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Dear everybody,

We’ve had a bit of trouble with our Comments function in the past week or so, and we’re writing simply to say that it leaves us despondent, heartbroken, and sad that our Comments function is on the fritz.

Comments from you are our favorite thing. We love hearing your reactions to posts, your questions, your edits (everybody needs an editor, an editor once reminded us).

It may be that our new Sunday giveaways are overwhelming our Comments function? Maybe its oil needs changing?

Sometimes Comments are working, sometimes not. As we work to fix Comments, we are going to end each day’s post with a link that will take you to a new thread in the Lounge. Please leave your thoughts there, if you find that Comments are misbehaving. Today, for example, leave a comment here if need be. (You’ll need to register with the Lounge, if you haven’t already. Just a username and password are needed, no charge.)

Until the day when we have our Disney World for Knitters up and running (we are confident that this will happen), where the thrill rides will be named The Steek and The Yarn Winder, we hope you’ll continue to be in touch with us in this online community that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Meanwhile . . .

I did a swerve back to my Garter Stripe Shawl Throw Blanket Shathranket in the past few days. The weather is turning sultry in Nashville—we’re hitting 90 degrees/32 Celsius multiple times this week—so I’m looking for easy knitting. Mustn’t get overheated. Gotta keep it cool.

I decamped to the back yard with my YarnTrayTM (cool beverage not shown).

I reoriented myself to the world of Kaffe Fassett, a land where there are five shades of pink, one of which is named Barbara. WHO IS BARBARA AND HOW DID SHE GET THIS YARN NAMED FOR HER?

I took inspiration from the pix in Field Guide No. 13: Master Class, which show me what my shathranket is going to look like five years from now.

And I dove in. This section includes what I call the Eye Resters, the blahs that make the juicies all the juicier.

This is Stone, with Lotus Leaf behind it, then Clay.

Knitting these colors, I feel like I’m celebrating something.

Love,

Ann

 

If the Comments below are busted, leave a comment here.

99 Comments

  • Commenting just to see if the comments are busted. Yeah, I’m nosy like that

    • Must agree – looking for cooler weather – temps have been up there, but very livable. Woke up ‘‘tis am go the beginnings of sultry. I guess it’s time for the AC.

    • Me too Wendy knits but also to say, I’m envious of the Memphis weather. We are FREEZING over here in Scotland. I got my toenails painted 2 weeks ago and the weather has been on the blink ever since.

      • Kirsty, please don’t get your toenails painted again or at least give us some warning first 😀

  • Isn’t Barbara, Barbie perhaps??? You know the one – Barbie of pink fame? A more sophisticated Barbie?

    • That was my first thought – Barbie when she’s our age (just north of 50 IRL but still in college in her head. Or is that just me?)

      • I’m just north of 60 IRL but will probably be in college (in my head) for life. So you’re not alone!

  • I’m a Barbara and cheers to Kaffe Fasset for giving us a shout out. When you meet a B or we meet each other, we always know our age. There just aren’t little baby girl Barbara’s out in the world. Our name was popular in the post WWll baby boom, but alas along with our dear friends Susan, Marilyn, Kathy, Nancy, etc…our names belong to another era. It’s OK, of course, we know how special we are. I am waiting and knitting for my first grandchild to be born this fall. The parents want him to call me Babs instead of the traditional grandmother names. Yay for Barbara, Barbie, Barb and Babs.

    • Hello, all knitters! I have been working on a second Main Squeeze, slowly and joyfully! Knit on, with hope and confidence, through all crises, like EZ is whispering to us from Heaven!!!

    • Also a Barbara….call me any nickname *except* Babs. I’m also Barbara Ann (aren’t most of us?). I love that there is a pink yarn named for me! I need to get me some and knit up something that will have ‘em rockin’ and a reelin’.

    • Debra, Deborah, Debrah ( my variant) along with Deb, Debby, Debbi, and Debbie also join that group. I keep hoping they get rediscovered like Emma and Clara did…

    • I have an aunt Barbara, who grew up with the nickname Bobsie, which she hated. She finally put her foot down when we were adults, but didn’t like any of the other Barbara nicknames so now I call her Ba, which make me think of sheep of course. In my family, EVERYONE has a nickname….

    • I live near a large Sephardic Jewish community that emigrated from Aleppo Syria. They name their kids after the grandparents. It’s a very strong tradition. My sister in las is the kindergarten teacher and every year there are Barbara’s and Berthas and Morris’s and Irving’s in the kindergarten.

      • I love imagining a 3-year-old Irving or Bertha!

      • My grandmother was named Bertha! She went by Bertie and by coincidence my other grandmother was named Birdie (now that’s a name you don’t hear anymore). Both my grandfathers were named Charles, so it was last names all the way around (would you believe “Grandma Schwartz” and “Grandma Greenburg”?)

        • I only refer to my grandparents by their first names posthumously. In life they were Grandma/pa Gardiner and Grandma/pa Frampton.

    • You are so right BCE. As I Janet I feel your pain, can tell you the age of any Janet I meet. And my sister? She’s a Barbara.

      • I’m just Jan, not Janet or Janice. Hilarity ensues when I meet Dutch or German email correspondents who have imagined me to be a man.

      • Janet here also. 71. Named for my grandma

        • Janet here, 62.5 and counting! My sisters are Mary, Donna, Vicki(1969). I was called Janet-Wanet, Jannette, and Janice, not my favorite names. As a baby nurse my name was not used much until a Hispanic client named their daughter after me(Yanet)2000ish). The coffee shop cannot figure how to say or spell so I go by Jan, family calls me Jan.

        • My legal name is Jan (age 66), not Janet or Janice, and I have a sister named Nancy and a cousin named Carol.

        • My real name is Janet (named by my Dad’s youth group at the time because the parents were expecting a boy and could not agree on a girl’s name — Mom wanted to name me after her Aunt Donna who had just passed away but Dad was engaged to a Donna before Mom — complicated). Anyway, my dear brothers (4!) called me Jan-nut and I just hated that and Mom once told me she never really liked my name — she went to high school with a snotty Janet and of course there’s the rocky Horror Picture Show) so as soon as I got to college I became Jan. Age: 63 last week.

    • My college roommate (over 50 years ago) was a Barbara – and I’m a Virginia. Only once in my life, in a crowded waiting room, did two of us stand up to “Virginia?”. We laughed as we were both grey hairs. I go by Ginny though: “Ginny dolls” were popular in 1950.

      • One more Virginia here ~ I was Gini until my early twenties. Gradually, I have learned to answer to any of the “V” names. Most often, people use Victoria, although I HAVE been called everything from Beverly to Wanda!

      • My mom was Virginia and she went by Jinny. I was a child in the 50s but I missed seeing the Ginny dolls.

      • I still have my Ginny doll and her wardrobe. I am a Carol and my sister is a Barbara and everyone knows our ages. But my newest cousin (first cousin thrice removed) is Sophie. Perhaps we will see a Virginia, Carol, Barbara, Nancy revival with the next generation.

      • Yeah, for Ginny dolls. I loved mine.

      • I know a four year old Virginia, a.k.a. Ginny, her parents met in Virginia. Your name lives on. And yes, I gave her my daughter’s Ginny doll.

  • Yeah – who IS Barbara? but her color choices are wonderful. I got a laugh in already this AM and that’s a win – thank you. Also, comments were broken, but I’m a huge Mapp and Lucia fan and enjoyed that post on Sunday, I think it was. Always a treat.

    • I replied to the Mapp and Lucia post as well, and wondered about my lack of success. I checked the ebook out of the library – hurrah for libraries – and am reading it. Thanks for the tip.

  • All the Barbaras I know are wonderful, delightful women. Pink is a great color for them. A favorite bakery, Barb’s Bakery in Northport MI, lives up to the charm of the name!

  • Barbara is surely named after the fabulous Barbara Cartland who always wore pink

  • It’s beautiful!! I need to do this with my felted tweed leftovers from Field Guides 13 and16! I love their names for the colors.

  • I think Barbara refers to Barbara Cartland, stepmother-in-law of Princess Diana. She was a romantic novelist and famous, at least in her later years when I knew of het, for her somewhat unsubtle makeup and wardrobe choices. She was splendidly eccentric and worth a google, if only for the false eyelashes.

    • Sorry, should have said step-grandmother of Princess Diana – mustn’t mangle the Royal family’s genealogy!

  • I’m thinking Barbara is named for Barbara Cartland, an English novelist, renowned for her romance novels and for her love of wearing pink
    https://www.barbaracartland.com/

  • Such lovely colors!

  • There are old fashioned names now coming back. I know a Sadie and an Agnes, unrelated, preschoolers. Waiting for a Hazel!

    • Ethel?

  • Hi, I would like to know what the YarnTray ™ is.it sound intriguing, especially if it comes with a cool drink (and yarn).

  • I’m Barbara, and I’ll never tell.

  • I was wondering what was going on. I tried to enter some of the contest but my comment never posted. I’m not usually a big fan of garter stitch but your Shathranket is beautiful!

  • I thought I wasn’t able to comment because I wanted to argue with DG about Cocaine and Rhinestones! Glad it’s not just me… 🙂

  • I’m Barbara and I’ve had a rough patch in the romance department. I bought some yarn strictly because it’s called “Barbara Deserved Better”. I’m going to make a wonderful pair of cheery pink socks for myself and feel like a Queen!

  • Yup, pretty sure it’s the amount of comments from the giveaways that overloaded the Comments section! That’s the only time it didn’t work for me

  • And while we are talking about comments — something to note for “future improvements to the website” I’d love to leave a little heart or smiley face (emoji geek) — some of the comments are so sweet or so dang funny that I feel the need to comment on the comment . . .

  • Does anyone else get lost looking at colors of Rowan felted tweed and find that somehow your coffee got cold and your cereal got soggy? Who can choose just one?

  • Thanks for sharing your progress, Ann! I just made it to the first Vaseline Green stripe, so I’m a little ways behind you. It’s fun to see where I’ll be in a little while!

  • I’m Diane, was born in 1940, and rarely meet other Dianes. I love my name and don’t know why it has never been popular, but it’s fine with me. I’ve moved to a CCRC and there are many Nancys and Susans, Pats, Jans, Marys, and even three Barbaras….but, once again, I’m the only Diane.

    • Maybe you were just ahead of your time; I was born in 1950 and knew lots of Dianes all through school and college. Incidentally my sister (b.1953) is a Shirley, another rare name these days. But Shirley Temple was very influential for a while!

  • This was the item that made me a Kaffe fan forever. I haven’t made it but I bought all the yarn for it and I’m saving it for a time when I need the Kaffe inspiration again. It is also the item what made me a felted tweed fan forever. I have spent the last months buying felted tweed in almost every color whenever I found any sort of sale at all. Needless to say my felted tweed stash is the largest and most beautiful of all the yarn I have (which is a lot). I made the coins scarf for my daughter’s birthday last year and that June day is coming up quickly and I don’t think I can top, or even equal last year’s gift.

  • Now that we’ve explored who Barbara is, how did Ginger get a yarn named after her? I thought she was still on the island! (The field guide does not show how Ann’s whatchamacallit will look in 5 years because the pictures do not show a cat sleeping on it.)

  • Want cool weather? Come to the Pacific Northwest! Bainbridge Island is May gray and misty with streaks of real rain. Perfect wool knitting weather!

  • Wow! Such amazing stories. I have yarn called Barbara but it’s almost like mohair – very light green. I think a light cardigan would be good. My name is Eleonora and everyone as well as family always shortens it to Elly. I was at the hospital a year or two back and when my name was called – two of us stood up, how unusual. My SIL is a Janet and my friend is Elaine and her sister is Dianne. Happy Knitting everyone 🙂

    • That’s funny — my name is Janet Elaine. Of course hearing both names means I am in trouble!!!!

  • Wondering if it will ever warm up here in NM… morning temp 20 degrees. Nice knitting weather though.

  • Mmmmm love the shawl/blanket. I’m on my third in different color combos. I know, try something new. What can I say, I’m addicted.

  • If YarnTray is trademarked, where do I apply for a franchise? I need one. Ah heck, I need a dozen.

  • Ok, on the name thing, I am Lois, post war baby named for a dear friend of my mother. I’ve only ever met two others named Lois. So when a name is called out that even remotely sounds like they are trying to pronounce “Lois,” I jump!!!
    My dear grandmother, who was born in 1887, bemoaned the fact that “no one will ever be named after me” . Her name was Pearl Araminta. I think she was right..

    • I looked up Araminta. It means “prayer and protection.” It’s a lovely name. Maybe people just need to hear it. And I am watching Whistable Pearl on Acorn.

      I have a three-year-old niece named Dagmar. My husband’s first name is Elkin. He uses his middle name. Recently my son purchased the Elkin bed from Wayfair. Who knew.

  • The comments section never did accept my hummingbird story . . . sigh. It was a good one, too. 😉

  • Of course the comments section is working today; Diane happens to be home to comment. (Shout out to Kaffe, that’s Diane with one “n”.)
    Anyway, just wanted to say that I like the colors in your blanket, Ann. I am also very impressed that you have gotten so far on it in such a short amount of time.

  • I too enjoy the Kaffe colors. I will come to Yarnland when it opens.

  • Love this! I’m using my leftovers from the cityscape scarf to knit a log cabin blanket.

  • Speaking of the Garter Stripe Shawl, I am using leftover partial skeins and am wondering how I can know if I have enough left to complete a whole role of 252 stitches without running out of thread. Is there a secret-handshake method I don’t know about?

    • I think as a rule of thumb, if you have an inch of yarn per stitch in the row, you are good. I may be totally making this up! I also think it would be cool to just change colors when you run out, but that my be my love of improvisation.

  • Everything is crashing lately! My google is broken, too!

  • Are my comments busted? Let me unleash my CyberKittens to help! (Also that blanket is extra faboo)

  • On names…I am a Karen…(but no not THAT Karen! I’ve been horrified by the internet’s damning of my name.) I’ve never loved my name. I was named after the writer Karen Blixen aka Isak Dineson. Have never seen a Karen yarn and will likely never see one now! I love the Kaffe Fasset blanket and I’m thinking of making one for my daughter Emily as a wedding gift.

  • I decided to make a cardigan using the garter stitch wrap color sequence (except I pulled out treacle to use for ribbing and button bands), the Gibbs Hall cardigan pattern by Ellen Mason, and rows counts using a random number generator. I am happy with the results. I had decided that I would have little use for the wrap now that I am retired and don’t sit at a computer all day swathed in knit goods but now I’m reconsidering that.

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