Madrona is finished, and oh, what a lovely time I had. I admit that it’s pretty hard to go wrong with the set up. Awesome teachers, awesome vendors, awesome students – and now that I’ve been coming for years, so many of them are friends and acquaintances that I feel like it’s a homecoming when I arrive. I look forward to all the moments I’ll have, and not just with my old friends – getting to know new students and colleagues better, although I do approach this with caution. 
(I had a bad case of camnesia, so I don’t really have any pictures, other than this one, which is Mt. Rainier out my hotel room window. I know it’s sort of unrelated, but there you go.)
For example, it seems that every time I touch Shelter yarn it costs me $100. I can’t live that way, ergo, I must not touch Shelter yarn. (To be fair, talking about it too much, or spending too much time near it has a similar effect.) Now here I am at Madrona, and one of the teachers is Jared Flood, and I think he’s nice- but really our relationship consists of shaking hands and being polite to each other, which is all well and good, but I’d like to get to know him better – which I could totally do at Madrona, but I have a feeling that actually hanging out with him would cost me a lot more than the $100 just being near his yarn does. Similarly, I think that I’d love to hang out a lot more with Syne Mitchell, but I don’t have room in my house for a floor loom- and I feel sure that any real time spent with her would end like that.
In this spirit, I don’t spend a lot of time in the Marketplace. Madrona is an intimate and lovely setting for vendors I think, and I feel like you can really get to know them as people – and that cannot, if one’s resolve is somewhat tenuous at best… be a good thing. I don’t know about you, but if I know and like the people who have the yarn, then I am even more likely to give them money.
With all this in mind, I had a great plan. I was going to cruise the market once or twice (with support) and then go into the Habu booth, and buy one thing I’ve really been wanting. I’ve had my eye on that crazy Kusha Kusha scarf for about a year. It’s one strand of merino, and one strand of wool/stainless steel, and you combine them for about 2/3 of the scarf, then knit just with the stainless, then felt the thing. It’s gorgeous. I’ve been a little psyched by it for a while. I love how you can shape it, but it’s still fluid, and I feel like it’s such a beautiful study in contrasts… the soft and woolly merino felted against the crisp looking stainless… I had it bad for this scarf. One evening I surfed through the Ravelry projects for it, and I saw this one, and this one, and then (be still my heart) this one, and I knew I was done. I had to have it… and I’ve been waiting for Madrona since then. I’ve been all about the Kusha Kusha scarf for a while – and it was going to be what I bought at Madrona. That was my plan. Kusha Kusha, nothing else. I talked about Kusha Kusha. I dreamed of it. I was firm.
On Thursday I announced my intentions to Tina, and together we went into the marketplace and journeyed to the Habu booth. I looked at all the great yarns, but I was unshakable in my resolve. I was having a Kusha Kusha scarf. Only that scarf would do, and it was all I was buying. The Kusha Kusha scarf was enough, because it was perfect. I admired the stainless… I admired the merino. I chose colours that would go together and I loved it and I was satisfied and there was nothing more that I could want.
Then I turned around.
On the wall behind me was a sample sweater. More like a jacket. A jacket/sweater thing. Point is… it was beautiful. It hung there, all sort of vaguely felty and asymmetrical and it was stunning in that Matrix-post-apocalyptic -my clothes are beautiful rags sort of way. The instant I saw it, my heart turned over- and I pointed up at it, as the world spun around me a little, and I turned to Jeane (Jean? I was struck blind by the yarn and couldn’t read her nametag right) and said "What sweater is that?" I think my voice shook. Jeane leant over, and said "Which one? That one?" I nodded dumbly.
"That’s the Kusha Kusha Jacket" she said.
I handed her my credit card. Really. That’s a sign. It won’t arrive for a few weeks though, and that gives me time to make the scarf. Or two. Or five…
That scarf sounds like such an amazing concept. I can’t wait to see it finished!
Ah, Mount Rainier.
Ah, Habu!
Ah, temptation; resistance; abandonment. Should be an amazing sweater.
Very cool and yes, it would be much easier on my pocketbook if people who sold the yarn I loved were mean and nasty creatures but no, they have to go and be nice and fun and cool and stuff. Damn them (but not really because I like their yarn). 🙂
I too thought Rainier was beautiful. Looked ginormous in Tacoma.
You had no choice. Carry on.
Oh my god, there’s a Kusha Kusha jacket?!?! I’ve been hesitating on the scarf, because I have about a bazillion scarves, but I can always use another jacket… damn!
HOORAY FOR COMPULSIVE BUYING! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Always and forever my favorite enabler.
. . . just dropped $40 on mawata silk hankies, thank you very much.
That jacket is stunning. No wonder you were speechless.
Can I say I’m happy to have my personal stash of Habu A-1 silk, among others…
Every time I walk into their booth it costs me $400, and you know why.
oooh, make sure to post lots of photos and in progress shots. PLEASE. My Kusha Kusha is at the bottom of the pile of project bags, I really could use the motivation to dig it up and work on it.
But think how responsible you’d feel if Habu went out of business and you hadn’t bought it?
That said, I wish Toni Neil of The Fold were considerably more of a bitch, because liking her costs me, as you’ve pointed out, bigtime.
Can you believe I actually started to ask what color the jacket is? I know — what was I thinking?
(So you could really shake my sense of an ordered universe by confessing that it’s dusty rose.)
I thin you might all like to know that whileStephanie and I were sitting in the back of Carson Demers’ wonderful knitting ergonomics class on the final afternoon, she showed me how if you press two fingers into the KushaKusha fabric, it makes a shape just like Barbie doll boobs.
I think you might all like to know that while Stephanie and I were sitting in the back of Carson Demers’ wonderful knitting ergonomics class on the final afternoon, she showed me how if you press two fingers into the KushaKusha fabric, it makes a shape just like Barbie doll boobs.
I have the same problem with silk. Any silk. Three Irish Girls is killing me these days, and now she has moved to my home town and is doing a show AND she created a color especially for our LYS. What is there to do?
Welcome to the life-changing influence of Setsuko Torii patterns. At first glance the jaw goes slack, the eyes widen and hand goes toward pocket book whilst spontaneous chanting ensues (“must have…must have…”).
Not fatal; in fact results in gorgeous and intelligent wholly wearable knits, but word of financial impact has reached us. Possibly contagious.
Really want to get in trouble? Wrap hands around her catalog/pattern books!
Ok I’m intrigued…. How does this actually feel to wear?
Someone please tell me…..
My hero.
I’m with MNara… Is there enough felting to not feel metal? I’m imagining a thin, jewelry-wire sort of deal and I’m not sure I could take that against my skin. Crossing my fingers for a swift finish… the suspense is already killing me!!!
Thanks for the lovely photo of The Mountain, as we called it when we lived in Seattle. After a long day at work it was a wonderful sight to see.
I was chuckling along just fine reading this post, and then simultaneously took a sip of coffee and read Cat Bordhi’s comment. Off now to get the Windex and a whack of paper towels to clean off my monitor and keyboard.
Oh my goodness. Now I’ve seen everything that knitting can offer . What with all the fantastic warm cuddly yarns for scarves I can understand someone trying it for fun , but a sweater !!! Holy Moly, nope just can’t get my head around this one. Good luck knitting it and I’ll be patiently watching for a finished picture of you wearing it.
Oh Habu. I bought the supplies to make the Kusha Kusha scarf years ago and now I WILL finally make it.
I also love the sweater Paper Crane which uses Habu linen. Someday….
Yes, please – finish the scarf forthwith and take lots of pictures. I might be obsessed with it already.
*tee-hee* – Barbie boobs!
(excuse my fangirl moment) Cat I just <3 you so hard! One day I’ll go to something like Madrona, just so I can meet the cool girls. 🙂
@JodyO 6:14 – Three Irish Girls is killing me too, and I’ve never even met her in person. Honestly, some of my orders could be car payments…. I’d have to take out a loan should I ever attend one of her trunk shows.
I lived in NY for almost 4 years and never once made it to Habu. Then I went back for a visit and popped in….I am very glad I had avoided it before then. Even though I never had much money while in NY, I would have been destitute.
I saw you and Tina on Saturday night, but I couldn’t quite muster the courage to come say hello. For one, I was definitely drunk, which is not exactly ideal when speaking to one’s idols, and for another, I was with my boyfriend, who as a non-knitter does not understand our ways (though he does like our products!). Oh well, next year!
I had no idea that stainless steel was used for knitting. I feel like my world just shifted slightly askew.
So Missy, know you know what happens when I read your blog. So many wonderful yarns the temptation is mighty. Hmmm and yet you and Mr. Flood are such nice troublemakers what choice so we have?
Shelter=heaven~ and the colors are so beautiful!
Wouldn’t the scarf be a bit scratchy with the stainless steel?
I saw this link and thought of one of your books:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/02/21/funny-pictures-hand-over-the-wool/
Ah, yes. Your scarf and jacket are beautiful. Meanwhile, I was inhaling yarn fumes at Stitches West. On the first day, I found the two things I planned to buy and had budgeted for. On the second day, I was waylaid by a beautiful shawl pattern http://www.justonemorerow.com/kp23.html at the Just One More Row booth, and wouldn’t you know, she had some recycled sari silk yarn (which I have wanted for years) in just the right colors for me. So I consulted myself and found that I could allow one impulse purchase, not too bad, under $100, I can do that.
On the last day, I went in search of a mere double-ended crochet hook that was mentioned in my morning class, and happened to walk by a display of Hanne Falkenberg kits. If I had known it was there, I would have gone the long way round to avoid it. Now, I have lusted after this vest http://www.knit.dk/duet.htm for a while, but the $$$ were impossible. It turns out that they are not impossible if it is the only vest kit left and it is in your colors, so it must have your name on it.
After that I walked directly out of the market, alternately thrilled with the kit and horrified at the $$$. Somehow I don’t think it will be the last time . . .
i know we should be talking about knitting, but my son moved to california from seattle today and i’m afraid i’ll never have a reason to go back and see mt. rainier again …
When I grow up I wanna be like you!
I love that sweater, how fun. Is that really ALL you bought?
I am Cat Bordhi’s slave for life.
Feeding and housing me is her problem.
Steph, there’s a fiber arts studio here in Astoria, OR, that has many floor looms for the use of members/students. They’ve told me that, if you’ll come, they’ll give you beer. I’m sure they’ll also let you use the looms as much as you want.
I admit to being somewhat leery of this whole stainless steel and wool thing. I would have to touch and feel before I could commit to such a crazy idea. Please feel free to send me your first scarf as soon as it’s finished so I can see if I like it. kthxbai.
I think it is just plain fun to say Kusha Kusha…let alone knit it!
That will look very nice on you! You might not have expected to buy it, but really it’s not that much more than your Shelter habit. AND the blurb on the website describing the kit is hilarious. You had to really.
Breathtaking Kusha Kusha jacket – very knitterly – and just your colours too. Wow.
*snort* Cat outed you, Steph!
but they give you the harlot discount, right? fess up.
I love that Matrix-post-apocalyptic-my clothes are beautiful rags sort of look. I’ve been busy designing it for myself, though. Mine is kind of crossed with an I’ve-been-living-alone-in-the-wilderness-and-making-my-own-medieval-clothes sort of look.
I never thought of knitting with stainless steel, though. I have seen the wool/stainless yarn that Lion Brand Yarn makes (in the catalog, not in real life).
Let us know how it feels to knit with it.
The statement “Resistance is futile” may have been uttered by the Borg but it definitely refers to yarn.
The statement “Resistance is futile” may have been said by the Borg but it definitely refers to yarn.
Okay…for now. Till you turn 50 and are so *lumpy* you can no longer wear something that makes you look like a refugee from WWII…
Sorry. Didn’t mean to disrespect your choice. The scarf is one thing. One lovely, fluid thing. The Jacket: not so much.
Or maybe it’s just envy on my part.
Sigh.
Trying sooooo hard to resist the harlot kool-aid…I wanna knit with stainless steel.
@cat bwahahahahahahaha!!!
I think you will look like a Scythian princess in it, maybe with a big felted hat on.
What a relief! I can appreciate the Kusha Kusha, but, dare I say it? I am not compelled to knit it. Totally unlike my usual response to whatever it is you’re knitting. (See: Bohus! Kauni! Diamond Fantasy! Hey Teach! Flower Basket Shawl – until I realized I’d already made it – and on and on and on.) I’m glad you love the scarf and sweater, but thank goodness I can do without them. I am so overbooked!
That scarf is amazing. Why couldn’t you post this before Madrona?! 😉 I had already spent my entire budget (at BMFA, by the way) when I saw the Habu stall. Sadness ensued.
And so you felt (ahem) you had sufficiently steeled yourself against the possibilities of what the yarn could become.
Sounds like fun projects!!
Oh, the Habu. I recently succumbed to a wee cone of silk tweed, to work up prototype sweaters in microscopic gauge for Asian Ball Jointed Dolls. Love that KushaKusha sweater, but it would not fly in the law office where I work (which is the only place I need sweaters, year-round, here in Texas).
ahhh I know that everytime I steel myself against buying a certain thing something else breaks my resolve.
I’m so glad that you were feeling better to enjoy all the wonderfulness around you. Thank you for taking a picture of Mt Rainier. The indigenous called it Tahoma which is the Salishan word for ‘snow Peak’. You may know of the Salishan or Cowichan sweaters. Anyway it was pleasant to see that neck of the woods through your eyes. Now to link to all your links to grok what you grokked at Madrona-the mother of all fiber festivals.
I have a Kusha Kusha in one of the file cabinets in my office. It is about 2/3 done (just ready to drop the non-steel yarn). I have been working on it for about a year. It serves as my emergency back up knitting whenever I forget to bring my bag that has me “real” travel knitting project to work.
Whoa! I did not see that twist ending coming. I probably should, since I have lived this experience in my own way at fibre markets. No matter how much I spend, these moments still hit me like a thunderbolt from the blue.
Enjoy your whole Kusha Kusha ensemble!
You were quite lucky to have such a beautiful view of Mt Rainier and to get such a nice image.
That jacket has me drooling.
sorry Steph but I think you are pulling our leg on this one…
I too fell down the Habu rabbit hole and bought the stuff to make a Kusha Kusha, but using the copper/silk with the merino instead of the stainless steel. I managed to resist the sweater/jacket. It’s not a good look for the over 60 set unless you’re very tall, thin and elegant.
LOVED your mawata class. I will be stalking poor Tina until she gets more in stock.
I’m sorry….I feel like the kid in the crowd in the story about the Emporor’s New Clothes. Really??? That sweater is UGLY! I don’t understand….someone please explain…..
OMG Kathy! (10:07 PM) I was just going to say the same thing! I love stainless steel, WHEN I’M COOKING! I just don’t think I want to wear it! That deconstructed look of the sweater and scarf are definitely DIFFERENT. Good luck with it!
I’m making a request for all of the knitters who are teachers, waitresses, flight attendants, fortune 500 Ceos, etc etc etc:
Please refrain from all pictures, adjectives, and links for every post you write in the future. I’m drooling over the concept of that scarf, and I’m thinking that I deserve it really. After the horrid quarter I’m having with my students, I think I deserve a scarf that is that fantastic. My finances say otherwise. So, as a united front, I’m asking you to please stop. I refuse on moral high ground to eat ramen noodles. I lived 4.5 years of college on those, and I cannot NOT NOT NOT go back to that. Please. Think of the children.
Not sure what that last bit has to do with the price of habu in Madrona, but it seems like a convincing argument. 😀
I don’t think I’ve ever commented before, but I swear I felt dizzy just reading this post. What a terrifying and wonderful experience, I almost wish I could have one too (as my bank account screams in horror…). Oh, and if you happen to notice some creepster slowly reading through your entire backlog of posts, that’s just innocent little me. You’ve gotten me through some very boring grad school lectures – thanks!
Sooooooooooooo, gaga aside – how’s your cold? 😉
Damn your eyes. Now I have to lust after this, too?
Aw come on. Floor looms aren’t that big. And really, do you need that living room couch?
P.S. I’m enjoying playing around with lever knitting. It’s stretching my brain in happy ways.
loved you leverage knitting class- while listening to Carson’s ergo class I continued to keep on knitting, I think I may have about 120 minutes practice and am getting faster. Yup your were right 10 minutes to learn a new skill isn’t enough. I also supported the many vendors in the marketplace! Hmmm maybe you can use the floor loom to store more stash!
It must be one of those “you had to be there” kind of things – I’m not feeling the love, but hey it’s for you and you love it and that is what matters. Hope you have a blast knitting and wearing it.
I just love Habu, it seems so much like making a three-dimensional thing out of sticks and string. I went to Stitches West this week-end and had somewhat the same experience with resolve – or was that dissolve? However, I have luscious scrumptious new fibre. Secret to tell, I have two BIG bags of Habu because I love it & keep buying it but have been scared to make something out of it. I will be brave soon.
I’m sore at the idea that you could finish a single kusha kusha in a few weeks, let alone five of them. It took me forever to finish that thing! Endless, tiny stitches.
*grumble* She probably will finish it, too.. *grumble*
You read this? “This is a knit FELT kit. A bit tricky, so please ask questions before you purchase this piece. Like kit-74, you do not want to overfelt it. If you do, you will have to give it to a child… Otherwise, it is completely cool & wild & no-ironing jacket. Very warm, too.”
I don’t know a child who would like a post-apocalyptic jacket. Sounds scary to me.
I have to say, you may love it, and I really hope you find joy in both the knitting and the wearing of it… I find that jacket hideous. Hopefully it’s just a bad picture, though, or that I’m missing something.
I don’t know if I’m happy or heartbroken that it doesn’t come in my size.
Barbie boobs? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I would love to hear about about how the Kusha Kusha feels. It looks really cool 🙂
Oooh. I bought the stainless steel yarn last year while I was in New Zealand from a lovely online shop called South Seas Knitting run by Mel Clark (from the fun book Knit 2 Together by Mel Clark and Tracey Ulman). But I still haven’t got a hold of some merino so I can make the scarf. I’ve been dreaming about it for a year! Now I have to get some. Thanks for the reminder. In the mean time I am finishing a cute pair of sparkly legwarmers from a wonderful magazine called Needle Pulling Thread. Sound familiar?
Steph, way back when you mentioned the stainless steel stuff from Habu I was about to take my first trip to NYC. My friend, definitely not a knitter and I wouldn’t even dream of handing him a sock to hold 😉 understood my need however and had the coordinates loaded in his smart phone. My first day there after a red eye flight from Alberta had me a little fuzzy and ready to believe that NYC was the fairytale land I’d imagined it to be. So after a lunch of delicious calamari and more beer than I usually consume (Drink up it’ll help your jet lag>.>) I was escorted to this very narrow doorway after blocks of walking and staring. Up the stairs to a steel door beautifully marked by I’d guess a sander of some sort. Even my bud stopped to admire it. I bought a spool of black and a spool of gray, some exquisite silk and was gifted by my friend with some lovely cobweb silk. I played with that yarn so many times, little book marks for friends and only put the barest of dents in the spool. I lost it in the fire that destroyed our house last April but I still have the memories of that glorious sunkissed day in NYC, when I met a long time online friend face to face and walked the streets of a city I’d dreamed of visiting for some time. Thanks for helping me revisit them.
Sharon
Still on my list. I’m not sure if I would be more enamored of the Kusha Kusha sweater, but the scarf is still completely on my list.
I had already purchased this scarf, as well as the catalog…because the website is very hard to navigate. Please note that they are redesigning it so that we can (gasp) get around it better and it will be easier to drop cash…which it is already easy enough to do at this time. ( I know. I did it on Saturday). I also bought the yarn that is a soft soft wool wrapped in fine copper thread. I have no idea how it will work, but we will try it. Called Copper Boo, I think? The people on the phone at Habu are lovely, and it is a small company.I wonder if they would replace Sharon’s yarn that was burneD? Thinking that we should all chip in and get her the yarn she lost so she can do more than dream of it Ideas? KBruce@together.net
Age and gravity have taken their toll on my breasts as it is, I don’t need a sweater to accentuate that fact.
Perhaps on someone, ah, let us say ‘perkier’…
I have several Sally Melville books. She seems to like that asymmetrical look as well. I just think I’d be continuously pulling and tugging and smoothing to straighten the whole thing out.
I am soooo uncool.
Sorry, I finally found something I disagree with you on. That “jacket” made me lol. I think I saw a baglady in my neighborhood wearing the same thing.
There was no escaping that one. I can see you’ll have loads of fun with these patterns. Plus, you really don’t have any room for a floor loom. 😉
I understand fully how you feel. Even if I manage to stay away from the LYS , I go to my favorite blog and find that I cannot live without trying Mawata and now stainless steel yarn. glad you are feeling better.
Kusha Kusha. Sounds like what you’d say to get sled dogs underway. Maybe that’s the magic. Straining at the harnesses to want the thing and to buy the yarn then the sled to carry everything home. I get it now.
When did they start making yarn out of stainless steel? Why was I not alerted?
I hope you warned Habu before you put this post up. Something tells me their server will be crashing soon…
Well, I agree with the few who have posted previously–I think the jacket is ugly and have no desire to have one much less knit one. I try to wear clothes that will help my appearance not harm it. Stainless steel is what hubby works with in his shop–it doesn’t excite me to think about yarn made with it.
Thank you for explaining how my little yarn problem works…you said that so well!
I want the Habu too…but I want try it on some of the vintage collar (1930s) patterns I have lingering in my drawers. The sweater does sound enticing….any pics?
From one Mount Rainier lover to another: Ooooooh, stainless steel — I enjoyed reading about this so much. I want to know what it feels like to knit with it — so interesting.
Welcome back.
Just read Cat Bordhi’s comment above — hysterical!
BAHAHAHAH!! Oh Stephanie…that jacket is you all over. Good color for you too, by the way.
I can just imagine if I knitted and wore that in front of my husband though (he’s very sweet and very conservative. ALL of his shirts have patterns of little squares on them…). He would look at me as if I’d lost my cotton picking mind. >:-)
That scarf is waiting for me to finish my first pair of socks. Is it the sock knitting that does this?
I love your blog, but I must say that I think this entry is unkind.
I live within my means. I worship and follow the advice of Suze Orman like it’s the bible. However, I also try and understand spiritual principles of abundance and generosity with respect to money.
To make a living off of knitting and to write this blog is disingenuous at best. You stayed away from the marketplace? Why? These are good people just trying to make an honest living. But they are seen here as devil-like temptresses (and no I’m not in the knitting business – I’m a teacher). You are proud of avoiding them, proud of not visiting them, proud of not enjoying their work, proud of not buying their efforts.
How would you like a blog that tells people how amazing I am because I stayed out of bookstores because your books are too hard to resist? Why is it a good thing to “not buy”? If we all felt like that you’d have never been allowed to write a second book. I can’t afford Sock Summit this year – but I’m thrilled that others can and am saving up to go to (I hope!) the one after 2011. I’m also pre-ordered for your new book this spring and am so pleased I have the money to spend on your book. Are you a bad person for writing such beautiful books and “tempting” me?
I can see saying, “I can’t afford all this beautiful yarn, but I admired it all and am saving up to buy some of my dream yarn. And isn’t it lovely that other people were able to purchase this yarn?” or whatever…
Don’t you have a marketplace at Sock Summit? Is the noble thing for everyone to avoid it? To go through it with a “support” like an alcholic in a bar? Usually you go for humor, but here you were really posting what you did.
It reminds me of when Oprah (and I adore Oprah like I adore you!) says (with a disgusted look on her face) “I never watch television.”. Really, Oprah? You have a $50 million mansion because all of us DID watch television. It’s spitting on her viewers in my opinion.
Anyway – I love you, I love your blog – and being financially sane and as un-hoarder-like as we can be with regards to our stash – are good things. However, I think an abundant and spiritually welcoming approach to money would be to appreciate and love all those knitting items that are sold in our knitting community – and bless the fact that lots of people can earn a living off of them – rather than treating them as if these vendors are trying to trick us into buying something useless.
I can’t believe you’re using metal needles! I got about halfway through the scarf and it’s currently hiding on a shelf. I cannot imagine using metal needles, you must have the patience of a saint!
I made the kusha kusha scarf from navy blue stainless and grey merino. Since I was felting it by hand, I didn’t think I could overfelt it but I did. Be very careful. I still love it since it looks very dere-lict (from Zoolander).
You totally made me put both the Kusha Kusha scarf *and* jacket in my Favourites.
Well … damn … should have never, never, never, never clicked on those links. My palms are sweaty now.
Ever look through a stash or a yarn bin and find that there is a skein(s) of mohair in the perfect color(light lavender) for someone(baby girl) and then start thinking of the perfect project for it(cute little half moon medallion sweater with matching hat and booties)and cast on and get half way through when you come to realize that the yarn is really really terrible? That the yarn is itchy and furry and consumes dropped stitches? That no one on earth is ever ever in their whole entire life as a mother will ever put their baby in it? thats what just happened to me. I hate mohair.
I don’t get the stainless steel yarn thing. If you bend it around too much does it break, like trying to reuse a twisty-tie?
I am guessing that you recovered from your cold…and my guess is that Tina is more of an enabler than a cautious voice of reason!
I was in need of a really special knitted gift and was completely lost as to what to do. Kusha Kusha with navy stainless and black wool is perfect! I am not actually sure how I survived these moments before finding your blog. Thank you.
And just so you know you have some influence, Blue Moon Fiber Arts just sent out an email saying they were behind in orders – at least in part due to the demand for silk hankies. I think that must be you they are referring to…
I coveted the Kusha Kusha, too, but for some odd reason I just haven’t worn it much. I probably should have chosen a color other than black. … I made mine longer than the pattern called for after seeing how much my swatch lost in length in felting.
One word of caution: Be VERY careful when felting. This thing felts extremely quickly. Mine took just five minutes by hand in the sink.
Just catching up after two weeks of travel, and felt the need to add my 2 bits after reading today’s comments.
Thanks, Cat, for the chuckle; Rams and Presbytera are a pleasure, as always. However, it seems time to issue a friendly reminder to those who chat to refrain from writing what they wouldn’t share in person – at least in polite company.
Kusha Kusha wouldn’t work on my shape, and isn’t particularly my taste – but it’s your blog. I enjoy every note, and most comments, and the fact that you expand my world a bit each day. (Just cast on my second pair of socks after finishing the first ever pair – that FIT! – after tweaking your recipe from Knitting Rules).
Perhaps a friendly bit of manners and etiquette training is in order…
You are bad to me! I just love Habu and returned from Stitches West this weekend with more of those little balls than expected. Didn’t know about Kusha Kusha though……thank goodness! Now I have something to look forward to next year!
Man, do I feel your post! I saw that sweater, but refused to go there. Just couldn’t. And I still walked away with stuff (and, like you, some of it is coming in the mail).
Sigh. 🙂
I love reading your event-report posts, because I can go to very few events, and I always wish I could go to more… but then you tell us about some amazing things and people you saw, and I live vicariously through you, and you tell us about some amazing things you bought, and I glance in the general direction of my unscathed credit card and decide that being tied down is not so bad after all.
(“Unscathed” is a relative term, especially if one has recently had insomnia on a Thursday night.)
OMG I want to order a Kusha Kusha scarf kit NOW but I am having trouble figuring out how to find it on the Habu website—can someone help and tell me how to get one easily–thanks—it is all your fault Stephanie!
The mountain certainly is beautiful. And the scarf and sweater certainly are raggedy. I can see them looking interesting on a petite, wafer thin post-apocalypse sort of person. I can see them looking like a big mistake on anyone else.
I love the scarves (had to go over to ravelry in the middle of reading your post, to take a look) and I THINK I like the sweater. I do like it, really, but I’m just not sure where one would wear it. Or what to wear underneath it. I always like to see things that are a bit “out of the box” even though on me, it would look awful.
The Habu Stainless rocks. Long long time ago, I exchanged the Kusha Kusha scarf kit on Ravelry for one thing or another (I think it was either handpainted cashmere or novelty fuzzy something). I didn’t bother to do any shaping, I knitted just a random rectangle and never liked it. Because that merino yarn is a weird shade of burgundy.
The Stainless, though… I liked the same effect as you do, it keeps shape. I yet have to rip the ugly scarf – I never felted it, I don’t like felting too much – and I vaguely plan to use it in a wraparound sweater. Someday.
The jacket… erm… not my taste. I’m a resigned owner of too vivid imagination so I guess it’s right time for me to shut up. Enjoy.
Oh my, I’ve been coveting the Kusha Kusha scarf for some time now. Must. Have. Scarf. I can’t wait to see what your sweater will look like!
I pretty much only hang with lace knitters and only let other knitters talk about lace. It isn’t because I’m boorish — which I know is what they think — but because I value my marriage.
See, I discovered several years ago that I can spend $100 on plain worsted and knit it up in 1 week. I can spend $100 on kickass lace yarn and have it take 2 months to knit to completion. My wife has noticed that I spend MUCH less on yarn than I used to and has even said things like “Would you like to stop at the yarn store while I go to work for an hour or two?”
So beautiful! When I sas it I thought,”Urumchi mummy shirt!”
I had no idea that the lovely Habu was so controversial. This has been enlightening.
I kinda think that the jacket might double as a cage for my oldish unbarbie boobs.
Your knitting your blog – deep breath
Whoops! When I SAW it! Also, hope I spelled Urumchi correctly!
how could you do this to me? i have been so determined to knit (mostly) from stash this year.
which color did you pick?
I really like that post-apocalyptic my-clothes-are-beautiful-rags look, too. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure my breasts don’t.
You were young in the eighties, weren’t you, Steph?
Completely agree about knowing the vendors. When we homeschooled the kiddos, the same vendors, usually families, came to the annual conferences, each year I would spend more and more as I watched their children grow up. It was as if we were friends.
What happened to your support? No interventions?
Enjoy the yarn. 🙂
I had my first (of many more, I hope) trip to NYC this past Fall, and I made sure that Habu Textiles was one of my stops. I also purchased a Kusha Kusha scarf kit, and think I will be knitting it this Spring. I had admired and fantasized about the Kusha Kusha for years, and making it a reality was a dream fulfilled.
See, you just drag the rest of us down with you. Just. Ordered. A. Kusha. Scarf. Kit. Had. To. Have. It.
Just hysterical.
Habu. That darned Hoarfrost Mobius pattern in Interweave about a year ago did me in. I bought the yarn but still haven’t done more than look at it in wonder.
into to the hubby…”a steel and wool yarn? what are you knitting? pot scrubbers or sanding pads?”
I have fallen. As soon as I saw the link to the Kusha Kusha jacket I was there and before I knew had shot off an email enquiry regarding an order. Thank goodness the Aussie dollar is so strong at the moment!! A Kusha Kusha kit is winging its way to me as I type – in a lovely grass green. I REALLY love this kind of garment – just a little bit off the wall and fun.
To rams of Feb. 21 at 6:30 PM: There was a period when every yarn I bought was seemingly dusty rose. I have TWO sweaters I knit because I bought a whopping ten skeins of dusty rose wool on sale. Ironically, I don’t even really like the color. I think other people must feel the same way, because it always seems to be on sale. Which could be why I bought it.
@Elle
Steph didn’t say she was trying to resist “useless” items. It’s obvious that she appreciates the beauty and utility of the fibres and tools, and the artistry of the vendors. And I know that Steph doesn’t need me to defend her, I just think the characterization is unfair.
Can’t wait to see how it turns out; facinating – right now the model sweater looks like something sewn in my 7th grade sewing class (sloppy, not good). I know that yours will be gorgeous.
I have the makings of a kusha kusha scarf in my stash….I too love the nifty way the steel/wool yarn makes a fabric that both drapes and holds shape. I agree with one of the comments that it would be fabulous spring knitting project. Thanks for the reminder and inspiration.
The jacket will be so cool! Did you go wih the Terra Cotta colourway? It seems to be a pretty good orange eh?
That looks really intriguing; can’t wait to see the finished product.
Lion Brand actually has a similar yarn here http://lbcollection.lionbrand.com/lbc/lbCollectionStainlessSteelWool.html but the pricing seems to be pretty much the same, just a smaller skein at a smaller price with somewhat different colors. Just sayin’…
Kusha scarves are beautiful, but seem to take a long time. And I completely agree – if I like a person selling yarn, especially if that person is an indie dyer/designer, I buy. I gave myself a limit at my 2nd Stitches West to only buy from indie dyers (with the idea of keeping the stash small) and I spent double what I’d spent the year before. This year I resisted two indie dyers and kind of felt bad for not being something. I’m hopeless.
I love my Kusha Kusha scarf. I understand that rabbit hole. It is a fantastic feeling knitting and felting that project. I would have totally fallen down for that jacket in person.