Knitter in the Kitchen

Recently I received a copy of Flow, the first photography book published by Vanessa Yap of coloursknits. I have been following Vanessa’s knitting blog for years and have always been impressed with her amazing photography, so I was thrilled to be the lucky recipient of her book giveaway.

Flow consists of more than forty stunning photos of yarn in various settings – solo, in a group of skeins, or as part of a knitting project. For me, the common theme across all of the photos is the simple beauty of yarn. Vanessa has a gift for capturing yarns’ exquisite qualities in their most basic form. I have pored over the book many times, and each time I feel a sense of peace whenever I look at her lovely photos. This is an excellent book for anyone who appreciates the artistic character of yarn. You can find it here. Congratulations on your wonderful work, Vanessa!

This was recently gifted to me by Esther, who knit it out of her own handspun! I love the colors and it is a super cozy hat. Thank you so much for the wonderful gift, Esther!

The unwound skeins in my sock yarn stash

Thank you to everyone who participated in my contest! Currently, I have 90 unused balls of yarn in my stash, so Oiyi is the winner with her guess of 89! I was curious about how much sock yarn I have, so I counted them specifically — 39. Which is forty-three percent of my stash! Not all of them are intended for socks — some are for scarves or handwarmers — but still…I don’t think I actually need sock yarn for a looooooooong time!

I had a great time with my friends on the Stitch ‘n Ride train from Sacramento to Santa Clara. This was my first time going to Stitches, and I think a big part of the fun was chatting and knitting together during the trip. I didn’t take any photos at Stitches, so all I have to show are my purchases.

My Ravelry t-shirt and sticker!

Claudia Hand Painted Fingering in Oops

Claudia Hand Painted Fingering in Cabin Fever

Koigu KPPPM in P430

Claudia Hand Painted Fingering 55 (55% silk and 45% merino!) in Just Plum

Malabrigo Silky Merino in Stonechat

All the yarn together

As you can see, I am a huge fan of Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. I usually purchase it online but sometimes the colors don’t turn out to be what I anticipated so it was wonderful to see so many colorways in person! I definitely had to exercise some restraint with my purchases…otherwise you would see even more sock yarn here.

In knitting news — I finished the Chevron Scarf and I am 99% done with the Central Park Hoodie, so I should have a couple of FO posts soon!

My good friend Ruth tagged me for the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award (thanks Ruth!), and I would like to give the same award to the following five amazing ladies:

1. Joyce — We met online just over a year ago, right before she was about to give birth to her daughter Ava. Joyce takes amazing photos and is very creative and talented in all of her crafting. She is also really generous — she taught me how to sew zippered pouches by sending me a photo tutorial, and she has gifted me with several lovely books.

2. Elise — If you have read my blog for awhile, you might notice that I get a number of delicious recipes from Simply Recipes. They are clearly written, and literally every single one I’ve tried has turned out well. I’ve cooked more dishes from Simply Recipes than from any other single resource. Elise always patiently answers my questions (sometimes dumb ones!) over comments and emails. I am very grateful for Elise and her excellent website.

3. Ari — I’ve only been reading Baking and Books for several months, but Ari is such a source of culinary inspiration for me. She experiments with new dishes regularly across various different cuisines, and I drool over photos of her baked goods. Ari also posts great interviews with famous cookbook authors!

4. Esther — This sock-knitting queen knits gorgeous socks as gifts — I wish I were as generous as she is about giving away handknits. We share similar interests in cooking and baking, and I always enjoy chatting with her over email about those topics. Esther has been busy with the bar exam lately, and I hope it went well for her!

5. Erin — I am always in awe of Erin’s stunning lace shawls. She is really, really good at knitting them and very patient with fixing any mistakes. She can also read Japanese knitting and crochet patterns and creates beautiful pieces of knitwear.