Negative Balance in My Savings Account

One of the most recent requests from the mortgage people was a letter explaining the negative balance in my savings account. (Obviously we have not closed on the house yet.) Not only do I not have a negative balance in my savings account, it's IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A NEGATIVE BALANCE IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT.

When Chris and I set out to be homeowners in Baltimore City, we didn't anticipate what that would mean. I feel like I've been run over. I FEEL like I have a negative balance in my savings account, because wouldn't that be an awful feeling? Not only having no savings, but actually owing your savings account money?

The bright spot in this has been a last-minute trip to Stitches South.

 

There was Red Bull. There was Sarah from Cephalopod Yarns. And books. And working in the Neighborhood Fiber Co. booth. Nice Southern knitters. Learning about designing for warmer climates.

 

Speaking of Neighborhood Fiber Co., Karida, the artist behind the colors, has been working on the Baltimore Satelite Reef, doing everything from planning the installation to teaching middle schoolers to crochet. You can read more here, and if you have a few extra dollars to support community arts, there's a kickstarter page here. If there's a place for kickstarter, I think it's community arts. And the reef is going to be great. It's even got a little piece from me (not nearly as cool as the pieces a lot of those kids made, though).

 

 

And my cats miss me. When they sit like this, they're usually staring at me as I sit at our only table and work in front of the computer. They're my quality assurance department.

 

The gray suitcase behind them is Stuff I Have Given the Mortgage People (and my ball winder). Time to get home and add to that pile!

 

 

Primary

I've received the rights to the ebook I published with KnitPicks last year, Twentieth Century Graphic, and it's been cool reworking the designs in new colors, new yarns, and new sizes.

I intended this design, the Saturated Shawl, to be knit in primary colors and gray, but KnitPicks discontinued its yellow Gloss Fingering, so I had to adjust. But now, thanks to my awesome sample knitter Pat and The Verdant Gryphon, I have my dream shawl, knit in Verdant Gryphon Bugga! You can now purchase the individual pattern from the Verdant Gryphon here.

This is no timid triangle shawl; it's about 90 inches wide and 30 inches deep. You don't need to worry that this will look like a bib if you don't wrap it correctly.

This is going to be my statement piece this spring.

Interesting note: The black building behind me is the bodega nearest my current apartment. It's called Ace Grocery. It looks closed even when it's open. I have not yet gone inside.

Thoughts about Spring Knitting

Since I was old enough to choose my own clothes, I've had difficulty finding items I really like to wear in the warmer months. Usually I wear the same items that I wear in the fall and winter, minus the tights and hoodies and sweaters. Now that I work from home, when I'm not wearing my jammies I wear a variation of the same two or three outfits every day. If you've met me more than once, you know this. If you haven't, look for me. I'll be the one in the dropped-crotch pants or knee-length skirt, boots, hoodie, and handknit shawl.

This is true more than ever now that I'm living out of a single box of clothes in our temporary Baltimore apartment. No, haven't closed on the house yet.

Because I'm living in a warmer climate now, I'm designing some warm-weather knits. The first, knit in Miss Babs Yet and Habu Silk Stainless, is the Weathered Pullover:

Yet is a blend of Merino and tussah silk, so it's great for warm weather. As soon as I swatched it I knew I wanted to use it for a garment. I like using yarns that are more obviously suited to shawls for garments because I like fine yarns but hate knitting complicated lace. It's also a bargain. So much yardage for the price.

The pullover is reversible; you can wear the translucent panel created by the silk stainless as the back:

Or as the front (check out the skirt; it's one of my five favorite garments, purchased in Berlin in 2003):

Or you can omit it and work the panel in the same yarn used for the other side.

Interested? You can read more about the design here, and you can purchase the pdf pattern for $6.

I leave you with a picture of the Official City Pen of Baltimore.

Okay, not official, but these things are EVERYWHERE.

Drunken Dyeing at the Verdant Gryphon

I got the chance to do some dyeing at the Verdant Gryphon studio in Easton, MD, on Friday. A few results:

Skeins of these one-off colors will be available to purchase this week on the Verdant Gryphon site. Will anyone purchase the orange/forest green color or the left? I'm taken with its aggressive ugliness but am unsure about its wider appeal.

The trip to Easton was a much-needed escape from house-buying tasks and worries. Yesterday Chris and I attended a homeownership class at the Southeast Baltimore CDC, which we should have taken farther in advance. It was excellent, but it was scary. REALLY scary if you're closing on a house in a matter of days. I was fixated on the horror stories of last-minute credit checks and loan rejections and small mistakes that ruined creditworthiness:

"So what happened when he didn't pay the $10 minimum on that bill the week before closing? Did he get the loan? NO. He didn't. When his credit was run at closing, he was rejected."

I expect to feel right at the edge of vomiting until the papers are signed on Friday afternoon. It's where I'm living these days, keeping my fingers active knitting a huge garter stitch square for a design inspired by Kazimir Malevich in Sweet Fiber Yarns Cashmerino:

Onward to Friday, to success or disaster!

China Shipping

 At last, at last, the next installment of Container Ships: China Shipping!

The inspiration is the green, usually in various stages of rust, of the China Shipping containers I see in nearly every container ship photo and shipyard. I chose the colors of Bugga! for China Shipping when I was at The Verdant Gryphon open house, knowing that they would be a China Shipping-based project, but not knowing what the project would be.

Here are some of the inspiration photos, which both fascinate and frighten me. Global trade can be scary, for the environment, for labor, for the economy. However, there's something magical about huge amounts of cargo circling the globe toward their ultimate destinations.

What better place to take photos than my new neighborhood in Baltimore?

If you're part of the Container Ships club, you've already received the pattern. If you're not, you can join and receive China Shipping and the previous three Container Ships patterns, as well as future patterns (I'm currently at work on an accessory) for $13:

The individual pdf for China Shipping is now available through The Verdant Gryphon. It will be available as a pdf on Ravelry in a month. Because the colors I used are not standard Verdant Gryphon colors, you can special order them through Monday! AND you get 5% off when you order three or more skeins of Bugga! in ANY colors (think of the possibilities for this cardigan!).

The colors are:
A: Canada Darner
B: Owl Moth
C: Blue Duke

See them here.

Now it's time to DYE SOME YARN AT VERDANT GRYPHON!

The Sermon: Mystery KAL Complete!

Here's the finished product from my very first knitalong, The Sermon, a collaboration with Neighborhood Fiber Co. 

Very long, very black. My Sermon was worked in the Cool Blacks colorway, which best suited my theme. You can see photos of other colorways on Ravelry.

The pattern is now available as an 18-page pdf containing all six sections. Each section has its own quotes, theme, and design, thanks to my sister's graphic design talent and Matt Kish's drawings. I even included some of my photographs from 1996, when I was an art major working with a large-format camera and manipulating negatives.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this knitalong. I was certain that everything about the idea was unmarketable, but I learned not to underestimate knitters' curiosity and adventure.

Contest winner and my new neighborhood!

Congrats to Robyn! You have won a copy of Woodsmoke & Ash! Send your address to Andrea at andrea@andreaknits.com!

In other news, we are less than a month away from closing on a HOUSE in Baltimore. Life is changing so quickly these days; lately it seems that when I'm not working I'm handling some huge life decision. Routine tasks punctuated by first-ever decisions! Deleting commas, gathering paperwork for final mortgage approval! Editing questions about homeowners insurance, getting proof of homeowners insurance!

Our new house in is the Penn North neighborhood. The other day I walked from our current apartment through Penn North to go to the Target at Mondawmin. I got some great photos.

A few blocks down on North Avenue (check out how bowed that building is!):

North Avenue, around the corner from our street:

In the next block of North Avenue, there's been some awesome rehabbing:

A tavern/package store in Druid Heights, south of Penn North, with owners that are really serious. I loitered only briefly to get the photo:

 

Our street is better maintained. Here it is!

 

And here's our HOUSE!

 

Inside photos coming soon! I love Baltimore!!!