working on getting me some hand knitted mittens and gloves to sell at my workshops and online. (You can read a little about June and her work with Lithuanian textile artists here (scroll down) and here.) She's also getting some photos of antique Lithuanian knitting from a museum for me to use in an upcoming article for Piecework. I'd like to someday write a book similar to Arctic Lace about the knitters in Lithuania.

Speaking of new book ideas, another student in my lace class was Alice Scherp, a lace knitter and designer who has had her pieces published in SpinOff magazine in the past. She does amazing work and could easily have taught my workshop! It turns out that Alice used to live in Eugene, Oregon, and knew Dorothy Reade, who helped the Oomingmak Co-op develop their charting system, design their first harpooon pattern, and decide what type of yarn to spin from the raw qiviut they got from the musk ox farm. Dorothy wrote and self published a book called "25 Original Knitting Designs" in 1968, that includes all original charted lace stitch patterns. Alice also knows Dorothy Reade's daughter, and told me that I needed to write a book about Dorothy Read and republish her lace patterns. After the class, Alice contacted Dorothy's daughter and got her permission for me to use the stitches in a new book. I'll be getting in touch myself when I go home, but I could hardly believe the generosity, excitement, and initiative that Alice took on my behalf!

Well, as you can see, it was a full day. There was a lot more going on than just my class, however! Deb played hooky and took a 22 mile bike trip, and many other classes were conducted during the day. Debbie Radtke taught a needle felting class, and several of the employees of the Oomingmak shop attended. They plan to make needle felted musk oxen to sell in the shop.

Other classes included felting knitted projects, weaving, spindle spinning, crocheting rag rugs and baskets, making your own knitting needles, crocheting with beads, and knitting cast off techniques. If you attended all of the classes, you would have a virtual PhD in fiber arts. I can't imagine that Stitches or any of the other "big" knitting shows could be more exciting and jam-packed than this event. All of the students left with big smiles on their faces, and the instructors were beaming too. In my book, these two days of workshops were a HUGE success, and the Alaska Yarn Council board should be proud of their accomplishments. The Yarn Council was only formed in May, 2006, and in just four months they pulled together this amazing event. And some of the best parts are yet to come, on day 5 of my trip... which will follow shortly.

This morning I'm just sitting in the Whale's Tail cafe and enjoying the fact that I have nothing to do.

Days 4 & 5 preview

Good evening all! I didn't want to skip a day of blogging about this trip, but I will be writing about days 4&5 tomorrow morning. Yesterday (day 4) I was teaching "Lace Knitting 1-2-3" all day, and today (day 5) was the vendor market, my slide show, a one-hour free lace class, and LOTS of book signing.

Tomorrow I have no required activities in the morning, and not much in the afternoon either. In the evening, I'll be doing a knit-in at Borders which is a lot less formal than a workshop, so it almost doesn't count as an "event". I talked to several people today at the vendor market who are also planning to come to the Borders knit-in, so I expect it will be fun. Plus I can drink a latte (for calcium, of course), while we knit and chat.

So, with that I will say good night. But please do check back tomorrow for a detailed update.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, here are some new murals that decorate the outside of the Oomingmak Co-op shop that were not here on my last visit.

One last thought for the day

I love Alaska. Everything and everyone here has an interesting story. It's just amazing to be around the people who live in Anchorage and across the state, and listen to their stories. It's even more fun when the people I'm with are knitters, crocheters, and other types of fiber artists. All of the people are as friendly as I remembered from my last trip.

I don't want to move here, because I'm pretty sure I would suffer from severe depression in the dark winter, but I do want to come back regularly. I hope I get invited to Yarn Expo again, and I also want to come in berry picking season, rent a place with a kitchen, and make jars and jars of wild-berry jam. When I mentioned this idea at dinner yesterday, Susan, one of the students in my class (both classes, actually!), said that she'd be happy to take me out and show me some good areas for berry picking. What a generous place and people!

Day 3

Right now it's 7:42 PM (local time) of my fourth day in Anchorage, and I am just writing about day 3. But that's OK, I'll catch up on a day off before I come home.

I was "off" on Friday morning. The Knitted Rug class I was scheduled to teach started at 1:30 PM and went to 9:00, with a 90 minute dinner break. But I woke up early anyway, out of habit more than anything else, and went down to have breakfast in one of the classrooms. I happened to pick the classroom scheduled for an embroidery class and, after looking at the beautiful samples and the kit the instructor (Karen Bente) had prepared for the students, I asked if I could sit in on the class. Even though I hadn't paid the class fee or a kit fee, Karen very generously allowed me to stay and participate in the class.

Karen is the owner of Arctic Needle, a local needlework shop. She does beautiful embroidery work, and her shop carries a tons items for all kinds of embroidery. I hope we have time to stop by her shop before we leave. I used to do embroidery when I was a teenager, and I've been thinking about doing some a lot lately. I just bought a pair of jeans with embroidery on one hip and on one leg by the hem, and I really felt guilty for not embellishing a plain pair of jeans myself. (When I used to sew all of my own clothes in my teens and early 20s, I would have sewn the jeans, too!). But I didn't have the confidnce to start a project. In the class, we went over 9 embroidery stitches and practiced them on a pattern that Karen designed. Some of the stitches I'd done before, but others were new to me. It was a lot of fun, and I got some ideas for making embroidered felted purses, although I have no idea when I might have time to make them.

After Karen's class, we had a 90 minute lunch break and then I was on with a class on making an Amish Oval Rug, similar to the one I included in The Knitted Rug. The class went really well. All of the students has bought absolutely gorgeous yarn for their rugs, and were very excited about knitting a rug. The knitting in this class is very easy, basically just long strips of garter stitch, so in between the "lessons" about selvedge stitches, sewing seams, crocheting edges, knitting I-cord, and so forth, we had lots of time to chat as we knitted, knitted knitted. Everyone got the center and the first strip of their Amish Oval Rug finished in the class. Most also got the two pieces sewn together with beautiful results. This is one of my favorite classes to teach because it seems so simple, but everyone always learns something they didn't expect and leaves with a smile on their face, well on their way to having a beautiful rug to decorate their home or to give as a gift. By the end of the class, I always have a pile of swatches, yarn, supplies, and tools spread out everywhere.

More on Arctic Lace and the lace knitting workshop I taught later. All I'll say now is that it was full of surprises and I learned as much as the students! I'm a little buzzed and I have to do a slide show about the research and writing for Arctic Lace tomorrow. So I'd better get a good night's sleep.

The rest of day 2

Ok, so I owe an update of what happened yesterday and Thursday evening....

Before our dinner, we took a walk around the block to check into renting bikes in case we have a nice day with some free time before we leave. We also stopped into the two visitor centers (one with the rack of flyers and one that was a gift shop), and a government wildlife office. I forgot the exact name of it, but they had a stupid scanner like at an airport security checkpoint. What a load of fear mongering crap, as if some terrorist is just waiting to blow up a one-room wildlife exhibit in Alaska, housing stuffed musk ox, polar bear, and other local animals and a small gift shop. But I won't let politics spoil my trip.

After we left the wildlife place (which was very cool once you got past the bullshit entrance), we went around the corner and came upon a shop called One People: One World that sells all kinds of gifts and crafts from, well, around the world. We probably would have passed the shop by, if it weren't for a sign out front that said "Qiveut Connection." Of course, we could not ignore that! I remember visiting this shop on my 2004 trip. They carry qiviut items designed by Colleen White, who lives in Palmer, about 50 miles outside of Anchorage. While we were looking for the qiviut, we saw other knitted items that stole our attention.

First we saw some bright Peruvian knitting, including a couple of dolls, a chullo (hat) and a bolsa (purse). The purse looked exactly like one from Andean Folk Knits by Marcia Lewandowski. I wasn't really surprised, because Marcia based all of the projects in her book on actual items she saw and studied when she lived in South America for almost a decade. The dolls were also similar to doll-purses that are in Andean Folk Knits. We didn't get a picture of them, so I might have to walk back over there to do so on Monday or Tuesday.

On the bottom shelf of the same table, we saw some Russian shawls that looked very much like those from Orenburg except that they were in different colors, and the Orenburg shawls are traditionally in natural white. The labels were in Cyrillic writing, which I can't read at all, so I'm not sure exactly what region they are from, but they did have English tags that said "Russia". The prices ranged from about $30 to $70, which is an absolute steal. I had to wonder how much money the knitters received for their work, because these are definitely hand knit and they also look handspun, but I couldn't resist buying one even without knowing. The shawl I wanted didn't have a price, so I brought it up to the register to ask. Even the most expensive priced shawls were a steal for a handspun, handknitted item.

Here's the shawl I bought. It's amazing, isn't it? It's so light and airy. I am not even sure if it weighs an ounce. Certainly not more than 2 or 3. It's no perfect. You can see a few mishappen stitches along the border, that seem to have been distorted during blocking. But I can fix them. And for $24 and no sales tax (yes, you read that right), I really can't complain one iota. This shawl scratched my itch, and I think I'll be able to get out of Anchorage without buying the machine knitted $175 shawl I saw the other day... but only time will tell.

After we stopped drooling over our knitting discovery, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Cathleen Hollingsworth and Debbie Radtke (the designer of the famous and amazing Fiber Trends felted hedge hog!). On our way to dinner (will we ever make it?), we stopped at Far North Yarn Shop to meet the owner and take a few minutes to look around. We didn't have even a quarter of the time we need to explore the shop, so we'll be going back on Mon or Tues and will post a full report with photos.

Dinner was great, at an organic restaurant that had lots of vegetarian entrees for Deb, as well as meatier entrees for the canivors among us. I actually had a vegetarian salad with tofu, because I figured we'd be fed too-heavy hotel food for a few days during the Yarn Expo. It was delicious, mainly because of the fabulout tarragon dressing that was made fresh at the restaurant. Along with the four of us who drove over together, several other teachers joined us with the rest of the Board members from the Alaska Yarn Council. This photo shows (from left to right) Catherine Hollingsworth, me, Kathleen Meggitt, and Debbie Radtke. (I have a photo with everyone, but it'd be so small on the blog that we just would look like pinheads....)

That's it for day 2. We slept great and on day 3 I started teaching.... I just stopped a couple of hours ago. Ate dinner, took a shower, and am sitting in the hotel lounge writing this and drinking Shiraz. I am not spell checking this, so blame any typos on exhaustion and the wine.

By the way, Deb is also posting some blog entries about our trip on her blog.

Day 2

Last night before dinner, Deb & I decided to take a walk around town to check out the bike rental shop (because we're sitting on our butts all week teaching classes, writing, and knitting!), and we stopped short in our tracks when we saw a sign that said "Qiveut Creations." I remembered the ship from my 2004 trip, so we went in side to see what knitting treasures we could find.... you'll have to wait until tomorrow for more details but below are a few tidbits to whet your appetite. Today has been a jam packed day, too.... starting yesterday at 4:30 PM:

• Took a walk

• Discovered a store selling qiviut products plus Russian lace shawls and Peruvian knitted items

• Went to dinner with the Alaska Yarn Council board and other teachers from the Expo

• Slept

• Had breakfast in the classroom where an embroidery class was going to take place and decided to stay for the class

• Taught the Amish Oval Rug class from 1:00 to 9:00 with a 90 minute dinner break

• Came back to the hotel room to check my email and then post this brief blog entry

Now I'm going to bed. I'll write a lot more about all of this tomorrow night, as well as about the lace workshop. I originally said I could only have 12 people in the lace class, but I think 4 or 5 more people have signed up over the last two days, and I said that was OK. It will be a lot of fun, especially since Arctic Lace was born here.

Check back tomorrow night for promised pictures and info. I teach from 9-4:30 tomorow, so I'll have the evening free and since I'm sure I'll be totally wiped out, I plan to be in this hotel room drinking wine and posting on this blog.

Day 1

So far our first day in Anchorage has been a lot of fun, even though the Yarn Expo doesn't start until tomorrow.

After finding a latte in the hotel coffee shop, Deb and I walked down the block to have breakfast, where I had a bagel with Alaska lox. A bagel and lox is my all time favorite breakfast, and the Alaska salmon has a different flavor than the Nova Scotia lox that is sold in most grocery stores around the country. It was saltier and tastier. I will probably not let myself get this for breakfast every day, but then again I might. It's not every day, after all, that I can have Alaska salmon on my bagel!

After breakfast we went to the Cook Inlet Book Company store, again down the block (everything in downtown Anchorage is down the block!). I'd gotten several books there on my 2004 research trip, and it's still best place around for finding books about Alaska. From hunting and fishing to politics to Native culture and cooking, it's all there. They even have a large section of out-of-print books about Alaska. They didn't have Arctic Lace in stock (yet!), and neither Deb nor I had been smart enough to carry a copy of the book or one of the post cards about the book with us, so we'll have to go back over there later on our trip to make sure they know about Arctic Lace. They did have a knitting section, so I'm sure they'll want to carry my book. I saw several books I want to read, but decided to wait until later in our trip to see if I still wanted them before I bought them. I haven't been reading much lately because I've been knitting a lot. (The books I have been reading are about knitting.) I usually don't read and knit a lot at the same time. Boy am I glad I waited and didn't buy any books because.....

We came back to the hotel because it was only 9:30 and the Oomingmak shop wasn't open yet. (They open at 10, and we planned to stop in and say hello.) As we were walking around in the hotel, we saw a pile of socks inside a shop window. They were all knitted with flower intarsia motifs. Not hand knitted, but still gorgeous. The colors were just amazing, ranging from muted pinks and mauves to bright oranges and greens. Of course we had to go in to take a closer look.

What I'm about to tell you will no doubt end up costing me a lot of money. Because the shop, named Siobhan's, is filled with the most gorgeous knitted garments designed by Solvieg Hisdal, the author of Poetry in Stitches. The clothing line comes from the Norwegian company, Oleana. The shop also has had some Poetry in Stitches knitting kits. Of course, Deb and I had to try things on. Deb found a sweater that looked great on her and fit like it was made for her. I saw a shawl and matching hat made out of alpaca that I just have to own. I probably will just get the shawl and forego the hat, because the prices are not inexpensive by any means. But the garments are simply gorgeous, and they are detailed perfectly. The sweater Deb tried on had ribbon trim around the neck and front bands, that set off the knitted patterning and framed the sweater.

The shawl I was fondling did nothing for the outfit I was wearing, and you can't really tell how gorgeous it is from this photo, so I when I go back down to the shop to buy it (they had several in stock, whew!), I will take some photos of the shawl in other colorways as well. I really can't afford to buy this shawl, because I am planning to buy one of the lace qiviut stoles from the Oomingmak knitters this week, but I don't know how much willpower I can muster up. I've been knitting shawls obsessively this year, and I just want to have a collection of them. They are like a baby's security blanket, so comfortable and cozy, and yet when you wear them, people think you are suave and sophisticated. OK, I am under no delusions that anyone will ever consider me suave or sophisticated, but they do add a little more panache to an outfit than a sweatshirt.

By the time we stopped fondling the knitting, it was past 10:00 so we headed back outside to walk over to the Co-op to say hi. Marie and Joyce were there. Joyce recognized me after a few seconds (I didn't have red hair in 2004, and she has long hair now), but Marie didn't recognize me at all with the red hair. Sigrun wasn't there yet, so we'll probably pop over again this afternoon to see her. Joyce was packing up bunches of nachaqs, scarves, hats, and headbands to take over to the Yarn Expo vendor area on Sunday, where we'll be signing Arctic Lace together.

 The co-op building looks different in this season. There were no flowers in bloom in April when we visited. Things were still buried in snow for the most part. Now the shop is surrounded by gorgeous orange and yellow blossoms. There are some new murals decorating the building, too, but I'll write more about them later. I don't want to spend my whole trip in the hotel room on the internet. I was going to do some work today, but I'm tired and I don't feel like it. I have some crochet swatches I need to do before we leave, but I'll have the 2nd and 3rd to do some of that, in between a bit of sight seeing.

Arrived in Anchorage

Good morning! It's 6:51 and pitch black outside here in Anchorage. Last night I flew to Anchorage with my editor, Deb Robson. We're both teaching at the Yarn Expo III conference this weekend. (Much more on that with photos and links throughout the weekend). The flight was 5 1/2 hours, and I slept through about 4 hours of it. Fortunately, I have the opposite problem of my husband, Dominic, who can't sleep on flights -- I can't stay awake. So it didn't really seem like being on a plane for almost 6 hours. Also, Deb and I both got isle seats, and I was the only person in my row, so I was able to stretch out quite a bit, which is always more relaxing that bumping elbows with a stranger.

At any rate, we got here and a local fiber enthusiast, Delma Myers and a North Carolina crochet teacher, Jean Blaine, picked us up at the airport in a Ford Explorer that could, luckily, hold all of our luggage! In the airport, a video about Anchorage was playing near the baggage carousel, and we saw Sigrun Robertson, the co-op director, several Oomingmak knitters, the musk ox farm, and wild musk oxen on the TV. Only in Alaska!

We are staying at The Hotel Captain Cook, which according to their website is the "only true luxury hotel in Anchorage." It certainly looked beautiful when we checked in last night. But we were so tired, we could barely figure out if we are staying 6 or 7 nights. Deb's reservation was for 7 nights and mine was for 6, even though we are flying home together. We're leaving on the 3rd, but we don't get home until the 4th because we have a redeye flight, which didn't help matters much. I figured we could go down to the front desk today and straighten things out if we got it wrong.

On the way to the hotel, Deb spotted the Oomingmak Co-op store. It kindof stands out in downtown Anchorage because it's in a tiny house surrounded by tall buildings. We didn't get a photo last night. The camera was buried in my bag, and it was dark and rainy. But here's a picture I took on my 2004 trip. The most fun part is the mural of musk oxen on the outside of the building. I suspect today we'll take a walk over and say hello to Sigrun and the others who are working in the ship.

Today is a free day. We don't start teaching until tomorrow. So we'll get to walk around downtown Anchorage (probably in the rain), and take in some local sights. I brought some work with me, too, so I'll be crocheting swatches to test the pattern stitches in a book I'm editing. It's nice to have the extra day, especially since our flight did not arrive until after midnight Denver time last night. I was originally planning to fly in on the 28th, for teaching on the 29th but Deb suggested that we come a day early. It was a good idea, I can already tell. Now we'll have a day to settle in before we have to get back to work. I'm sure it'll be fun, but I always get the feeling "why am I doing this" the day before I have a class to teach.

TAFN. I'll write more throughout the trip. I'll be online more than I should, because there's free wifi in our room and all over the hotel!