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Synchronicity and Sax Solos

Shannon — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:44:13 +0000

Emily was talking about DIY synchronicity a few days ago, but this, my dears, blew my mind.

When women spend a lot of time together, their monthly cycles oftentimes sync up. I am completely convinced that brains can sync themselves, as well. It has already happened, quite completely, to Emily and me. We can barely form a cohesive thought alone anymore; we’re almost one very Twisted organism. But last week, the cosmos proved that Star and I are brain-syncing, too. Look out, world!

It all started on a Wednesday. I was in the back room at Twisted, plugging away on the old computer, when Star came back, and said, “I have a VERY important question for you!” She told me that she and her special someone were obsessed with this cheesy saxophone solo, but could not for the life of them remember the name of the song. She then proceeded to air-saxophone that solo like she was Charlie Parker himself, and I recognized the tune, but couldn’t quite place it. I knew I needed reinforcements, so I immediately video-chatted Stefan (my go-to person for all queries obscure), Star air-sax’ed the heck out of him, and he, too, became obsessed.

The solo hid out in the back of my mind, jumping to the surface every once-in-a-while until a few days later, when Stefan called me to let me know he was on his way home. He told me to grab my computer, go to YouTube, and type in “Gerry Rafferty, Baker Street.” That sweet sax started wailing, and I knew my man had come through yet again. I copied the link, pasted it into an email, and sent it to Star…at the very same moment she was sending the exact same link to me! I kid you not, folks, her man was on a mission, too, and had discovered this sax solo at the same moment mine did!

We giggled and I.M.’ed and giggled and I.M.’ed all the live-long evening – I mean, come ON, how often does something that bizarre happen? As I was sending the link to her, she was sending the link to me. I think our emails may have even high-five’d as they passed each other in the ether…

So, without further ado, listen, my friends, to the sweet sound of synchronicity…

Alma Lou Shawl

Shannon — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:43:41 +0000

We’ve got a new Twisted pattern! I first knitted this shawlette for my mother, Alma, for her birthday. We call her Alma Lou, because her middle name is, quite surprisingly, Lucretia. I wanted something simple, with a bit of frou-frou, but not too much. Eyelets seemed to be the way to go, and on a garter background, they’re almost rustic. This is a simple pattern with enough interest to keep you going.

Gauge: 24 sts per 4 “/10cm, although gauge is NOT super important
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) circular needle (24” or longer)
Yarn: about 350 yards of a light-fingering or fingering-weight yarn. Sample shown in Black Trillium Merilon in colorway Coraline.
Notions: stitch markers, darning needle
Skill level: Enthusiastic beginner
Finished measurements: 54” wide, 16” deep at middle. The shawl pictured was fairly vigorously blocked.

Order a hard copy of Alma Lou on our web store.

Download an electronic copy of Alma Lou from Ravelry.

Also, today is my mom & dad’s 38th (!could that be right?) wedding anniversary! Yay for long-lasting love!

Earning her keep

Shannon — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:31:17 +0000

Now, I know that you all think that Hazel, because she’s still quite small, just has this carefree life of play-play-play. I’m here to tell you that we are starting her young. She’s not allowed to just sit around when she’s spending time at Twisted. To prove this point, I took some photos of Sorren training Hazel in the fine art of dusting the shelves. You should see her washing those dishes!

A confession. Or, why knowing where you’ve been is superduper important.

Shannon — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:37:14 +0000

I consider myself to be a “sock knitter.” I’ve made a quadrillion pairs of socks, and, although I gravitate toward the more simple patterns nowadays, I have been known to take on a challenge or two. I knit socks. It’s kind of what I do.

A few days ago, I finished a pair of socks that I had begun in the Fall of ’09. I knit the first one real quickly, but, because I usually do two-at-once, by the time I casted off, I wasn’t so in to starting the second one. So, I didn’t. Then, as I was working on my knitting goals (something I do every coupla months, and sometimes it actually inspires me to finish long-languishing projects), I started the toe of sock #2. A few more months went by, and last weekend, on a family vacay to the coast with my baby and my babydaddy, I got back to it. From some scattered notes I wrote on the pattern, I assumed I was working a certain size. Assume being the key word here. As my 9th-grade math teacher always said, you know what happens when you ASSUME: you make an ASS out of U and ME. Yeah.

The second sock felt a bit big, but, if you know me, you know that sometimes the details get on my last nerve, so I just kinda pushed on through. I finished the sock, wove in the ends, went back to sock #1, wove in THOSE ends, and went to bed. The next morning, I put the socks on, and, guess what?

I have, quite literally, never made a more fraternal pair of socks in my life. Will I rip and re-knit? If you are asking that question, you honestly don’t know me. When a project is done, it’s DONE. I even wore them the other day, and they didn’t feel all that weird. Maybe they’ll block out (haha!).

Sock Details:
Pattern: Salish Sea Socks, by Cat Bordhi (a fabulously amazing pattern, if you actually follow it correctly for both socks. We have it here in the shop).
Yarn: BMFA STR Mediumweight, Bella Coola colorway, from Rockin’ Sock Club a few years ago.

SOW #3 Teaser

Shannon — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:20:56 +0000

A trio of Haikus, just for you:

Caring for knitwear
Post-knitting is important
So let us help you

Sure, it’s lame. And dumb.
It’s not funny. Or cute. But…
I wrote it for you.

What will be on sale
Next week. Do you think these clues
Are at all helpful?

(I promise you, every Thursday, on this blog, I will give you, my lovelies, a super-duper lame teaser for the upcoming Sale of the Week. Feel free to make fun of me about it, that’s ok. And, I do take full responsibility for the lame-ness. I will let you know if someone else contributed some lame-osity to the teasers (Emily did for the very first one, the limerick about Louisa Harding, but it was mostly me.))

Happy Birthday, Sister!

Shannon — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:49:21 +0000

My beautiful, fabulous, talented, wonderful sister turns something-or-another today. She’s in England with the Joe Perry Project. What a life, huh?

Here she is with Emily soon after Twisted opened, when we were doing the Bear Mitten thing:

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

I am an April Fool

Shannon — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:00:18 +0000

Ravelry got me – has it gotten you yet?

Open today, closed on July 4th

Emily — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:40:49 +0000

Growing up, the Fourth of July was my favorite holiday. The reason was that every year my parents and I would drive to the little tiny town in Northern Illinois where my mom was raised. And that town of 1,000 people rocked the Fourth like you would not believe.

The park in the middle of town filled up with carnival rides and bingo. My grandma’s house was across the street from the school’s football field, where the disproportionately huge fireworks display was set off. Because of that, Grandma and Grandpa always hosted a huge cookout for all their friends and family. My uncle would buy quasi legal fireworks and set them off over the corn field that abutted their backyard. We would torment Grandma by threatening to climb up on her roof to get a better view. Anyway, it was basically a Middle-American wonderland.

Best of all, the extended family entered a float in the town parade every year. We picked a theme and all dressed up and decorated a hay rack. The float always included this super creepy life sized (when I was small) doll named Becky that my grandfather got at an estate sale a million years ago and, in later years, a stuffed coyote. And – it should go without saying – we usually won our category. Of course, our competition was the same two other entrants every year, but that’s another story altogether.

All this to say: we are closed for the Fourth of July to spend time with our families and friends – and we hope you enjoy your day doing the same!

Knit Baby!!!

Shannon — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:25:50 +0000

Baby by Shannon and Stefan.
Onesie by Michelle.

Getting back in the swing of things…

Shannon — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:22:30 +0000

I wanted to let everyone know how much I appreciate all of the wonderful gifts and the emails and blog comments congratulating Stefan and me on our sweet, sweet baby, Hazel. She’s a joy, and we are the happiest folks in the world right now! She has been gifted with so much love and warmth from all of her knitting friends, I just know she’ll be a crafter as soon as she can figure out how to work her little hands! She was 5 weeks old yesterday, and is now tipping the scales at about 8 and a half pounds. She and I have been coming into the shop sporadically these last two weeks, and will get ourselves into a Twisted schedule soon. She’s looking forward to getting to know all of Twisted’s regulars…

And, now, if you will all indulge me, I’ll share a few photos of my favorite little girl, Hazel Squire Lombard!