Imperial Stock Ranch Desitination Event to Return

There are lots of knitting-related travel opportunities out there, but some of them stand out as dream events and destinations. That’s the way I felt when I heard about the Vogue Knitting Live destination event at Imperial Stock Ranch in Oregon. The event was a weekend with Nicky Epstein and knitters from around the country flocked (ha, ha) there to experience the ranch, savor local food and music and learn Epstein’s block by block method of garment construction.

(She designed a piece, the Corona Circle Croplette, just for the event, and the pattern is available for $8 on Ravelry.)

I wasn’t there, sadly (I think it was the weekend of my 10th wedding anniversary!) but I might get the chance next year because Imperial Yarn announced that the event will be happening again next year. It’s slated for May 31 to June 2, 2013, and interested knitters can contact Doreen at Soho Publishing for more information or to reserve a spot.

Armchair travelers can check out this year’s event on Imperial Yarn’s Facebook page or read a great roundup of events with comments from some of the participants.

Have you ever gone on a destination knitting experience? Spill it!

[Photo: Nicky Epstein in her embellished cowboy hat, by Imperial Yarn.]

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]

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