Projects
A Day of Firsts
Dear everybody,
We did it! We moved!
Scribbling this to you from a newly hooked-up computer that is sipping our newly installed wifi.
Huge thanks to the intrepid team who is making it all happen: Ashley, Janet, Chris, Allison, and Hannah. And of course, Cristina and Kay are eternally here, in a virtual way, from Philadephia and New York.
More to come next week, but basically: we’re really a) sad to be leaving our old digs and b) happy about the new digs.
We feel like this is a transformative moment for us.
Our hope and dream is that you’ll be able to come visit us here as soon as it’s safe.
You’re the reason we’ve moved to a bigger space—as much as we need more room for our yarns, we wanted space to be together with you. Not to sound exactly like my grandmother, but . . . when are you coming to see us? Please get out your calendar and make a note to come to Nashville as soon as the coast is clear.
Meanwhile . . .
During all the scrambling and packing, I’ve been working on a sock.
It’s the Little Tents pattern from Field Guide No. 11: Wanderlust, aka the Sock One. Toe up, magic loop, short row heel, so happy.
(Background: our new table. Can never have too many distressed wood surfaces.)
It’s my first time knitting with Julie Asselin’s Nomade sock yarn, long anticipated and finally in my hands.
Julie’s color sense is mighty elegant, and I’m having a swell time with Cité d’Or, this deep, golden color.
You may notice a few stitches that are definitely not Cite d’Or.
Those stitches are Uniball Micro Blue, souvenir of a day trip Hubbo and I took last weekend, driving around Middle Tennessee and pretending it was Tuscany.
My sock ended up on the floor of our car while we took in the pleasures of Hickman County, which looked exactly like Tuscany in that it had both trees and hills.
At some point, my sock met a rollerball, and it was just one of those things.
Yahooooo! Congratulations! Love the “sock meets Rollerball.” That is real life in Knitters World…
Well, what’s your new address? My son lives in Nashville and his girlfriend wants to knit!
A road trip. That sounds like heaven! Sick on the car floor and all!
Congrats on the spacious new space! What’s wrong with sounding like a grandma??!! I look forward to a visit.
Congratulations on the new space. I’m only sorry I never got to see the old space! And, “ At some point, my sock met a rollerball, and it was just one of those things.” May be one of the best blog sentences ever.
As Bob Ross says, no mistakes, just happy accidents! I would call that sock Elizabethed.
I must be living under a rock. Where is a rollerball when it’s at home?
You’re not the only one! But now I’ve seen in the comments it’s a pen. At least it had the courtesy to color in only stitches in one row. I feel certain that had any sock of mine encountered a rollerball, more mess would have ensued.
I know, right?!? It’s a neat little accent row as a memory of the trip. 😉
The clue is the color Uniball Micro Blue
A rollerball pen is what I think she described.
In my world a rollerball is a bottle filled with one of my essential oil concoctions
Guess this “old granny” missed the pen connection. I’m still with ballpoint and Sharpie
And what is a rollerball?
It’s a type of gel ink pen!!
A pen
Yes, what’s a rollerball?
My Best wishes to MDK,looking forward to seeing you one day in person,,,,,keep knitting a larger community !!! Suzabella
My sock met a rollerball = design feature!
Nashville in 2021!
Might have to go the long way around in June.
Amen to that!
Your short row heel looks great. I tried the pattern from Field Guide 11, and my heel had holes. What’s your secret to avoid holes? I went back to gusset heel and I hate, hate, hate picking up stitches on it, never looks nice. A woman in my knitting group just makes socks, always with short rows which always have holes so I thought they were inevitable. Congratulations on your new digs!
I use the pattern from Field Guide 11 and don’t get holes. When you knit your wrapped stitches, are you knitting them together with their wrap or leaving them as is?
I don’t remember but thought I was following directions. I’ll have to give it another try. I thought knitting through the back loop might have solved it as that is often mentioned as a way to avoid holes.(I did not do that.)
Mine too! I thought they were a design feature!
Agreed on design feature!!
Congratulations on your new place – so exciting. Loved the “rollerball met sock” comment. Also loved your description of Hickman County being like Tuscany because it had “both trees and hills.” I laughed out loud because my husband and I do comparisons on our travels, too!!
Road trip YES! I’m much closer to Tennessee now, right next door in North Carolina. I look forward to the day I can visit;)
Congratulations on a new chapter for MDK!
Congratulations! If I ever make it to Nashville, it will be to visit MDK—no offense to the little music thing Nashville is also known for 😉
Congratulations! The space looks great. I’m not sure I will ever get to Nashville again but if I do this will be my first stop. Best of luck!
Woo hoo! So exciting! I can’t wait for things to open up again so we can go traveling- and definitely visit Nashville!
Congratulations on the move! Looks like a great space.
How exciting! So happy for you to have more room! Can’t wait to see it!
Congratulations on the move! Hope it was uneventful, at least as much as moves can be. Please tell me that you’re going to replicate the Rollerball look on the other sock. It will drive me bananas & I will haunt you forever if you don’t.
I had the same thought!
“It was just one of those things.” Describes a feature of many of my FOs. Also loved the comparison drawn between TN and Tuscany.
Nice space! I’m guessing Kermit’s MDK Yarn Testing Lab will be near the sunny window, because cats are solar-powered. Where did you put the dressing room and runway for Olive, MDK’s favorite fashionista?
Oh I love what you’ve done with the place! Re the sock, been there done that, at least it wasn’t on a front of a special sweater (they’re all special, right) Now just remember do it on the second sock so it’s a “design feature” LOL!
Congratulations on the move. Setting up shop is no easy task, so keep your strength up!
Does your site give free patterns? When you’re featuring a project is there a pattern that’s free?
MDK patterns come in cute booklets with a few in each, also downloadable. The presentation is beautiful and they include tips and tricks too, so well worth the few dollars. You can set ravelry searches to look for free patterns, there are loads available.
What a wonderful memory by a happenstance “meeting”, it will now be there and ready for you each time you wear the socks. Here’s to hoping that it does not fade too much.
What a great way to chase away the Covid blues…. a creative new space. I’m hoping I can see it soon!
Wow – that’s some major space! Congratulations to all of you! Can’t wait to see it full of yarn and stuff!
Hope your new home brings all good things. WELCOME new HOME
I have only one question: WHO GETS TO DRIVE THE FORKLIFT?
I think that should be a treat everyone gets in their first visit. For me, the confluence of many dreams. Meet Ann, yarn, Nashville, drive forklift. Worth the trip.
Beautiful sock…..and what great new digs! Congrats on both!
We DID plan a trip to Nashville, my daughters and I, last Memorial Day weekend. We were even going to take you out to lunch! But alas, we had to cancel because… you know. May it happen again.
And BTW, what’s with your web site? Ever time I comment, I fell out the contact information and check the box saying “save my name,” etc. And every time, I have to do it again. Does something need to be tweaked?
If you sign in at the top of the page you shouldn’t need to go through the rigmarole of filling in your name every time 🙂
fill out, not fell out
Congratulations on the new space! I’m so impressed at how fast you can knit. It took me 2 months to finish my last pair of socks. How do you make a sock in just a few days?! This makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong (and yes, using the Field guide but knitting 2 at a time on a long circular).
Fantastic space! It’s so big! If I ever come to the states it will basically be on a yarn tour because, apart from cousins in California, everyone I know in the US is through knitting. So of course you will be on the list of must visit places 😀
Also, if your yarn is wool the rollerball might wash out, I’m curious to see what happens when you wash it.
Your new space looks magnificent! So much space! So much storage. Would love to visit. And your sock looks great. Like many who have commented, I also get holes on the wrap and turns. Then I have to go back and fix the holes. There must be something I am doing wrong but I do follow the instructions and am otherwise an experienced knitter.
Congrats on your new space; it looks grand! Your old space was really sweet, too. But now you can have a par-tay! Hope I get to go back to Nashville again someday.
Is Kay a bit jealous that you can go to MDK World Domination Headquarters any time you like? So convenient!
The earth’s atmosphere cannot contain my FOMO over not being there! I keep checking to make sure they are saving me a desk. THIS IS KAY’S DESK
Such wonderful news!! Sending best wishes for good luck in the new MDK digs. It is so amazing to look back and see how “the little blog that could” has grown. Although I have not been on board from the very start, I feel blessed that the universe led me to this spot when it did because I have the privilege of having a pretty first hand experience of the richness and depth of what you, Ann and Kay, have created. The ballband dishcloth alone is currently at 10, 674 projects on ravelry! All of those knitters wanted to show their version of this iconic little cloth. It boggles the mind! And this, as we all know, is just a tip of the iceberg of all of the cool things that MDK has presented over the years. To think that you guys never even met in person when you began this blog by sending intermittent emails to each other, which you allowed “the world” to see. Now truly, knitters all over the world tune in on a daily basis to see and enjoy what Ann and Kay in store them next. You go girls! And, thank you so much!
P.S. I am a day late with this comment, but as it turns out, I have moved this week too!
Ah…..memories of ‘Tuscany in Middle Tennessee’ forever enshrined! Nice!
(Though, as someone who grew up in Nashville, it occurs to me that you might what to explain the ‘middle’ reference and give folks a lesson in geography and state flags while you’re at it.)
P.S.You and hubby have vivid imaginations….(Tuscany?!)
This is scary. If you need this much space, and I have been collecting yarn since 2004… how can I still be living in my house??? Congratulations on your new yarn closet! What a lot of hard work it must have been, But such great evidence of your success! If measuring in ‘yarn years’ I honestly can’t remember a time without MDK. (Don’t suppose you got that gleaming new Industrial shelving at IKEA?) Chloe
Put a cloth inside sock. Spray the spot with cheap hairspray – the kind that comes in a pump bottle not aerosol. Then blot. It will take up most of the ink. You may have to repeat this step a couple of times – be sure to have a fresh area of cloth inside the sock so it can absorb more ink (folding the inky part inside – I use old, ratty teatowels). Washing should get rid of the rest of the ink.
I learned this because my husband has been known to forget to take the pens out of his pockets.