Knitsmith, Wordpurl

Back to the Real World

2012-01-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

If you're a weather-watcher, you know that the Pacific Northwest was hit by winter ice storms and snow last week. In my community, a foot or more of snow hit Sunday/Monday/Tuesday of Martin Luther King weekend and then persisted all week, with temps down in the teens plus (minus?) windchill.

Now comes the obligatory disclaimer: I know this doesn't sound like much for those of you in cold climates, buuuuuuuuut....

It paralyzed our town. Remember that most people don't have snow tires, although we do have lots of Subarus, and see snow about two days every other winter. Snow removal equipment is scarce (from a fiscal standpoint we can all see why fleets of snowplows are impractical) and we live in a hilly, hilly, hilly, nay, mountainous region. With little-to-no snow removal on side streets, snow packs down under tires and feet, melts slightly, then refreezes, turning neighborhoods into air hockey rinks.

So this resulted in an unexpected week off of school for the kids and me. We had knitting time, game and puzzle time, screen time (admittedly probably too much), outside-in-the-snow time, sledding time, and lots of reading time. It was wonderful.

But tomorrow is back to the real world. This week will be catching up and moving on and, somewhere sandwiched amongst all of the end-of-semester-panicking, I'll be attending a funeral of a dearly loved person who slipped away last Thursday afternoon, surrounded by her children, after fighting the good fight, in peace at last.

And the snow fell.

After thought, an afterthought

2012-01-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

Every time I knit a pair of socks--about twice a year, that is--I think: OK. Last pair.

Then I finish them.

And slide them on, wrigging my toes in wooly glee.

Then I think: OK. Maybe one more pair.

On Deck: or my January insanity

2012-01-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

I spent some time diving into the wreck (sorry, gratuitous Adrienne Rich allusion there) that is my stash over the 3-day weekend. I'm not a big resolution person (mostly because I know how likely I am to last all of, oh, five days with some grand scheme for personal overhaulment). However, I do intend to finish the items in this bag before starting any new projects. Here they are, in no particular order:
An eggplant scarf, intended for my BFF. Started & raveled.

My languishing Noro/Black Ivy League Vest. I had made it up to row 66 and I think the neck shaping caught me off guard. Now that I'm 15 lbs slimmer than when I started this...so it will actually fit me and look nice...it Must Be Finished.

Dream in Color Starry, in a midnighty blue-purple, for The Orchid Thief shawlette. Then, I will find a glamorous event to wear it to and put on my best mysterious and pensive expression.

It's either the Geodesic or the Featherweight Cardigan with these skeins of Knitpicks Shadow Tonal (plus one that's already wound and consequently Not Pictured). Isn't the blue so vibrant and happy?

This is another fair isle vest: the Corrie Vest from knitpicks. They've put out a few different colorways for this pattern, but this one is Neutral, I believe.

Eeep. I'm starting to hyperventilate at the pattern unfolding here. (breathes into paper bag for a sec)

Q: What am I prolific and productive at knitting?
A: Worsted-weight sweaters, felted slippers, and hats.

Q: What am I slower than molasses at?
A: Socks, lace, and scarves.

Q: What am I planning?
A: A scarf, a shawl, and two fair-isle vests.

Hmm...a challenge? Or desperately forcing my square knitting peg into a round hole?

Maybe Dana 2012 is the Dana of fine gauge?

Knitting Book Review: The Best of Knitscene

2012-01-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

Knitting Book Review: The Best of Knitscene: A Collection of Simple, Stylish, and Spirited Knits
(2011, Interweave Press, 144 pages, 20 projects. Source: personal purchase.)

By: Lisa Schroyer

Nutshell: 100% concentrated Knitscene
Background: A couple of years ago, I started buying each issue of Knitscene as it came out. (Why Interweave hasn’t made it available for subscription yet, I just can’t fathom...) I was already a fan of its style—a little bit younger, a little bit hipper, and slightly easier constructions and techniques than Knits—and I was excited to see this book arrive.

For those of you not familiar with this lovely little mag, it began in 2005 as an occasional special-interest publication by Interweave. Based on its design sensibilities, I imagine it was an effort to target young, new, “hip” (whatever that means) knitters.

Think of it as the Skipper to Knits’ Barbie.

It has since graduated to a quarterly publication, just like Crochet and Knits, and continues to have a more current, fashion-forward sensibility both in its patterns and its editorial content. Each issue features a collection by one up-and-coming designer (Amy Herzog and Hannah Fettig were recent choices) as well as a “how to style this knitwear” feature that gives suggestions on accessories and clothing to wear to best showcase your new sweater in the most fashionable, er, fashion.

Synopsis: Lisa Schroyer, current editor of Knitscene, curates a collection of 20 “best-of” patterns from 2005-present. Patterns include: five pullovers, four cardigans, and assorted accessories (scarf, shawl, bag, mitts, vest, and socks). Additional editorial content includes “trends” features, showing the historical roots and modern uses of different types of knitting techniques and constructions (cables, fair isle, Cowichan sweaters, to name a few), plus articles and how-tos by respected knitters like Clara Parkes and Miriam Felton.

Writing Sample: A sort of uber-grandpa cardigan, your own Cowichan-inspired sweater can be a great foil for slim silhouettes, bold patterns, and sparkly fabrics. Knitscene designer Cecily Glowik MacDonald’s Indigo Banded Cardigan is a simple way to feel the Cowichan love with its creamy white base and midriff band of colorwork. Follow Hollywood star Megan Fox’s lead and throw it on over a slouchy white V-neck T-shirt. Add a pair of metal aviators and silky cargoes for a comfy travel look. Pair it with a vintage-y plaid blouse, skinny jeans, and tall boots. Wrap yourself up in one over a sequin tank dress for an offbeat glam effect. (11)

Woot: These patterns rock. I love each and every one of them, and I can see myself knitting and wearing each and every one…though likely minus the skinny jeans and metal aviators. (So far, I’ve only knit the Central Park Hoodie, which I bought as a standalone pattern when it was re-released in 2008. Here’s mine.) Clearly, Shroyer and her editorial team put a huge amount of time into selecting patterns that have been popular, have stood the test of time (relatively speaking), and will appeal to a wide variety of ability levels. They also took the time to re-photograph, re-knit (if necessary), and even re-size the patterns, as well as make sure that available yarns were substituted for those since discontinued.
My top three: The Geodesic Cardigan, the Heather Hoodie Vest, and the Tempest Beret.

Meh: Beware any publication that strives for a hip sensibility, because soon it will be unhip. The shelf life on this book may be limited. However, at $24.95 (and I got mine for less through my crafterschoice.com membership) it’s cheaper than buying all the back issues, and if even five patterns appeal to you, it’s cheaper than buying them as individual downloads.

Boo: Occasionally, the book uses, for illustrative purposes, a photo of a pattern that is not included in the collection. Mitigating this Boo: they always tell you the name of the pattern and which issue of Knitscene you can find it in. And...I feel compelled to note...no mens' patterns (although Norah Gaughan's Kenobi jacket was apparently designed for men, though it is modeled by a woman in the book.)

Audience? The youthful-feeling female knitting crowd who value classic styling with modern touches. I'd also recommend this as a gift for a new-to-intermediate knitter looking to branch out in a fashion-forward way--both the patterns and the articles would be helpful.

Sequel-worthy? Yes Indeedy! It's still worth buying each issue as it comes out, but if you're just getting started and don't want to spend the $$ for the DVDs of the back issues, this would be a lovely collection with which to begin.

I hope this review is helpful. I plan to continue to go through my shelves and highlight books—some new, some not—of interest to other knitters. Let me know in comments if there are any unanswered questions, or features you’d like me to consider adding. As with any review, my comments are intended to educate, illuminate, and entertain; your mileage may vary.
Have you read this book? What did you think?

Six Days In! Among other things...

2012-01-06T16:26:00.001-08:00

This is what my food has looked like A LOT lately.

Green stuff, plus purple stuff, plus assorted other crunchy stuff, plus an oil/vinegar/spice-or-two/lemon-juice dressing. Plus meat. It's disconcerting how much meat--and how many eggs!--I have personally consumed this week. It's quite the diet whiplash, this nonchalance about fats and cholesterol. Or, rather, this rejiggering of the dietary priorities.

Basically, meal after meal, I am eating big piles of food. Which is good, because I really like pile-style food. Mix-ins have been a favorite culinary flourish of mine since I was a kid--some more healthful than others--so I don't mind. (Chili-mac. Yum.)

Since I sort of backed into this whole Whole 30 thing--"Hey, I know, why don't I go on a really restrictive elimination diet the day AFTER we do a huge grocery shopping trip?"--I had to scramble a bit this week; hence, the repetitive piles. This coming week I plan to plan a few real meals that the whole family can share, pre-bake or roast some root veggies, and pre-pack some snacks.

I haven't been too tempted so far, just being in the honeymoon stage, even by the large open bag of potato chips that ended up in my classroom computer lab. (That did look less appealing as the week went on though...) I did have a huge dessert craving last night and I invented a Whole-30 appropriate option in the nick of time: I diced up half an apple into about .5" pieces. I grabbed out the bag of almond meal from my gluten-free pie crust experiment and tossed about 1/4 cup over the apple chunks. Then, I added a LIBERAL amount of cinnamon (I'd guess at least a teaspoon) and a glug of lemon juice.

If I squinted my mouth, it tasted like apple pie.

A departure of sorts

2012-01-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Wait. What? This isn't a foodie blog.

No, it isn't. (If it were, the pictures would be a lot better, and use lighting, angles, and depth of field to make the salad look glistening and delectable, rather than just...salady.)

I'm embarking on The Whole 30.

It's a Paleo/elimination diet. I've never done a full elimination diet before, though I've dabbled in it at various times. Recent health issues (I won't go into details, trust me, you don't want to know) as well as some issues in my larger family health history, as well as the Mind Numbingly Depressing Aura of Doom that always takes me over this time of year and makes me want to drive my car off the road--these have all led me to try to take hold of my body chemistry through exercise and diet.

And when I say "diet," I mean that I'm really just trying to focus on the foods I eat, not counting calories or points or grams. (Although I'm not going to lie; breaking through the weight plateau I've been on for a year would be awesome.)

A family member did the Whole 30 last summer, and she felt amazing upon completion. It's going to be tough, and I reserve the right to completely blow it, but I think I can do it. I've already made a lot of these changes, albeit not 100% in some cases, so I think it might be a bit easier for me than for someone who is starting from a more junk-food-y or even food-pyramid-y diet.

Here's the basics--see their website if you want more details: "Eat real food--meat, fish, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats."

No sugar (real or artificial), no grains, no legumes. These three are going to be the toughest groups for me to avoid. We already eat nearly 100% gluten free because of my daughter's celiac, but we still eat a lot of rice, quinoa, and GF breads and cereals. The good news is that I've learned to be creative about eliminating gluten while still cooking well for the family. Sugar, though. Hmm. I've weaned myself off of sugar in my coffee and tea over the past few years. I don't bake much because of the celiac issue -- I can, but I don't often. It's the bags of Skittles and bottles of pop in the checkout line that call to me. There's something so rebellious about eating a clandestine candy bar. And beans? Just when I was perfecting my chili recipe!

No alcohol in any form (even for cooking). Alcohol is probably next most difficult--I've been indulging a little bit too much over the holiday season...but, again, given my family history, learning to have more moderation is probably a good thing. And, I know I said I wasn't counting calories, but this group is all emptiness.

No dairy, no white potatoes, no processed foods. Dairy and potatoes were already nearly eliminated from at least my HOME diet (except for potato chips, yikes). It's amazing how I've gone from the biggest ice cream hound in the world to not even thinking it sounds good when I see it on a menu. We have had home fries and baked potatoes of late...but it'll be easy to replace those with yams or sweet potatoes, which are OK "in moderation." (Well, duh.) As for processed foods--we don't eat many, but it's going to be tough to go cold turkey on the potato chips.

I've made it almost two days so far. Yesterday was tough--we went to a New Year's Day party with tons of greasy, gooey, delectable, tempting hors d'oeuvres and snacks--but I subsisted on vegetables and water. (Lesson learned: pack food for parties.) I had a headache by the end of the day but otherwise felt fine, and then made homemade chicken nuggets for me and the kids (theirs breaded with corn meal, mine just with spice rub)...but I'd rather have a hungry/carb-withdrawal headache than the gut bomb I would have been feeling after filling up on pizza dip, buttered popcorn, ranch dressing, little smokies, and creamy dips and crackers.

So....I'll see how it goes. I'll report semi-regularly on recipes and experiences, and make sure to reflect on my progress when it's over. I even had my husband take "before" photos (these will probably NOT go on the internet, though.)

Knitting Book Review: Brave New Knits

2011-12-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

Knitting Book Review: Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere (2010, Rodale Press, 242 pages, 26 projects. Source: personal purchase.)

By: Julie Turjoman. (Turjoman provides the editorial content; 26 contributors provide the knitting projects; Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed does the photos.)

Nutshell: 25% blogs/designers most knitters already know about unless they’ve been living under a rock, 25% oh THAT’S who that is, 50% projects you may or may not want to knit.

Background: I didn’t come early to the knitting revolution. I know there are some online communities dedicated to knitting that have been around for nigh on decades (the Knit List listserv springs to mind) but I personally didn’t discover the crazy, teeming world of knitting-related blogs and websites until I impulse-bought Mason-Dixon Knitting back in 2006 and got the needly bug. (I wish I had earlier; might have avoided the gauge issues that torpedoed my early attempts at knitting in the late ‘90s!)

I found Kay and Ann’s blog through their book, read all of the back entries, and visited every blog on their sidebar blogroll. I also lurked heavily on the Mason-Dixon Knitting Knit-along blog (which now seems to be, sadly, defunct) and from there realized that there were a lot of people JUST LIKE ME who liked to knit and wrote interesting and helpful and sometimes hilarious things about it...and I had a newborn baby and a newborn obsession (an actual baby, and knitting, respectively) so I spent A LOT of time holding a nursing infant with one arm and clicking on links with the other to see if people had written anything new that day. (This was before I discovered Google Reader. I like to think that the link-clicking built character.)

Nearly six years later, I still have a healthy roll of blogs, not all completely devoted to knitting, that I keep up on. I’m also a Ravelry member, occasional blogger, and voracious knitting book reader.

I was interested to read Turjoman’s book because the concept seemed clear: how has the internet, specifically the market shift represented by blogs and Ravelry, changed the world of knitting? I could not have been more her target audience if I’d auditioned.

Synopsis: Turjoman’s book features 26 bloggers-slash-designers-slash-knitting celebrities whose work has gained notoriety and prominence in large part due to their online presence. These folks range from the incredibly prolific and famous-for-knitters, such as Clara Parkes, Norah Gaughan, and Jared Flood--to the relatively unknown, such as Sean Riley, Hillary Smith Callis, and Jennifer Hagan. The book is divided into two sections: Garments and Accessories, which include a variety of sweaters, jackets, hats, socks, mitts, and scarves/shawlettes, all beautifuly photographed by Flood. Turjoman introduces each design with a two-to-three page article on its designer, focusing on his or her body of work, style, and connection to/thoughts about the online knitting community.

Sample: Soon after starting her blog, Kirsten [Kapur] was approached by Amy Singer, editor of knitty.com, about contributing a pattern to the online magazine. “That’s the wonderful thing about the whole explosion of the online knitting world: we get to find out about the new, up-and-coming designers, and they get a venue to work in.” The publicity from her appearance in Knitty gave a huge boost to her profile and her blog traffic. (176)

Woot: I’m impressed with the variety of designers featured. Some are the predictable online rockstars; others were new to me, and each feature article competently showed the designer’s journey and how the internet helped them on their way. The designs are, for the most part, fresh and interesting, and each is a clear reflection of its designer’s style. I added a few projects to my ravelry queue and a few blogs to my Google Reader after finishing this book.

My particular favorite designs: Jennifer Hagan’s Global Cable Coat, Wooly Wormhead’s Lenina Cap (and not just because it’s named after a character from Brave New World), and Ysolda Teague’s The Orchid Thief Shawlette. (I have a skein of Dream in Color Starry just waiting to be made into that last one.)

Meh: The subtitle says “Personalities,” but I beg to differ. Because Turjoman chose to write each profile in the third person, incorporating quotes from each designer, the profiles have a sameness that, when read cover to cover (‘cause that’s how I roll with the knitting books), gets a little tiresome. I also found her transitions awkward and, occasionally, as in the sample above, I had a hard time following how the quotes fit with the editorial commentary. If I were her editor, I would have tightened up each profile--two pages, tops--and focused more on revealing the designer’s voice through her or his words, not through the writer’s editorializing. Have Sean Riley TELL the reader in his own words that he was sad he had to close his yarn shop, don’t write awkwardly maudlin sentences like, “Despite heroic efforts, the economic downturn of 2009 forced him, with great sadness, to close the shop. In his sadness, he thought he’d take a break from knitting altogether” (206). Using “sadness” two sentences in a row like that is bush league writing.

Another meh: weird little sidebars (Knitters’ Guide to Essential Blogging Terminology) that define supposedly-blogging-related terms like Etsy, meme, ISO, and frog. Yes, I suppose it’s possible that folks new to the online knitting community might not know them, but they seemed like space-filler to me. I would have rather have read sidebars that showcased the designers’ writing (they are all supposedly bloggers, no?), favorite blogs, or best/most popular designs instead of tired, google-able terms that most computer-savvy knitters already know.

Boo: No real boos, here. A reasonably solid book, competently written, clearly well-researched, nice variety of patterns and projects. If anything, it needs to follow through on the promise of its premise; let the personalities of the knit-o-sphere shine on the pages, through their stories and their designs. Most knitters will find the profiles of interest, and I’d guess there are at least a few patterns of interest as well, although there is a noticeable lack of patterns for men. Also, a quick search for errata reveals errors in 10 (!) of the 26 patterns. What was that I was saying about an editor?

Audience? Female knitters with a computer who may or may not read blogs; knitters who are interested in expanding their knowledge about how the online community has affected and is affecting knitting.

Sequel-worthy? There is certainly no lack of designers who are using blogs, Ravelry, and other online media to create careers. The combo of personality profiles and patterns has great potential (for alliteration, apparently.) The question is whether the book publishing cycle is nimble enough to keep up with the online world.

I hope this review is helpful! I plan to continue to go through my shelves and highlight books--some new, some not--of interest to other knitters. Let me know in comments if there are any unanswered questions, or features you’d like me to consider adding, As with any review, my comments are intended to educate, illuminate, and entertain; your mileage may vary.

Giving vs. Gifting

2011-11-21T08:24:00.001-08:00

I've noticed an interesting linguistic trend of late: saying "gifted" instead of "given" or "gave." As in, "A swap partner gifted me this yarn."

Why the difference?

It seems like folks are using "gifted" to emphasize the intent behind the yarn or object. If it's bought as a gift with the recipient in mind, it is "gifted" yarn. (No word on whether using gifted yarn makes one a gifted knitter.) If the yarn is simply passed on for free, it has been given.

Here's the distinction:
Example 1: My sister-in-law had bought some yarn thinking she would knit or crochet a baby blanket. She tried, gave up, and then stuck the yarn in a closet. When I started knitting, six years ago, she passed the bag of yarn on to me. She gave it to me.

Example 2: By contrast, when I started knitting, I became semi-obsessed with Noro Kureyon after seeing these armwarmers in Stitch and Bitch Nation. My sister was living in Japan at the time, so I (erroneously) assumed it would be easy for her to find Noro over there, and I asked for Kureyon for Christmas. She couldn't find any, at least on Okinawa, so she searched the interwebs for the perfect color combo for me and I received a bag of shade 124 (now sadly unavailable) for the holiday. I finally found the perfect pattern for this yarn in Carol Feller's Spoked Cardigan, and now have a gorgeous striped sweater made from the yarn she gifted to me.

Given is great; gifted is better...and we now have a new verb in our lexicon!

Blueberries

2011-08-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

How is it we've lived here all these years and never trekked out into the wilds of the county for U-Pick?

How is it that thirty minutes and eight hands and four buckets and one race can yield

This?

Oh yeah, blackberries. You know you're next.

Almost Fandom

2011-08-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Back from vacation, back from teaching at a workshop, back to my dropped projects and cozy house...

We have been enjoying what feels like our first weeks of summer. Consistent, warm weather (warm for here: low 70s); relaxed days; denial about the amount of work that has to happen before my students walk through the door after Labor Day.

Since the days themselves feel like a lovely mosaic or collage, in which I flit from thing to thing, mostly free of drive or focus, I thought a blog post in that format--a winding path through my summer brain, if you will--would be appropriate.

1. War and Peace. My book club decided to tackle this monolith over the summer. We are all teachers, and after reading Anna Karenina last summer, we thought another Tolstoy was just the thing. I'm struggling. I've read tons of 19th century lit as well as lots of historical fiction (which is what Tolstoy was writing: the book was published in 1869 but set in 1805-1812) so that's not the issue...it's just that I don't have enough historical "hooks" to read the book without constantly consulting the footnotes and Wikipedia and the list of characters. When I get in flow, like during our week on Camano Island, I really enjoy it...but it's a daunting task. It wouldn't have been easier during the school year, though, so I'm continuing on. I won't say slogging, because it's not a slog, its just like rolling a boulder up a hill when you're constantly being seduced off the path by flowers and bunnies and gins and tonic. But you really need to get this boulder up the hill!

2. Wil Wheaton. I am just enough of a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fan to be inordinately excited that I discovered Wil's blog and his podcasts...and I'm just enough of an oblivious semi-fan that I didn't hear about them until TWO YEARS after he first put them out. Just finished listening to "Memories of the Futurecast," where he reads excerpts from his book Memories of the Future, which covers his memories and pretty funny synopses of the first 14 episodes of the series...the series which is now, conveniently, is on Netflix Streaming. The kids and I watched a bit of episode one today while we were folding laundry. My son said, astutely, "This looks like 'Galaxy Quest.'" Sigh. The perils of watching a parody before one has seen the source material.
(Note 1: Wil Wheaton was the one and only boy I ever cut out of "Tiger Beat" and put up on my wall. What that says about me, I don't know.) (I do know; it says I'm a mega-nerd and completely proud of it.)
(Note 2: Wil has a beautiful, touching post on his blog about the 25th anniversary of the film "Stand By Me." If you saw this movie in the '80's and loved it, read this post.)

3. Couch-to-5K. I have been a runner on and off since I was in college. It is absolutely the best way for me to enjoy exercise and get in shape...but it's also a tough habit for me to sustain and I tend to binge and crash. After a year with some tough health stuff, it became very apparent to me that being a super-slug and feeling sorry for myself was not the way to regain fitness. I'm on week 5 of this Couch-to-5K program right now, and am feeling great! Got new Nike Free running shoes, am not having any trouble with my joints or shinsplints, and signed up for a local 5K for the end of September. Given my personal set of issues, I'm not sure if I'll ever tackle more than the 5K length (doesn't it seem like everyone is doing half-marathons now?) but we'll see...

4. Ysolda Teague and Carol Feller. Knitters: run, don't walk to get a copy of Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague. I love it so much that I have already spilled coffee AND wine on it. I also already knit the sweater Skelf in one crazy gulp back in June/July and it may be my most favorite thing I've knitted EVER.
If Ysolda is like a knitting rock star, Carol Feller is like the cool indie band that's just hitting the circuit. I ordered her book Contemporary Irish Knits pretty much sight unseen (only a few patterns are up on Ravelry now, but they all look like winners) and as soon as I hit "confirm order" on the Amazon cart, I started to notice her name everywhere--Interweave Knits, Knitty, Twist Collective--I just didn't notice before that a bunch of patterns I love were all designed by the same person.

5. The Temeraire books by Naomi Novik. I've been having trouble paying attention to War and Peace in part because of Ms. Novik's fascinating series. Again, I'm late to the party, it already being six books--but my husband and I are really enjoying the heck out of what feels like a combination of Jane Austen, the non-cheesy parts of Anne McCaffrey, and Patrick O'Brien.

All right, people: my actual to-do list ain't getting any shorter, and then I can go back to my honeybee-like existence

2011-07-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I have been into nursery rhymes lately. Her fledgling reading skills are blossoming (excuse the mixed metaphor) with texts that rhyme and have predictable patterns and rhythms.

So as we were reading Mother Goose the other night, I stumbled over this rhyme, one I'd heard as a child but never really thought about before.

Crosspatch,
Draw the latch,
Sit by the fire and spin,
Take a cup,
And drink it up,
And call the neighbors in.

This isn't a fun rhyme to teach counting or a silly rhyme to make children laugh--this is emotional instruction! Coping skills passed down as a poem!

If you are feeling grouchy or overwhelmed,
Take some time for yourself,
Be comfortable and do something with your hands,
Have a cup of tea (or something stronger?!)
Then, open the door to company.

Mother Goose's version is, of course, more catchy.

Most knitters will agree that knitting can get them into a flow state, the same one experienced by athletes, or anyone engaged in something absorbing and enjoyable. And repetitive activities are proven to lower blood pressure and reduce stress. (Dr Oz says to choose doing the dishes over watching TV to wind down!)

I love the idea of women generations ago recognizing that solitude + spinning + tea = Serenity Now!

OK, fellow Crosspatches, do you find that your knitting or other handwork helps you to recharge?

iPad lust

2011-07-19T14:50:00.001-07:00

I have a serious case of iPad lust...

And this post Is. Not. Helping.

Live Oak Reminiscence

2011-07-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

There wasn't very much that was lovely about that apartment complex. It was old-ish and musty, surrounded by newer, jazzier gated complexes, with bad parking and scary laundry rooms and a pool continually closed by maintenance issues.

We chose it because it was the least expensive option while we lived on one income in this hot, hot, place so far from home. This place of cockroaches and strange poky grass and hibiscus and great food and bad pollution and oil and music and sprawl.

But the one thing I loved there were the live oaks.

I don't know what makes a live oak different from just a regular oak, but they are beautiful. Soaring, knobbly branches; tiny, lovely acorns; scratchy, weathered bark. They decorated our neighborhood and our courtyard, and during the three months I both lived and worked in that dingy little apartment because my boring unfulfilling office job ended abruptly, I would open the windows and listen to the breeze (when there was a breeze) blow through their lovely, gnarled branches, and dream of the Northwest.

No tree here--maybe because we have so many, an embarrassment of riches--makes me quite as happy.

So, when I saw Rosemary Hill's pattern for the "Live Oak Shawlette" in the latest issue of Knitscene, it just spoke to me.

This half-circle shawl flew on and then off my needles in a crazy-fast way--just a couple of days (and couple of long Tour de France stages) from cast-on to bind off.

It's pictured here about two-thirds bound off, as I caught the waning gray July-in-the-PNW light. Tonight it's going to take a bath and then get blocked to its more lovely, leafy, tweedy glory. I'm not even sure what its fate will be...like the adventure that took us so far from home and taught us so much in the land of live oaks, I'll let the universe guide me.

2011-07-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Do you like bright colors? Many many bright colors, in different patterns, the more the merrier? If so, you and Miss E would get along. She is a fan of all things bright, and at age nearly-five she can pull it off with aplomb.

I'm not one of those moms that dictates clothing choices for the kids. We have had to add limits on, say, shorts in winter (it has to be at least 50...remember, that's warm in the Pacific Northwest), and for some occasions (weddings, parties, picture day) we have put our parental feet down and, shall we say, steered the fashion ship a bit.

But mostly, for Miss E, it's bright colors and patterns and lots of layers. (That is when she's not running around with her big brother with bare feet and no shirt.)

This summer, I was searching for a project that would use up the skein of KnitPicks Chroma Fingering that I bought with her in mind. (The colorway is called Pegasus--how perfect is that for a four-year-old girl?) I had just bought Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders and had been poring over it for a while. I saw this sweater pattern, and though it was only sized for a 6- or 12-month baby, I thought I could adapt it. I really thought it would look great in the Chroma because of the combination of the striped yoke and chevron-lace body.

I cast on more stitches than the pattern called for, and used a bigger needle, too. (Details are on my Ravelry project page if you are so inclined.) It knit up quickly and easily, and aside from a knot in the yarn and then a reversal of the color pattern (thank goodness I noticed that!) I really enjoyed working with the Chroma.

And we found the perfect buttons!

See?

Book Review: The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

2011-07-09T17:03:00.001-07:00

I do a lot of reading--so I've decided, inspired by my friend Laura, again, to begin posting, on occasion, reviews of what I read. I'll do fiction, knitting books, other publications--whatever's on my bedside table. Let me know what you think!

Review: The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card (2010)

384 pages. (This review is of the hardback book club edition.)

Nutshell: 45% American Gods + 45% Percy Jackson series + 10% Twilight

AKA: Ancient gods are the new vampires.

Background:

Orson Scott Card is the author of arguably the most popular YA novel for boys of all time: Ender's Game. This is not to say that Ender's Game isn't a great book for both genders, but its male protagonist, futuristic-videogame-combat setting and slight seasoning of ethical dilemma seems to especially resonate with males of a certain age.

In The Lost Gate, Card reaches, stretches, and fails to capture the EG magic, creating a novel with an interesting, if unoriginal, premise--that the "Old Gods" of mythology still exist in our world (paging Mr. Card: have you heard of Neil Gaiman or Rick Riordan?)--and a protagonist, Danny North, who swings wildly from believable teen to laughably this-is-how-adults-think-teenagers-talk-think-and-feel. There's a secondary/companion story that hews closer to European-influenced fantasy: medieval-ish setting, castles, intrigue, secret identities.

I have my own personal beefs with (and love of) Card's books, having read the Ender series and (almost all of) the Alvin Maker series.

Let's start with the admiration: Card unabashedly loves America: American folk beliefs, accents, dialects, and geography. He's able to describe magical abilities on a near-molecular level, helping the reader understand and almost almost believe that the abilities could be real. He knows how to pace an action scene. He writes dialogue, particularly dialogue in dialect, without sounding clunky or too stereotypical, and has a naturalistic way of sliding in the vocabulary of the world of the book, making it seem acquired rather than alien.

That said, Card's style also often leaves me cold. He forces his personal belief system into his novels, and as soon as he does, they lose their magic and become clunky allegory. (That's why I stopped reading the Alvin Maker series.) He doesn't write female characters well; they come in three flavors: subservient/flavorless, scheming, and Auntie Mame.

So, then: The Lost Gate.

Synopsis: Danny North, pre-teen and seemingly-powerless member of a powerful family living on a hidden compound in western Virginia, discovers he's powerful, after all, and explores the dangers and joys of his newfound abilities. Meanwhile, on another world, a nameless, memory-less, ALSO seemingly-powerless character known as Wad is involved in his own mysterious journey of self-knowledge.

Sample:

He tried to understand what it meant to “serve” stone or water, wind or the electricity of lightning in the air. But the stones bruised his fingers and moved for him only if he threw them; the wind only blew his hair into a tangled mop, and storms and ponds left him wet, cold, and powerless. Far from being precocious, with magic he was slow. Worse than slow. He was inert, making no visible progress at all.

Yet, except for the loneliness, he didn’t hate his life. His long rovings in the woods were a pleasure to him. Since neither tree nor animal was drawn to him, he simply ran, becoming swift and tireless, mile after mile. (15)

Woot:

Nice descriptions of magical abilities, and creation of a believable system of magic. Card is able to construct the system without the “and now you’re getting the anthropological background of how magic works in this reality” section so prevalent in fantasy novels, usually bringing the narrative to a screeching halt. The tone shifted believably between Wad’s and Danny’s worlds.

Meh:

Some meaningless episodic stuff happened in the middle that then got dropped in favor of the overall arc. Danny discovers a murdered family! (What?) Danny wants to go to public high school! (In a cafeteria scene that reminded me so much of Twilight that I wanted to scream, he inexplicably heals a bunch of people and, basically, no one bats an eye.)

Additionally, the whole “gods still walk among us” trope seems a mite played out, especially when (as I mentioned above) Gaiman did it so well for adult readers, and Riordan continues to for middle readers. Perhaps Card intends this series (it’s clearly not done yet) to fit in the middle ground for high school readers? The scatological humor and sexual situations point this direction... (Which brings me to:)

Boo:

One boo to stereotypical adult characters. Who here has ACTUALLY had a sadistic gym teacher? A “climb that rope, kid, because I don’t like you” gym teacher? I didn’t think so.

Two boos to gratuitous and creepy sexual content. One adult female character could have just as easily been portrayed as the crazy she was without having her make inappropriate overtures to Danny.

Three big boos to semi-sadistic violence without plot or character purpose. (Which is, I guess, what gods do. But still!)

Audience?

Those who liked but have grown out of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. (I’d recommend The Lost Hero, also by Rick Riordan, over this one, though.)

Sequel-worthy?

There were enough good things in The Lost Gate to make me open to reading a sequel, although the female characters make me feel all squirmy inside. But I’ll check any subsequent books out from the library; not buy-worthy.

Storm Warnings

2011-05-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

I first read this poem in high school, taking a practice test for my AP Literature class. I think its unexpectedness paired with my need to ANALYZE-THIS-IN-40-MINUTES-GO! indelibly printed it on my mind.

In college, I kept it framed on my wall (that, and the lyrics to "Mystery" by Indigo Girls...yes, yes, melodramatic, I know)...it still fits my optimistic-yet-fatalistic-with-a-dash-of-melancholy inner self.

I later read more Rich poetry (and, yes, it is rich/Rich on many levels) and always find her profound and a bit inscrutable. Just the way poetry should be.

Storm Warnings

by Adrienne Rich

The glass has been falling all the afternoon,
And knowing better than the instrument
What winds are walking overhead, what zone
Of grey unrest is moving across the land,
I leave the book upon a pillowed chair
And walk from window to closed window, watching
Boughs strain against the sky
And think again, as often when the air
Moves inward toward a silent core of waiting,
How with a single purpose time has traveled
By secret currents of the undiscerned
Into this polar realm. Weather abroad
And weather in the heart alike come on
Regardless of prediction.
Between foreseeing and averting change
Lies all the mastery of elements
Which clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter.
Time in the hand is not control of time,
Nor shattered fragments of an instrument
A proof against the wind; the wind will rise,
We can only close the shutters.
I draw the curtains as the sky goes black
And set a match to candles sheathed in glass
Against the keyhole draught, the insistent whine
Of weather through the unsealed aperture.
This is our sole defense against the season;
These are the things we have learned to do
Who live in troubled regions.

Thanks to Laura of What She Read for this blog hop!

2011-04-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Which character from William Shakespeare's plays has most dramatically or lastingly shaped your thinking and actions? Why?

Thanks to Laura for posting this thought-provoking question. Many thoughts flew through my mind...Hamlet...Juliet...Portia...Desdemona...Hero...Horatio...Ophelia...all of whom I've loved and thought about over the years. And when my mind, like a whirring slot machine, clicked into place, even I was surprised by what it settled on:

King Lear.

It's been years since I read Lear, but I read it intensely in both high school and college. Poor Lear, foolish Lear, foolhardy Lear, too-powerful-to-see-his-own-power-until-it's-too-late Lear, who gives up the love of a good, true daughter because the selfish, shallow daughters stoke the fires of his vanity, and because Cordelia stings his pride.

As I ponder this, I also realize that Lear is the tragedy of a parent, and so it speaks to me in the place I am in my life: the parent of two young children. Lear's children turn on him, and what parent doesn't fear that down to the core? And his own foolish, selfish actions cause him to permanently damage his relationship with the remaining child, the one who continues to love him against all reason.

That fine, scary balance of love, influence, and coercion that all parents walk...the eternal question of nature vs. nurture...and the unspeakable tragedy of the loss of a child, either through death or emotional distance--this is why Lear speaks to me, why I can't think of that poor, misguided, blind, blinded man without tears.

Slippermania 2011!!!

2011-03-23T19:53:00.001-07:00

It has been a positive slipper-fest this past month. I am on pair # 5 since February, and still going strong. Clogs and French Presses abound. First, M wore through his first pair of clogs and waited patiently through me finishing a sweater for him. When I started to murmur about other projects him-intended, he stated (gently, but firmly): "All I want you to knit for me are slippers. I don't want anything else until I get new slippers. Please please please PLEASE make me new slippers." He then waggled his toes through the holes in his old slippers' soles.

Right. Duly noted.

The kids helped me pick colors for him: bright green and navy blue. Pair #1.

Then, my school's scholarship auction rolled around. I made one pair of clogs, size men's 10-ish, and one pair of French Press slippers, size women's 8.5-ish. (Sadly, because--as usual--I was up against a deadline, I neglected to photograph these and now feel too weird about asking my colleagues for pictures of their feet.)

I also decided to donate a pair each of custom slippers to the auction. Interestingly, the custom pairs were more the rage and brought in more cha-ching. So, enter pair 4, clogs in Husky purple and gold (just the soles, but finished product to come):

And pair 5: French Presses in beautiful navy blue (in progress):

It's been percolating that I'd like to do a toe-to-toe comparison of how various so-called "workhorse" brands of 100% wool match up when they become French Press Slippers.

During my slipper-felting career I've used: Patons Classic Wool, Cascade 220, Stitch Nation, and Wool of the Andes. I know there are other wools out there that people swear by, like Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, and Valley Yarns Northampton.

So...here's the plan:

I will knit at least 5-6 pairs of slippers in these wools and chronicle the experience.

Here's where you come in.

Do you need some slippers?

If so, leave a comment with your shoe size and color preference. Send the link to friends, foes, strangers. First six commenters win. It may take a while, but I'll get there. And having the intentionality of you in my mind will help.

Names: family and otherwise

2011-02-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

This week's Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish is: Fictional Characters and Literary Figures You'd Name Your Children After...

Well.

My child-bearing days are likely over--unless by typing this I have somehow tempted The Universe into a big ol' "we'll just see about that," in which case I leave my options wide open--but I will, I hope, continue to name pets, plants, cars, and bicycles for many years to come.

And I already have one daughter named after (depending on which day you catch me): Elinor Dashwood, my favorite Austen heroine, or Elanor Gamgee, my favorite baby hobbit, or Eleanor of Aquitaine, my favorite bloodthirsty queen, or Eleanor Roosevelt, my favorite knitting first lady, or Eleanor Rigby, my favorite sad and lonely person (where do they all come from?). So the precedent has been set.

Laura, as in Ingalls Wilder. I also have two lovely friends named Laura, plus a much beloved cousin, so this name is a natural fit in my life. (The name Almanzo, however, does not make the cut.)
Max, of Where the Wild Things Are. Who wouldn't wish for an imaginative, boisterous, amazing boy such as this?
Rita, as in the lovely Meter Maid.
Meg, Margaret, Megatron--Miss Murry of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet (and many other companion books) who guided me through quite the ugly duckling phase myself. Although why she and Calvin named one of their daughters Polyhymnia is quite beyond me.
Claire, of the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon. Though the books' quality has ebbed as the series has worn on, and on, and on...Claire in Outlander is a feisty, sexy, smart heroine we all can love and hope to emulate.
Edward. Or Jacob? I can't decide. (JUST KIDDING!)
Neville, as in Longbottom, as in the unsung hero of the Harry Potter books. He's one who, though not ordained by any prophecy with overwhelming responsibility (though he COULD have been), chooses love, good, and Herbology despite daunting odds. Neville is The Boy Who Chose. And can't you see a cat named Neville?
Penny, as in Lane and also as in the love of Dr. Horrible's life.
Pearl, as in Prynne-Dimmesdale, the girl who took what life handed her [mother] and lived to fight another day--in Europe, far away from those nasty Puritans.
Bryony. Bryony is one of the brave piglets in Mr. and Mrs. Pig's Evening Out, by Mary Rayner, the first book I ever read--really read, not just memorized--a book that is quite possibly (I'm just realizing) the headwaters of my Anglophilia and love for sunny texts with dark shadows.

Duh! Ask The Blog...

2011-02-03T17:05:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time, I was into cross-stitch.

Now, I have absolutely nothing against this lovely pixelated craft. Like all crafts, it can be used for good, or for evil. I have several cute items that I cross-stitched over the years and I love them dearly, especially for the memories that are embedded into them. I have the "Life is a Chair of Bowlies" one I finished the year I was a newlywed. I have "Bloom Where You're Planted" which is so pretty and just needs to be framed. I have one I started in high school that is all different quilt blocks and it took on even greater meaning when I worked on it during a time of great grief when I was in my twenties.

Lately, I've noticed a resurgence of cross-stitch, done in a tongue-in-cheek ironic fashion. (Warning: some links on this site NSFW.)

That said, the only thing I'm ever going to build one stitch at a time now is a sweater.

In addition, I've been resolving to de-clutter my life. And when I went through my craft bins stored in our sadly-non-Harry-Potter-esque cupboard under the stairs, I found an unfinished cross-stitch, taken up in a fit of "I'm on maternity leave, I have so much time!" insanity.

It's a sampler intended for a baby's room...and the baby I intended it for is now...

Eight.

I've posted it on Facebook as a freebie. Needles, floss, and a 95% finished sampler! C'mon, people!

No. Takers.

I've posted it on Craigslist in my community.

Again. No. Takers.

So, as a last-ditch effort before this goes to Goodwill: It contains love, care, and intention in every stitch. If you have a baby or if there is a baby coming into your life, or if you've ever seen a baby, consider picking this up where I left off. It's not that it's not cute, and sweet, and perfect. It's just that I want it to go to a baby it's meant for, and I know if I put it out to the universe (e.g. Blogland) it will find a home.

Any takers? I will pay shipping. Frame included.

(PS: the message around the border says: "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me." It's a nursery rhyme.)

My Scarlet Letter

2011-01-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

A prompt posted by my friend Laurie over at That's What She Read. Do pay her a visit. (Of course, she already has a bajillion visitors and commenters whilst I doodle with my thoughts about knitting and unfinished posts...but still going to plug her because she's Just That Good.)

Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university. Why did you dislike it?

In tenth grade, I met Nathaniel Hawthorne. Mrs. S, my chain-smoking, desk-jumping, craziness-cultivating (and we loved her for it) honors English teacher slapped the book down upon our desks and said, "Dive in." Unfortunately, for many of us, the pool had no water.

I dreaded every chapter of this book, and finished it only begrudgingly, happy to move on to shallower waters, leaving Mr. Hawthorne and his horrific heroine behind. I got a glimpse of his nasty magic again in college, reading "Rappaccini's Daughter" for a American lit survey course. Hmm...themes: Control of women? Women are deadly and evil? Men should control women AT ALL COSTS? Should have sent me back to SL, but, alas...

Then, years later, I got a job as AN ENGLISH TEACHER. And, lo and behold, was assigned to teach 10th grade honors American Literature. And, you guessed it--Hester Prynne was on the menu.

I spent no small amount of time reading about SL. And I realized what I wasn't mature enough to see at age 15--that I blamed the book because I didn't understand it. I didn't have the skills, or, perhaps (sorry Mrs. S), the guidance to feel my way through Hester and Dimmesdale's maze. When my reading and thinking skills met their first big wall, they couldn't scale it, and so I hated the wall.

I've taught the book seven or eight times now and grow to appreciate it more and more--not as a heart-pounding page turner (because that it is most emphatically not) but as a morality tale, a fable, a parable, a uniquely American mixed-up and self-questioning text, full of ambiguity and paradox.

My students get angry at Hawthorne for playing God. I say--get angry at the Puritans; they started it. They rail against the injustice of a tale without a happy ending. I say--isn't it? And because I can argue both sides, and because of the cracks that I see open in each student's personal wall--I love this book.

The coziest of candles

2011-01-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

Is that what I think it is?

Why, yes! A garter stitch candle.

Saves the trouble of knitting a candle cozy, I guess. (If willie warmers exist, why not candle cozies, I ask you?)

With regret, I did not purchase said item. I know the black black hole that is impulse shopping at Target, and I resisted the urge.

That said, if I go back, and they're still there, I may get one for my newly cleaned-out yarn storage area (AKA the cupboard under the stairs).

Comes complete with benevolent god:

Yes, that is Barry Manilow. Yes, there is a long story involved. Leave a comment if you want to hear it!

Sleeveless near Seattle

2011-01-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

Meet Tweedy Pine. It's a man-sized sweater.

I started this for M back last spring with yarn I'd bought at Apple Yarns at their New Year's Day sale.

If you've knitted a man-size sweater, even for such a non-burly man as lives at my house, you know that it can seem like a forever-long slog. Especially if you decide to modify the pattern to knit it in the round--there's something about knitting around and around and around a body that, even though it's probably less TOTAL time, is still deceptively time-consuming.

I knit up to the armholes, and then finished the back by the end of the summer. Then, I accidentally pulled out one of the shoulders, and got irritated, and left it in time out under the stairs.

Guess what? when I returned to it, the shoulder thing was an easy fix, and I decided to start on the sleeves--easy in reverse stockinette--finish them, and then go back to the fronts.
Sleeves ahoy!

Whilst knitting away on the sleeves--so easy! so fast! no cables!--I started to get that nagging feeling...you know the one. Like you've been standing in line at Costco for ten minutes and you realize you might. not. have. your. debit. card. You check your pockets and your wallet and all the nooks and crannies of your purse and suddenly it's just you stuck in a long line with a tub of red vines, seventeen chicken breasts, twelve million baby carrots, and one large lump of lead in your gut.

Sure enough, there was only one ball (of the original seven) left in the project bag, and it almost certainly wouldn't be enough to finish the sleeves, let alone the fronts, too. But I know I had enough, I checked the yardage! I thought. I checked my various yarn bins, but I had just cleaned them out the weekend before, and I certainly would have found it and put it with the project. I can only conclude that either I converted the yardage incorrectly when I subbed the yarn, or just plain bought the wrong amount. Yeesh!

I called Apple Yarns, but they no longer carry this yarn (Naturally Tussock Aran 10 ply, from New Zealand). Andrea, the wonderful proprietor of Apple Yarns, suggested I check Ravelry, but the only person with this for sale or trade in their stash had only .75 balls left of a different dye lot. I performed the ancient art of google-fu and saw this brand is sold at Paradise Fibers in Spokane, so I called them up.

Me: Ineedsomemoreofthisgreenyarndoyouhavedyelot6761?

Laid-back Paradise Yarn guy: We have that yarn but not in that dye lot. You'd probably be OK but you might want to add a contrast stripe or something to split up the dye lots visually.

Me: becauseI'mrunningoutofyarnandyou'remyonlyhope

PY: I hear you. [Makes general noises of commiseration.]

Me: Canyoutellmewhichothercolorwaywouldcontrastbutnottoomuch?

PY: [patiently goes through each colorway over the phone, and recommends Navy.]

Me: [lights credit card on fire and orders two balls of the green plus one of Navy.]

And that's that! Magical yarn is winging its way to me from Eastern Washington. Man sweater will be finished, by hook or by crook. My working plan is this:

stop working on the sleeves to conserve original dye lot
finish fronts using original yarn, unraveling sleeves (sniff....sniff) as necessary
add a navy stripe to sleeves in consultation with recipient of sweater (want something that says "sporty sweater!" not "dorky kindergartner!")
finish sleeves and neckband with new dye lot

I hope this will work. Apparently this yarn is "going away," (that sounds ominous) according to the Paradise Yarns guy so it will only be more difficult to replace as time goes on.

Luckily, M. is worth it.

(And, now, if I could only find my debit card.)

Strawberry shortcake slippers

2011-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Miss E's class is the Strawberries. Her sister class is the Shortcakes. She loves both teachers fiercely.
She asked for red and pink slippers for them for their holiday gifts.

We made two special trips to the yarn store to find the perfect yarns. Trolling the button aisle at JoAnn, she found the perfect buttons for each.
I sneakily scoped their shoe sizes, possibly causing them to think I had some sort of fetish.

Luckily they were about the same size as me, so I could felt to fit.
Thanks to the magic of Ravelry, I discovered a modification to the French Press Slippers pattern that let me do them in one piece--mildly fiddly, but nothing in comparison to the seaming I normally do.

The best part? Her pride in giving her teachers something that they love and use, made specially for them.

Reenergized

2010-12-21T09:19:00.001-08:00

I have a lovely friend who writes lovely things and she is inspiring me to rediscover this space as mine.

She's writing two lovely blogs and on the second she is telling all about the books she's reading and what action each inspires her to take. Imagine Amazon.com crossed with your best reading friend crossed with Ben Franklin and that's what it is.

So what has life brought me these months of silence?

Is there anything cuter than a baby snuggled up wearing a handknit you made him?

This is my darling new nephew, who joined us shortly before Thanksgiving.

I've been reading a lot of knitting books and magazines of late. For some reason, like Dumbledore, I enjoy reading the patterns. Of course there is the "I want to make this" factor, but I also just love the mathematics and precision and artistry of them.

Lately, I've started crocheting more. I'm still not super proficient but am gaining in dexterity and speed. I made a tree topper for our Christmas tree, and have noodled around with a few other projects. My gauge is super-dee-duper tight and I'm working on making the movements more natural and less wince-inducing. I can see the potential--it's the learning curve that's daunting.

My takeaway from all of this night-time reading and imagining fibery goodness is to take some of my other reading and make it concrete. Like my friend, creating action items from what I read will help bring it into relief in my life: what place does this have? And does it help me achieve my goals?

Detour from the Sock Tour for a Big Ta-Da

2010-09-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a book called Mason-Dixon Knitting. I bought this book on impulse in 2005, when I was pregnant with my daughter. It called to me across a crowded bookstore and said, "Take Up Thy Needles, We Promise It Won't Hurt This Time."

And Lo, it was Correct.

Since then, I've been a huge fan of the Shayne and Gardiner oeuvre, and their smart, well-written books and blog have also led me to other fantastic knitting godmothers, like Ms Righetti, Ms. Zimmermann, and Ms. Starmore.

Funny thing, though, I haven't knit many of their patterns. I've done baby kimonos and ballband dishcloths, and that's it. Until--

The Log Cabin.

Log Cabining, as Kay calls it, is less a pattern and more a lifestyle. It's zen knitting at its best; knit back and forth, make stripes wider or thinner, follow your cabin-y bliss. (Those Moderne Baby Blankets that some people seem to make by the truckload are the love child of Log Cabin and Mondrian.)

Here is mine--over a year in the making (non-monogamous, of course), many many shades of worsted wool on size 8 needles, 9-ridge garter stripes, around and around and around until I felt done.

(National Geographic for scale. The seemingly-semi-annual King Tut issue. Which was actually very interesting but made me laugh when I saw the cover. Circulation down much?)

I started this project a year ago June and worked on it on and off until a week or so ago. I wish my photos did the colors more justice--i'll have to try again--because they are just every shade of lovely in my life. Peacock, olive, royal purple, leaf, denim, charcoal, black and more on the cool side; flame, tangerine, spice, traffic cone, mustard, burgundy, sunshine, and toast on the warm side. Some from stash, some left over from patterns, some from the rest of my Aunt Iva yarn, some purchased just because I couldn't resist. Most solid, some heathered, one marled, one tweed. Cascade 220, nameless worsted wool, Paton's classic, and even some leftover Dream in Color Classy and Artyarns Supermerino.

I love the way the colors play with and off of each other. Combinations I never would have expected to love ended up giving me happy little fits of infatuation: olive and peacock; blue-green and denim blue; sunshine yellow and almost-purple, burgundy and spice.

The knitting in this sucker is so straightforward it's almost like breathing, but there were a few technique references that helped me make it the best blanket it could be.

First off, I had trouble picking up stitches along the sides and tops of the garter stripes, and the first few strips had yucky ridges running along the back. I knew from discussion on the Mason-Dixon KAL that some knitters were just leaving their stitches live on holders, but I didn't want to deal with huge long pieces of waste yarn or tons of holders, especially because I wanted this to be pretty good-sized; plus, I felt like the bound-off strips would give more structure and stability, make it feel more quilt-like.

Fate stepped in just a few weeks after I started the project when the Yarn Harlot posted here about her method for picking up in garter stitch; one outstanding tutorial later I was off and running with a blanket where I like the back almost as much as the front.

So life went on well for a year or so, and then I came to the border, running into the challenge of a garter stitch border in-the-round. Why break that streak of all that lovely knit stitch with a bunch of purling???

Again, with the fate. Fleegle's tutorial for No-Purl Garter In the Round proved just the thing.

The border was a bit dicey with such a big blanket -- it didn't fit comfortably on even my longest circs, so I ended up with splitting the live stitches between two 40" circs around and then using a third 40" as the working needle, kind of like REALLY BIG DPNs.

The only thing I'd do differently if I did the border again would be to use YO increases (as in Fleegle's tutorial) rather than the raised increases I used--with black yarn I had a hard time seeing and marking the increase lines clearly and so two of my corners are kind of messed up. (In the sort of no-one-will-notice-but-me-but-it-still-bugs-me way.)

After I used up TWO ENTIRE balls of Patons Classic Wool for the border (12 ridges) it was time to bind off. what to use, what to use. Garter stitch is so flexible and stretchy, I hated to do a traditional bindoff, which is so, um, binding. I thought about a sewn bindoff but then got hives about the huge piece of yarn I would need to use for the sewing part. Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off was a contender, because I've been loving it so much for toe-up socks, but it didn't have the gravitas I envisioned.

Enter another tried-and-true Mason-Dixon staple: applied i-cord.

If you read Kay and Ann's blog you know they harbor an abiding love of i-cord and all things Elizabeth Zimmermann. Kay, in fact, had written a post about how to do a contrasting applied i-cord without any fancy manuevers or extra knitting to hide the "color blip." (Read it from her: it has pictures. I can vouch for the effectiveness.) The only thing I did differently than Kay is mine is only a 3-stitch i-cord.

At each corner, I knit one round of "free" i-cord before and after the corner stitch, which gave it a little ease. I think if I wanted the corners squarer, I could have done 2 rows. I didn't care.

So what did I end up with? A cushy, squishy, oh-so-warm blanket...reversible because the pick-up seams are hardly noticeable (and actually kind of pretty)...with a flexible, vivid red edging that echoes the center square and ties it all together.

We all love it.

Tour of socks, part three: Sharp Right Turn

2010-08-21T20:25:00.001-07:00

P7250039
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

In my very last post before going on my extended period of radio silence, I wrote about visiting Knit Purl in Portland and buying this yarn.

It's since become a pair of Skew socks, from Knitty, Winter 2009. This is an extremely clever, albeit extremely fiddly, pattern that yields a funny-looking but good-fitting (for my average-size feet and calves) sock.

The pattern is complex, no doubt. The designer, Lana Holden, is some kind of mathematical genius person and I'm guessing she dreamed it up in some sort of Beautiful Mind trance; possibly Paul Bettany appeared with a little girl and dictated the whole thing to her. For us average knitter types, though, it's a bit daunting. (When printed out, the pattern is 6 pages long.) (Yes, you read that right.)

Each bit of this pattern requires an unfortunate amount of attention to detail as well as Kitchener skillz for the heel. (Yes. The heel.) (I know.) There's very little mindlessness to this pattern because just when you get in the swing of things it changes from increasing every second row to every fourth, or something equally fidgety.

I started the first sock, the left one pictured here, back in the spring sometime, and worked on it sporadically. I hit some sort of snag that I can't remember (maybe Ed Harris, wearing a black fedora, was stalking me?) and set the project baggie aside until July. Then, during our idyllic week on beautiful Camano Island, I got it back out, fixed my mistake, figured out where I was in the pattern, and finished it up, starting the right foot immediately and finishing that two weeks later.

The socks fit well and I love the yarn, though it's a bit, I don't know, ROPY-feeling against my feet. It's a tightly spun yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in colorway Tahoe) and it may soften over time, I guess.

The verdict: interesting intellectual exercise that yielded good-fitting socks with a lovely diagonal stripe, but not exactly the mindless purse knitting I hope for in socks.

Divesting; or, Requiem for a Chair

2010-08-20T16:51:00.001-07:00

Picture it: Bellingham, winter 2003. A hugely pregnant me navigates the aisles of Toys R Us with my mom, in search of a gliding rocker for my nursery. We've already been to three furniture stores and the cost of their gliders has nearly made me go into premature labor. This one, simple, creamy, and (best of all) AFFORDABLE goes home with us. Over the next seven years I log hour upon hour in this chair: nursing, snuggling, reading, or simply perching, watching Mr D and then Miss E play. If only these things came with odometers; I've surely glided hundreds of miles, front-to-back, back-to-front.

Today it went home with another soon-to-be mama. One who didn't mind the rip in the cushion, and talked with her mom about what color fabric would look good for slipcovers. One who'll also have a winter baby. I told her it was a good chair for nursing, and that the back is tall enough that when you fall asleep with the baby in your arms you don't hurt your neck. As I spoke I could see in a flash the exact view--crib, changing table, CD player, door--I saw for so many hours when Mr. D was an infant.

This summer has been one of divestiture: co-sleeper, breast pump, jogging stroller, crib, bike trailer, hiking backpack--all craigslisted or passed on to other families. Bag upon bag of books, toys, and clothing has gone to Goodwill or to consignment stores. It feels wonderful to see empty space in the garage where once STUFF was.

It's melancholy, though, to realize that my kids don't need that stuff any more; that they can sit on the couch and tear through Calvin and Hobbes (as Mr. D's been doing all day) or ride with training wheels all the way to the neighborhood park (as Miss E did last week). The stuff of infancy and early childhood is rightfully moving on to new kids and families; I love being able to bless others with the objects that greased the wheels of our family machine for the last seven years.

And with each object moving on, there is more space for the next phase, the next project; big kid bikes, tools, art supplies, camping gear. I hope we remember, though, the peace of fewer things, of more space, of ROOM.

Tour of socks, part two: Modified Milkmaid

2010-08-19T10:20:00.001-07:00

P7250038
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

Strictly speaking, this should have been the first stop on our tour, because it was the first pair of socks I made last year, and the first of my semi-obsessive set of Upstream constructions. Oops. Please excuse me the non-chronological order of our tour.

One of the patterns in New Pathways for sock knitters is for the Milkmaid Socks. They are a darling pair of white and blue socks with a lace inset. (Most milkmaids would probably end up with cow pie on their socks, but these must be for some sort of Disney-fied clean and tidy milkmaid, or for one with highly effective rubber boots.)

I received this Lane Cervinia yarn in a swap package and it sat around in my stash for a year or so until, one day, it called out to me that it needed to be socks.

(This was after I tried to force it into becoming an Ishbel shawlette. Epic Fail. It wanted to be socks.)

I dug out the New Pathways book and, remembering how much this yarn hated to be lace, started a standard toe and a plain stockinette foot on size 2 needles. By the time I finished the gusset and heel I decided to spice things up a bit and stole a modified Feather-and-Fan cuff from the Milkmaid socks. (It uses p2tog rather than k2tog for the decreases, which yields a very interesting texture.)

And, where I'd ended up with neck and shoulder pain when I knitted socks on size 0s or 1s, size 2s seemed to work just dandy.

A tour of socks, part one: Marsh-a, Marsh-a, Marsh-a!

2010-08-18T09:11:00.001-07:00

P7250037
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

In the spirit of rediscovering our friendship, I'd like to start small. To start with the small projects that I have been doing while taking breaks from (procrastinating on) my larger, more complicated projects.

I've been a sporadic sock-knitter since I made my first pair in 2007, but for some reason (coughCatBordhicough) I have really been churning them out lately.

It's not just because she's from the Pacific Northwest, or that she's a former teacher, that I think she's a genius. Cat Bordhi's brain really must work differently from other knitters'. I've been working my way (non-systematically) through the various "sockitectures" in her book New Pathways for Sock Knitters, and with her clear directions and clever twists, each pair of socks turns out just lovely.

This particular pair were made for my sister-in-law. She loves these colors, so when I got the yarn on sale from Knitpicks (Felici, in the color Marsh, now discontinued) I knew they would be for her.

I used a Whirlpool toe, then did 2x1 rib across the top of the foot, then the Upstream architecture for the gusset, which creates a triangle shape on top of the instep. Then I did a reinforced heel and a stockinette leg, then ended with a 2x1 rib cuff and Jeni's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff.

I don't know what it is about Upstream but it fits my foot and leg incredibly well. And, apparently, my sister-in-law's, because she loves these. She's not a knitter, so the idea of seamless socks ("There's no bump over my toe!" she exclaimed) was revolutionary.

As for the yarn--Felici is incredibly soft and silky. I used size 2 needles so I'm a bit worried about wear--the fabric wasn't incredibly dense--but it really was a joy to knit with.

Next up: more socks!

Hello old friend

2010-08-12T21:12:00.001-07:00

April 6? Can that be right? Surely Blogger has made a mistake.

(It hasn't. And don't call it Shirley.)

You know how you have that friend who lives far away and sometimes you go months without calling or e-mailing and the longer time you spend without calling you convince yourself more and more that it would be awkward, nay, an IMPOSITION to call, and then one day you put on your big girl panties and you dial that long-distance number and you hear her voice say "Hello?" and you say, "Hi, it's me," and she says, "Hello!" with joy in her voice and, "I'm sorry it's been so long, I've been MEANING to call you," and you say, "Me, too!" and then the conversation is off and running and you wonder what took you so long?

That's me with this blog.

So:

Hello! I've been MEANING to call you. There's been knitting, and thinking, and writing, and ONE MILLION HOUSE PROJECTS and travel and birthdays and all kinds of wonderfulness.

I can't wait to fill you in.

Gumption

2010-04-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

I am not the world's most assertive person.

I am totally comfortable working with teenagers, and I have no problem managing my classes...It's my peers that get me.

When grown-ups are rude, insensitive, nasty, and/or unprofessional (and I've worked with folks that managed to be all four at once!) I just have no idea what to do. Sometimes it's because I don't want to draw anyone's fire...sometimes it's just that I don't want to be seen as bitchy. I've always been a peacemaker, and I forget sometimes that just covering over a problem sometimes lets it fester, and ends up making me feel bitter and unappreciated. I've really been working on this in my relationships lately.

So, with that in mind, dear readers--let me regale you with a story of how I grew some gumption this weekend.

We had dropped the kids off in Olympia with Grandma and Grandpa and then drove the rest of the way to Portland for a gift-night-away. We checked into in this cool hotel and then headed out for some exploration. (We're pretty wild; our most solid plan included Powell's and the Deschutes Brewpub.) As we walked out the door in the rain, I think I actually heard the angels sing and saw the clouds part for just an instant: kitty corner from our hotel was--wait for it--Knit Purl.

As we walked past I made M promise that I could go back before it closed that day. The treat of visiting a yarn store I've heard about on many podcasts and seen ads for in my favorite publications gleamed like an aura around the rest of the afternoon. We had a lovely late lunch and a fantastic poke about Powell's, leaving with gifts for everyone. (I bought Alice Starmore's The Celtic Collection for $10 plus a Robin Hobb book I've been trying to find used; M bought a pint glass.) He decided to poke about for a bit more and head back to the hotel, releasing me to go to Knit Purl.

He knows well that he will be bored out of his mind if he goes to a new yarn store with me. My normal pattern is this:

wander around the store 10 times (minimum) and take mental inventory of their stock list
imagine all the projects I could make with all the yarn I see
inspect the store samples
fondle the yarns I haven't seen before in person
pet the old familiar ones
become completely overwhelmed because of course I don't have my queue with me or even know what's on it and hadn't planned to buy yarn today and - ooh is that Madelinetosh? - and what on earth do I need? needles? a project bag? aaaaaaaaah!
then, and only then, buy something practical as a souvenir. (Seriously. In Port Townsend last month, I ended up with a row counter.)

This process usually takes me about 45 minutes. Now you see why M elected to go back to the hotel and read his book rather than watching me orbit the store like an ADD goldfish.

So here's where the gumption comes in.

There were about five or six other customers in the store, all pretty much doing the same thing as I was. Circling, petting, choosing--just breathing in the yarn fumes. But one customer was a bit more high maintenance. When I came in, she was at the counter and the saleswomen were looking something up for her on Ravelry. She was about 6 months pregnant, very chicly dressed--including those knitted Ugg boots that I personally think look like slippers but probably cost more than I make in two weeks) and sounded like she was an experienced knitter--asking about Spud and Chloe yarn (which Knit Purl doesn't carry), talking about patterns. She was completely monopolizing the sales staff and talking very loudly, running back and forth to the sock yarn wall (I think she was looking at the ShibuiKnits selection).

The thing that got me, though, was at one point, about two minutes after I walked in, the conversation turned to "big box" shopping.

Disparagingly, one of the saleswomen talked about when people come in asking for big box brands. "Oh, you have to go to someplace like Michael's for that, " she sneered.

"Yeah," said Preggo Uggs, mimicking their response to such a gauche request. "'Go out the door and up the road a few blocks.'"

"No," replied Snobby McSnobster. "For that I think you have to go to the suburbs."

Cue catty laughter all around.

The clouds rolled in on my lovely treat. The store's atmosphere went from boutique to bitch; from the best meaning of "exclusive" to the worst. I got a lump in my throat, and I felt like leaving--just slinking out the door. I clearly was not Knit Purl clientele material.

There's room in the world for every kind of knitter, I fumed silently, and knitting snobbery chaps my hide. If someone wants to use Red Heart for every project, at least they're knitting, and not axe murdering. If I were that saleswoman, I'd use that as an opening to say something like, "We don't carry that line here, but may I show you something similar?" or "Have you ever tried X?" Every person is a potential customer and every customer is worth your time and respect, even if they're going to leave with one skein of Cascade 220, not $250 worth of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.

I pulled myself together, though, and ended up choosing two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the colorway "Tahoe," a beautiful blend of purples and aquas. It just matched my mood (not to mention my shirt) and will be a lovely reminder of our rainy weekend in Portland.

(side note: I see why so many people buy sock yarn as souvenirs--it's usually a good price point, there are often local dyers available, and it's very portable. I just wish I knit more socks.)

As I took it up to the counter, I resolved to say something when I normally wouldn't have, when I usually would just have stored up my frustration and never darkened their doors again. As the saleswoman (not the snobby one, phew!) wrapped up my yarn and swiped my card, I mentioned how excited I'd been to see their store was so close to my hotel and that it was my first visit.

"Well, welcome!" she said.

"I don't mean to be rude," I said, "but I just wanted to say that I live in the suburbs, and I sometimes shop at Michael's. To hear that as a topic of conversation in such a disparaging tone when I came into the shop didn't feel very welcoming."

She looked a bit chagrined. "I can see that. I'm sorry."

"Just some food for thought from a customer service perspective," I said, smiling, and took my yarn.

The cutest shoes in the world

2010-03-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

Mary Janes from Ysolda's pattern...adapted slightly because I ran out of the stripey yarn, so I did blue soles with some leftover Knitpicks Essential.

Nothing is cuter than baby shoes.

My colleague, who welcomed his baby daughter last week, showed me a photo of her wearing them...and they're even cuter on a baby...what a fun pattern!

Shout out to the singletons

2010-02-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in so long, Safari forgot about "blogger" and I had to type in the whole address. Sheesh.

What a week.

Mr. D came down with a persistent and mysterious virus that has kept his temperature just too high for me to feel at all comfortable with him going to school. This virus coincided with the one week EVER since we had kids that M has been out of town for more than 2 nights--he's attending an education conference in Arizona.

This means that for the first time ever I have missed a full week of school. (Or, to be precise, as of tomorrow it will be a full week.)

It's great that I can keep in touch, somewhat, with school via remote access to e-mail, and my publications staffs can talk to me on the phone. But it's isolating, and stressful, to be so needed in two places at once.

So: shout out to the single parents out there. I've been one for three days and that's enough for me.

So--you'd think I'd be knitting during the hours of house arrest, watching over a sickly coughing 101-feverish boy, but alas...duty calls. Instead, I've been commenting on essays, writing lesson plans, and catching up on some professional reading. (OK, I admit to a few loooooooong rows on my becoming-considerably-unwieldy log cabin afghan.)

So here's to a better tomorrow and an end to this endless week...

Feeling Crochety

2010-02-06T10:26:00.001-08:00

What a couple of weeks it's been.

For most, January is a time of new beginnings, of fresh starts, of optimism and the return of light.

I realized this year that I don't feel that way about January at all, because I'm a teacher.

My fresh start is in September and that's when I do much of my goal-setting. The cycle of the calendar year is somewhat incidental; it's school years that shape my world.

So, for a high school teacher, January is a mid-point: yearbook deadlines, semester grades (and grading...oy) and writing umpteen letters of recommendation for students' college applications.

This January was busier than I can ever remember.

First off, on the personal front, my darling baby boy turned 7. Though we didn't do a big party, we had a wonderful family weekend of going out to breakfast, bowling, movies, and friends. My mom and dad came over from Spokane (a 400+ mile trip for a weekend--they must really love that little guy) and we had a really fun and relaxing time.

Then came finals. There is a certain amount of teacher amnesia that happens for me each year. You know how the memory of labor fades over time? It's got to be some kind of evolutionary trick to keep us having children. Well, the pain of semester finals grading is always a surprise to me--the professional equivalent of labor--and after collecting exams and papers from every single one of my English students, I settled into a week of 12-14 hour days to simultaneously finish last semester--because the teaching load doesn't change just because there are finals to finish--and begin this one.

I don't like to complain about my job, because I love it. So I hope this doesn't seem like complaining--it's just the facts of the profession. I imagine tax accountants feel the same way about the time from January to April 15th. But my normal routines of life get upset and my boundaries get a bit tweaked...So it's nice to have grades posted and be back to normal.

With normal came a few hours here and there in the evenings to knit (and crochet) and plan out projects. I had bought yarn for a sweater for M in the new year's day sale at my LYS. I'll start it as soon as I finish my Central Park Hoodie (a sadly unblogged project, but both arms are done and the body up to the neck divide. I'm knitting it in the round with steeks because I'm crazy that way). Then will come some sort of vest for my mom, and then three baby blankets (I may do quilts instead) for the three friends I have expecting babies in June; one girl, two boys. Last, but not least, I bought the kit for this vest, which will be the colorwork project I never finished from NaKniSweMoDo.

2010-02-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ms. Smith, please tell us about your recent...activities.

Well, it all started with a little center loop. I guess it's the way the Japanese do it. And they're a very practical society, so I just thought I could, y'know, handle it.

How did that go?

All right at first. Slow, steady, careful. But then...

Yes?

It grew. And I kept saying, just one more, just this one, well, maybe another, and another. Before I knew it, it was multiple rounds per day.

And how did you feel?

Well, overwhelmed at first. I wasn't good at it, I didn't have the knack. But then it felt natural. Almost like I couldn't remember life without it. I don't want to give it up. It might be a part of me. I might try more than one color at a time. But first I want to see how far I can take it.

Thank you. We'll take that into consideration. You may go back to your room now, and your...hobbies.

Almost ready to plunge in

2010-01-22T20:06:00.001-08:00

Well, the ball is rolling and the crochet book is on its way.

Yep, I did it.

And then, Knitting Daily sealed the deal. Watch this woman crochet! It's like magic!

Slippery Slope

2010-01-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

The cover of this book is making me want to cheat.

I mean, I've had dreams where I could crochet, but when I wake up, I look over at my knitting needles and think how happy I am with them.

I'd never purposefully cheat.

Maybe a DC here and there, maybe a surreptitious reading of the crochet instructions in my big books of crafts. Maybe a longing look at some brightly colored ripple afghans, or some sturdy wool potholders.

The last thing I need is another monkey on my back, the juggling of hooks, the added projects. But then I see a granny square or a cute amigurumi-- my mouth starts to water, and my fingers start itching.

10 Things You Don't Know About Me...

2010-01-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

Lolly generously tagged the world with this one. I like the title so much more than the old "Random Things" list. It's really hard for me to think of random things because I'm pretty...sigh...boring.

That said, there's a lot I haven't shared about myself on here. Anyone care to take a gander & walk through the wilds of my weirdness?

My favorite TV show of all time, one that can make me cry or laugh just thinking about certain episodes, and which I definitely think has influenced my speech patterns (imitate much?) is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
I have the Buffy theme song as my ring tone. Much as it chafed to spend $3 for about nine bits of information, I get a happy little feeling when my phone rings and I hear the Nerf Herders.
When I saw "Nerf Herders" was the name of the band performing the Buffy theme song, I knew the name was a Star Wars allusion without being told. ("Who's scruffy-looking?")
Whenever I talk to someone with an accent different from mine, I end up imitating it. I don't mean to--it just happens. Maybe that comes from growing up in the Northwest with no discernible regional accent besides Generic American. (I did just learn from my friend the linguistics professor that we say "beg" for "bag" and "aig" for "egg." So we're getting there.) When I lived in Texas I would come home with a strange hybrid Houston/Mississippi/Louisiana accent, courtesy of the hours I spent on the phone for my job talking to schools in those areas. When I worked in Canada, I picked up BC cadences. (They tend to end with a questioning sound? At the end of the sentences?)
Up until fall of my senior year of high school, I wanted to become a medical doctor.
I worked my way through college on scholarships and as a resident adviser. I actually made money every quarter rather than paying it.
I am a mezzo-soprano now sadly out of practice. I sang in high school, at state contests, in state honors groups, in my college concert choir, and in various church choirs and worship teams. Now, I mostly sing in the shower.
Both of my children were born without medical pain interventions. I did like the Fentanyl afterward, however.
In the spring of 2000, I swear that I saw a two-humped camel in someone's front yard near Greenville, Mississippi. I was alone in a rental car at the time and no one can corroborate my story. But I stick by it.
It doesn't help my believability that, a few months later, I swore I saw a camel on side of I-10 while M and I were driving to San Antonio. My propensity to see imaginary--or were they?--camels is now quite the joke in my family.

Anyone care to join me? link in the comments!

And, bonus #11: though I wanted to add some pictures for visual interest, I just can't do it. The journalism teacher in me would be so disappointed in the blogger in me for stealing images from other people. (Even though the realist in me points out that most images on the internet are already stolen, so hey....)

Felting

2010-01-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

Anne left a comment asking what felting is. Thanks, Anne, for your comment and compliments on the patterns! Since I couldn't reply via e-mail (why does Blogger do that?) I hope it's OK I answer your question with a post.

I have to begin by saying I am certainly no expert, just someone who has read a lot of knitting books and magazines and watched Bev Galeskas make a princess hat on Knitty Gritty.

Felting is where a knitter takes a lot of time to knit something with wool yarn, usually using needles 2-3 sizes larger than normal, and then sticks it in hot water, agitates it so there's lots of heat and friction, and gets something much smaller, thicker, and no longer totally recognizable as knitting.

This works because wool, being a natural fiber, has scales that open up with the heat and friction and rub and stick together, kind of like cockleburrs. It's the exact same thing that happens when we rat our hair.

(Can you tell I came of age in the '80s? Does anyone rat their hair any more? Oh the ratting and Aqua Net that went on in the girls' bathroom after P.E.! It's a wonder we don't all have lung disease from the hairspray we inhaled.)

It's also possible to create felt just from raw wool roving. I think that's how felt was made in the olden days (or, I guess, still today for commercial felt). This yields flat fabric that can be cut and sewn.

Knitted items that are felted become very thick, warm, and nearly water-proof because the thick wool fabric repels water.

Felted garments popular today are slippers, mittens, and shaped hats. Knitters also like to make felted handbags because the felt fabric is more stable and strong than typical knitted fabric; it won't stretch out of shape or wear holes as easily.

I think that about covers it--let me know if i've answered your questions, Anne.

And--does anyone have any good felting tips, tricks, or favorite patterns?

Even More Fun with Slippers

2010-01-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

The winter break is nearly over...but I squeezed a few more small projects in.

My kids got really excited about slippers, in a way they've never been about sweaters. Go figure. So off we went a couple of weeks ago to my most favoritest yarn store, Apple Yarns, for some Cascade 220.

(I had mentioned here that I have usually used Lamb's Pride Bulky for my clogs. I think this will continue to be true for grown-up ones. However, Cascade 220 just has so many cool colors that we went that direction in order to get the exact desired shades of blue, black, orange, and pink. Plus I really love Cascade 220.)

I wound each hank into a center pull ball (best presents of 2008? my swift and my ball winder) and then wound a second, smaller ball. I then put the two balls together and wound a double-thick ball so I could just pull two strands at once without multiple balls of yarn tangling with each other. It was a little hard to eyeball the half-way point, but my estimates weren't too off. (It did occur to me that having a food scale would be helpful, but I don't have one, so...)

Ms. E's came off the needles first. She was actually pushing the project bag in my hands. "Mom, are you knitting my slippers?" "Mom, are they done yet?" "Mom, we need to felt my slippers!" Very cute, even if slightly tyrannical.

Mr. D's were just as easy and took only a couple of sessions. I think I knit each slipper in about two hours. Funny how small stuff takes less time than big stuff.

They felted up beautifully, no mishaps, and although the kids didn't LOVE trying on wet sloppy slippers ("Ew, this feels weird!") it was nice to really customize the fit. I spun the water out in the machine, dried them over the heating vent for a day or so, and put puffy paint on the bottoms for traction. Voila!

Yardage notes: Each set took about a half-skein of the foot color, and nearly a full skein of the sole/cuff color. Mr. D's was very close with the soles; after knitting on the second slipper's second sole, I had a tail of only about 3 inches left. I could have been more economical with my tails for seaming and saved a couple of yards, though.

Fun with Slippers

2009-12-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

Felting really is amazing. Because how else could this:

become this?

The orange pair I made for my mother-in-law. They are from Paton's Classic in the color Spice (I believe). This color is just HER. I love making handknits for her, and although I think I've done it the last four years in a row, she doesn't seem to be tired of scarves or slippers. She is the perfect person to make stuff for because she truly appreciates a handmade gift and really honors the time and thought that go into them. (I guess it helps that her mom is an amazing crocheter and maker of baskets from pine needles; like, state-blue-ribbon-for-Minnesota good.)

The brown ones ended up being for me. They were a pair I started without much forethought--just knew that there would be someone who'd need them. But then I started liking the tweedy yarn more and more, and started to feel sad that someone else might wear them...and then I thought, Merry Christmas to me! And felted them to fit my skinny high-arched feetsies.

So French Press Slippers pairs #3 and #4 have actual documentation, unlike #1 & #2. #2 look basically like #3, though: orange, but with wooden buttons chosen by my son for his afternoon caretaker. Mr. D has become quite the craft assistant and chief button consultant; he also helped me choose the aqua and orange button for my slippers--aren't they fun? The kids like the button aisle.

(Jo Ann has buttons 50% off tomorrow, and possibly through the weekend. I'm just saying.)

Next up: kids' clogs! Will the slipper madness continue?? Stay tuned!

Bags and Slippers

2009-12-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I decided to try to cut down on the paper waste that always seems to encroach. I used this pattern and a bunch of stashed red and green fabric, plus about 6 yards I bought from the sale bin at JoAnn. My idea was to make red bags and green bags so the tree would look festive & Christmasy, but not red-and-green bags that would look too Christmasy if people wanted to use them AFTER the holiday for shopping bags, which is the intent--reusability and reduction of waste.

As one of my colleagues, an Environmental Science teacher, says: There's a reason "Recycle" comes third on the list.

It went very well, I must say. By the end of the project (e.g. this morning) I was able to cut out and sew a bag in about 20 minutes. If I was assembly-lining them, I think I could bring the average down to about 15 minutes. They're not the sturdiest tote bags of all time--the seams aren't reinforced or anything, but they're great for quick gift bags and would hold some light groceries and shopping.

And, if you make them out of quilting cotton, they fold up small enough to fit in a purse or pocket. Because, I don't know about you, but I have about a hundred canvas sacks that I always forget to take with me. We take them grocery shopping, but I'm always finding myself without them when I'm running other errands, like to the fabric store or for office supplies.

Each bag is made with just half a yard of 44" fabric and very little waste. It's a smart and simple pattern, and very suitable for making with kids. If you have a serger (which I do but have never gotten to work right, grrr) you could serge all of the seams and raw edges for more durability and "finishedyness".

The other sewn gift I made was a pillowcase for my daughter. For Christmas, we had bought her a small sit-up-in-bed-and-read pillow and it was going to be hard to wrap. My first thought was to make a large-size version of the gift bags I was already making, but that seemed impractical. Then, I thought to wrap it in a pillowcase.

My son and I had made him a special pillowcase a few months ago and it was super easy, so I took some leftover fabric from some doll clothes I made last summer and some grosgrain ribbon and made her one, too. I used this pattern. It was, again, very clear and straightforward, but there was more waste than I had hoped for, mostly because the pattern paid attention to the grain of the fabric more than I cared about. If I did it again, I'd cut the large rectangle on the cross grain (full width of the fabric) unless I were using a fabric that would look bad that way.

Adventures in sewing! I don't sew as much as I knit, mostly because hauling all of the equipment out is a pain and knitting is so quiet and portable, but sewing is my first crafting love, and once I get started it's hard to stop. I can see the tote bags becoming a go-to project and keeping stacks of them instead of wrapping paper.

So that brings the craftiness total for Christmas 2009 to: 3 pairs of slippers, a bunch of gift bags, and a pillowcase. Oh, and I almost forgot, I also gifted a hat to my dad that I made a few months ago and kept all this time! (Plus I made a ridiculous reject of a hat that I will need to write about separately.)

What did you make, if anything, for the holidays?

Christmas Clogs

2009-12-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Just to keep the slipper love coming, I thought I'd post pics of another gift that'll be on it's way to eastern Washington tomorrow...

This is the Felted Clogs pattern by Bev Galeskas of Fiber Trends (another Washingtonian--go Bev!) Bev is a felting queen and I've seen her a bunch of times on "Knitty Gritty." Last Christmas, I got a yen to knit for everyone and this pattern seemed perfect. I made a pair for my mom (brown and red) and for my dad (blue and green), and then after Christmas, a pair for my husband (black and green).

My brother-in-law is kind of hard to shop for, but he lives in a cold climate in an older house with wood floors, so I thought he'd appreciate wool slippers. My husband loves his and swears they warm up his whole body.

If you haven't made this pattern before, I highly recommend it. Unlike the French Press felted slippers, which I talked about yesterday, these felted clogs require nearly no seaming. It's all short rows.

If you follow the directions exactly, it goes like this:

First, you knit a sole back and forth in garter stitch with short rows. It doesn't look like a sole at all, but more like a filleted fish. Then you change colors, join in the round, and make a foot using a spectacular and lengthy series of short rows. Then you change colors again and knit a cuff in reverse stockinette, binding it off to itself in a neat little hem. Last but not least, you knit ANOTHER sole, pick up stitches around the original sole, and knit them together, making a double-thickness. Knitting a contrast "bumper" is an option at this point, too. Finally, you do a bit of seaming and tacking on the soles, weave in your ends, and felt.

It's one of those knitting experiences, like the Baby Surprise jacket, or turning a heel, where you can't quite visualize the results--you just have to trust the directions, keep track of what row you're on, and wait for the big reveal at the end.

Here are my tips for felted clog success:

Knit both soles at the beginning of each slipper. Leave the spare sole(s) on spare needles until needed. You'll have to slip the spare sole onto your size 13 needle at the end, but that's no big deal. I prefer doing both up front because I just find it's easier to knit two of the same thing in a row rather than getting all the way to the end of the slipper and having to knit another sole. I imagine there are a lot of half-finished clogs out there missing just their second sole...
If you got really efficient, you could knit all four soles (for both slippers, two each) in a row.
The pattern calls for both a 24" and a 16" size 13 needle. I've found that I need only the 24" needle; at least for the womens medium on up, the cuff never gets small enough to need the 16". That saved me quite a bit on an unnecessary 16" needle.
The pattern calls for double-stranded worsted wool, like Paton's Classic or Cascade 220. Upon the advice of my LYS, I've made all mine using single-stranded Lamb's Pride Bulky. The mohair makes them a little fuzzy, but it's nice not having to double-strand, and they felt great. As far as I know, there haven't been any problems with holes.
Buy two skeins of your Lamb's Pride in the sole color, and only one in the foot color. It seems counter-intuitive when you look at the finished slippers, but there's actually a lot more yarn in the sole than the foot because the soles are garter stitch and double-layered.
If you gift these, it's hilarious to give them un-felted. The look on people's faces when they open the package is priceless. Both my mom and dad tried to figure out, politely, what the heck they were, and both tried to put them on as hats. ha! Then, you can felt the slippers with them there to try on as you go.
The slippers are done felting when they feel snug on the bare foot. They do stretch with wear, so err on the side of snugness. If the person really wants to personalize the fit, they can wear them for a few minutes while soaking wet before setting out to dry.

The pattern also comes in a kids' version (same idea, just sized down), which I just bought. Miss E and Mr. D picked out their colors--this time I'm going with the Cascade 220, just to see how double-stranded works out for us. I've told them it'll be after Christmas just so they're not disappointed.

So this means that the only person in my family without a pair is... me!

Reverse Bandwagon

2009-12-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last month, right before Thanksgiving, I saw THIS PATTERN on my friends' activity on Ravelry.

I clicked and was smitten. Bought the pattern with the last $6.99 in the paypal account (I literally got charged $0.01 on my credit card) and set it aside for a couple of days. Bought some yarn and buttons at JoAnn on Black Friday (I was hoping for flannel for PJs and baby quilts, too, but WHOA NELLIE the cutting line was insane at 6:30 AM, so I "settled" for yarn and buttons).

Last weekend I finally got the chance to make my first pair, a gift for my son's teacher, in Paton's Classic marled blue with turquoise buttons he picked out for her himself. "Ms. M loves blue," said he.

(And of course I forgot to take a photo before I gifted them.)

but...

hey...

They turned out so cute, and then TODAY I started and finished a second pair, this time for my mother-in-law, and then I caught up with my Google Reader (only 8 million unread blog posts, give or take) and found that while I had been in my little bubble thinking I'd found this little gem of a pattern, it had been HARLOTIZED and now there are approximately a bajillion pairs on the collective needles of the knitting community and once again, just like in college when I started listening to Dave Matthews Band six months before everyone but didn't tell anyone until he was already hugely popular, or like when I had the idea for OnStar when I was about 10 but stupidly didn't patent it (of course, due respect to GM's fine work, my version included floppy disks), I am just slightly both ahead of and behind the curve.

Everyone will think I'm jumping on the bandwagon, when in fact I started up the bandwagon, then got down to go get a cup of coffee and came back to find it several blocks ahead of me.

And I know it's silly to be miffed, even facetiously miffed, because in truth it's a darling little pattern that's fast and fun to make and fun to give, so I'll stop with the pseudo-complaining now. And I'll be sure to post pictures of the next eleventy-million pairs I make. And so should you.

2009-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

le yikes! over a month since the last post!

That's the life of an English teacher. With two kids. Often it comes down to the choice between knitting or writing about knitting. No contest.

(sorry, writing, I love you, but I do you ALL DAY LONG. Let knitting have a chance, willya? Just 'cause she's not on the SAT doesn't mean she's not important, too.)

That said, we're headed off on a road trip today and I was poking around for an easy slouchy hat pattern to do with worsted-weight yarn. I like hats for the car because they're so compact. And...I realized that all of my smaller-than-size-10 16" needles are at school because...wait for it...my 2nd period class is knitting.

Our school does a winter service project every fall, and each homeroom adopts a family (or a few kids) to support with winter clothes, school supplies, gifts, etc. I made the tiny little suggestion that we could knit our kids hats and HALF THE CLASS wants to learn. I brought 6 needles and yarn to class last week and had to play rock-paper-scissors for 5 minutes to see who "got" to learn.

How awesome is that?? I already had three students come up and ask if they could knit during class as long as they were paying attention (I told them after one more lesson if they were feeling comfortable and confident they could) and one boy (!) who already knits was assisting with the teaching!

(Lest you think I'm being a lazy teacher, we did this during our personal reading time and all of the knitters agreed to read for 45 minutes at home to make up the knitting lesson.)

So no worsted-weight-hat today (unless I can convince my ever-so-patient husband to stop at Joann on the way out of town, but even then they don't usually have 7s or 8s in stock...because they're semi-lame).

But I really don't mind.

Three more months

2009-10-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

To my own vast surprise, I have kept up thus far on NaKniSweMoDo, aka Crazy Repetitive Stress Injury Inducing Year.

You can see in the sidebar my progress each month, the projects I've completed (OK, a few months were cheaty-ish, but not too far off the mark). Each goal--lace, seaming, cables--has been met with the giant yawning omission of one: a colorwork project.

I can't tell you how many colorwork projects I have perused on Ravelry, blogs, and in books. If I had a dollar for each one, I could have ordered all of Alice Starmore's kits plus paid for express shipping all the way from the UK. I finally decided that a colorwork sweater in a month might be too much, so I'd make a vest. I had the pattern and yarn for this one in my knitpicks shopping cart for literally five months--they kept e-mailing me hopefully, saying "The items you saved for later have now come available...hint hint." (OK, not the "hint hint" part, but the implication was there.)

I don't know what's holding me back.

But as the year draws to a close--not trying to be melodramatic here, but in less than three months it'll be 2010--this is becoming a priority.

Any suggestions for a stranded colorwork vest pattern? I'm thinking that, in the interest of time, I may want to go for sport, DK, or even worsted rather than fingering.

And while you're pondering that--check out my October project: the ubiquitous, infamous, and thoroughly well-pattern-tested Central Park Hoodie, in Jade Heather Paton's Classic Wool

The color is totally off--it's actually a beautiful heathered aqua with flecks of yellow and blue.

I can see why so many folks have made this--it's eminently practical, simple, yet fun. The easy-peasy rope cables break up the stockinette stretches. I made the first sleeve in only a few days, and finished the second sleeve last night.

I decided, after the sleeves, that I wanted to make this more challenging, or at least try something new. One goal I didn't list for NaKniSweMoDo was to steek. So I'm adapting the pattern to knit the body in the round with center front, arm, and neck steeks. I get the steek idea in theory--but as we all know, theory is far different than practice. I'll keep you updated.

Have a great week, everyone--

home-made pesto

2009-09-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for basil.

I grew three different kinds this year and we enjoyed it all summer in stir-fry, pasta, and salads. I've been known just to pick it and eat it.

So, although the curly-leaf and Thai varieties were pretty much spent (I worked those plants, believe me) my hanging pot of plain old Italian basil needed to be harvested.

Hence: pesto.

No real recipe, just: chop up a whole bunch of basil into little itty bits (I don't have a food processor); add a couple spoonfuls of minced garlic (I use the "jar-lic," as my sister calls it, from Costco), and then olive oil until it's about the consistency of natural peanut butter. I didn't have any nuts, so skipped those this time, and let each person add their Parmesan individually because of some dairy sensitivities. Cook a bag of Trader Joe's brown rice spirals, toss, and serve.

Yum!

Finished Vine Yoke!

2009-09-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is why I don't do the "take a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror" photo shoot very often.

Let's think of it as "artsy" rather than "blurry," shall we?

Because, even though I sorta teach people how to take good photos...I can't hold the camera steady for the life of me. (And, in my defense, I couldn't have the flash on because it reflected off the mirror, but there wasn't quite enough light for it to work well without the flash.)

I finished this up on Monday evening last. It looked scrunched and funky:

But see how well my garter kitchener stitch turned out?

I was still a little nervous that it might not be long enough. I'm long-waisted, so I usually add .5" to 1" length to sweaters so I won't end up looking like Jennifer Aniston in the first couple of seasons of "Friends." Cropped, in the fashion sense, is a four-letter word as far as my body type is concerned. But even though the scrunched and funky sweater looked short, I decided to trust Ysolda, who insisted that she had taken the vertical stretch of garter stitch into account in the pattern.

I soaked it in the washer with some Eucalan for a half an hour, then spun out the water and spread it out to dry on a towel. I encouraged it to grow vertically, then left it to do its magic. Just like my swatch, first it grew a lot, then it shrunk back to the exact right gauge when fully dry. Woo to the hoo.

Now it's time for buttons (I was too excited to wait to take the photo above), which I've already purchased. Side note: I found them at JoAnn, and they, amazingly, match the red-orange of the yarn exactly. But they only had three cards in stock (six buttons) so I had to special-order two more. JoAnn charged me $7.95 for shipping on $5 worth of buttons. Can you believe that??

Knitting this sweater was an absolute blast. The pattern requires a lot of trust in Ysolde (and thank goodness for Ravelry, because there was an error in the sleeve math--now fixed--for a couple of the sizes, including mine; if you bought the PDF early you should have received a link to the revised pattern) and her math genius, and a couple of times I had to really think ahead and write out my pattern rows to make sure it was all going to come together at the end, but every single time: it did.

My mods were minor:

For the sleeves' provisional CO I used Judy's Magic Cast on with two KnitPicks needles and then just knit one direction, taking the needle tips off and holding the stitches on the KP cable for later. This worked well for the kitchenering later.
I increased above the yoke pattern across the back (4 sts total) to give a bit of back-neck shaping. I didn't want it to ride up. I'll report back on this one once I have the buttons on and have had the chance to wear it.

Loved it!! And--I can't believe I'm saying this--I can't wait for our indian summer to get over with so I can wear it to work. But there's no rush...

Behind the Scenes

2009-08-25T20:44:00.001-07:00

Wow--two weeks has gone by without a post!

What have I been doing? Well, first off--I've been knitting. If June and July were rather fallow knitting months for me, I am making up for it in August...

First off, this little beauty just fell off the needles:

This is Cosima, a Berroco design that I first saw featured in the fall or winter WEBS catalog (I forget which). I bought the yarn, Berroco Cuzco in this gorgeous chocolate brown, during the WEBS anniversary sale. It sat in my stashette for a few months while I worked on other projects, and then I finally decided to cast on for it.

Thank goodness for Ravelry, because without it I would never have been able to anticipate some of the issues? challenges? weirdnesses? of this pattern, and I ended up making many modifications to mine as I went through others' comments. The pattern as written yields a very wide sweater with a really deep scoop neck. Every single size (XS to XL) uses the same number of stitches around the neck (I want to say 162? In a bulky-weight yarn?) and the descriptor "Flashdance-esque" was used more than once. I decided to err on the side of caution and picked up only about half that number, and the sweater sits really nicely on my shoulders. It doesn't have quite the same dramatic scoop as I liked in the photo, but I'd rather have it be wearable. My job is so active (I rarely sit down during my teaching periods) that I just can't have anything non-functional in the wardrobe.

Listy list about Cosima:

My favorite part of this pattern was the lace. There is something really fun about lace in a bulky yarn.
This was my very first sweater knit in pieces and seamed! (Not counting the little seams in baby kimonos.)
I stayed up FAR TOO LATE last Saturday (um...3:30 am) seaming, watching Buffy, weaving in ends...and it was totally worth it.
I'm calling it Chocolatl because of the color.
The fronts and back are size S (the 36") and the sleeves are M.
I added about .5"-1" to the length because of my longwaistedness.
A full-on Eucalan-enhanced wet blocking did wonders for it. I don't have a "real" blocking board or mats so I couldn't pin it out, but I used my rotary cutting mat to facilitate stretching the pieces by hand...and, again, the extra time was totally worth it.

So: what's next on the needles? Well, take a gander at these:

What are they? Well, if you've gone through the recent Twist Collective you may recognize this baby. She deserves a whole post of her own....and with any luck, it won't take me 2 weeks to write it.

And I bought Jared Flood's Classic Elite booklet, Made in Brooklyn...and I still have Norah Gaughan 3...and it's M's turn for a sweater...

And school starts in two weeks.

It warms my heart...

2009-08-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

It warms my heart...

to see this stack of books on my six-year-old's bedside table.

The top four he's reading on his own...

The bottom two are our "together" books. (HP is still beyond him, but he's trying.)

I love that guy.

Tubular Tropicals

2009-07-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

These warshrags are so, like, totally awesome.

It's funny how one project can lead you down the rabbit hole to three more in quick succession. Last week I sorted through a bunch of bins of craft supplies and fabric, which also happened to contain one unfinished ballband warshrag (top left). Part of my goal was to sort all UFOs (unfinished objects) into one bin to be worked on by the end of the summer (notice I didn't say finished by the end of the summer), and, amazingly, I was able to do that (OK, mostly; some knitting stuff is in its own basket).

I have a vague memory of starting the first one. It must have been on a car trip or where I was somewhere stashless, like the doctor's office, because I ran out of black after two and a half repeats and then, inexplicably just continued the pattern using just the ombre yarn for the next three or four repeats. This looks pretty cool, but it's hard to see the slip stitches because they blend in with the bricks too much and the whole point of this pattern is that I don't have to think about it. So once I picked it back up, I decided to go for the all-out freak show and finish with the bright lime green as the background color.

I am kind of weird and obsessive about this pattern, which I have made at least 20 times, probably more--I haven't taken photos of all of them and most have gone to other people as gifts. It's one of the first patterns I made after I started knitting again in 2006 and it still makes me feel so satisfied and smart when I finish.

Hence the fact that, even though I have my log cabin blanket still in progress, and even though I had only one chart left on Ishbel, I dropped everything for three or four days and knitted three more warshrags.

#2, top right, I started right away in the lime green/pink ombre combo that finished number one. When I ran out of pink, I picked up some teal to finish off the last two rows. (Teal is real, remember?)

For #3, I decided to move on to the cool color family, and do lime green with the bright and cheery "Pool" colorway for the blocks. There's one block row of solid teal just to finish off that ball.

And, since I liked #3 so well, I reversed the colors when I started #4. Didn't like that as much, because "Pool," well, pooled in the stockinette background, or mortar, sections. So, I went full out on the train to crazytown and REVERSED the colors midway through the cloth, reverting to "Pool" bricks and green mortar.

I don't know why this project tickled me so much...probably because it was 1) fast, 2) low-pressure, 3) creative, and 4) inexpensive.

I heart Ysolde

2009-07-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ishbel, unblocked.

This is my July "garment." I started this one on the car ride down to Olympia at the beginning of the month, and now it's bound off just in time for the end of the month.

Blocked photos plus all specs to come!

Dog Days

2009-07-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure exactly when the dog days are supposed to be, but we have hit them. It is muggy and sweltering and humid (did I mention muggy?), which may sound redundant but isn't in this case--it's muggy x3.

For a region that receives as much rain as we do, we're not really used to high humidity plus high heat (we usually get one or the other) and we PNDub-ers just can't handle it. We wilt and fuss

We spent the morning at the Children's Museum in Everett, which was a hoot and a half. It's a really well done museum--very hands-on, lots to do, clever and fun--and well worth the hour's drive to get there.

It is a great afternoon to hole up in the downstairs (which is nice and cool), put on an episode of Buffy (I'm re-watching season 2), and sew and knit to my heart's content.

Here's what I've been knitting, with near obsession:

Ballband Warshcloths.

These two are for my cousin's birthday on the ninth...I have three or four more that seem to have spontaneously generated themselves from my stash of Sugar 'n' Cream, because I certainly don't remember knitting them. I'm calling that set "Tubular Tropical" because they are these crazy '80's colors. Once I get the latest one off the needles, I'll show you the set.

IK Fall preview is up

2009-07-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

The Fall IK preview is up and...wow.

I am a whore for cables.

Roxanne, turn that red light back on.

two baby shower ideas

2009-07-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

And no, I'm not hinting at anything. In fact, I seem to be going to baby showers less and less these days as my college friends age. (Waaah.)

But: for the next one, I'm going with this and this.

I promise photos of knitting (miles of colorful garter stitch!), bedroom redux (Bungalow Gold!), and some reorganizing...

And, if anyone wants to buy a 1992 Kenmore sewing machine, see my ad here...

Diana is close to Dana, right?

2009-07-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Finally, a reason to learn intarsia:

The Wonder Woman sweater. (rav link)

I'm sure I'm not alone in flashing back on days playing in the backyard, wearing nothing but WW Underoos and a couple of bits of aluminum foil around my wrists. (Even if I am alone in this, I don't care.)

The best part about this sweater is searching out her notes on how she researched it. I'm glad she went with the plain WW on the front rather than the eagle.

Spinning in place to see if I become a superhero,

WonderWordpurler

Summer ADD

2009-07-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I promise this has been a productive couple of weeks for me.

The bedroom project is (nearly) finished...

Knitting is progressing...

And I have no photos of any of it.

What I do have is a raging case of start-it-is, about 50 half-finished essays/blog posts in my head, and that wonderful middle-of-summer-what-day-is-it?? feeling. (Sorry to all non-teachers who don't get that feeling.)

More soon. In the meantime, here's a photo of supercuteness to tide you over...this big girl will be THREE YEARS OLD on Sunday!!

Whirlwind = list

2009-06-30T12:56:00.001-07:00

It's been a whirlwind of a week around here. I can't for the life of me figure out how it got to be the end of June already.

And when my mind (and house, and life, as you will see...) is disorganized, I turn to listing. Do you ever do that? Just list things in your head--things to do, things to read, things to remember...?

1. M officiated at a friend's wedding last weekend. Yes, as a third grade teacher and former altar boy, the internets, and, subsequently, the state of Washington, deemed him suitable to unite man and woman in the holiest of unions. (Side note: It's a funny world we live in, where my husband, wonderful as he is, can spend 25 seconds on a website and be eligible to unite a guy and a girl in a marriage, while this gay couple, who have been together since 1958, can't get married at all.)

2. He did a great job.

3. The wedding, start to finish, lasted less than 10 minutes. Several guests, who were married with full masses, averred that they wish they'd had M as their officiant instead!

4. We came home on Sunday, tired, but ready to tackle a few projects in between trips. (Because, of course, we are headed off to Olympia on Thursday bright and early for some work on my in-laws' house and his dad's 60th birthday.)

5. And so, I sit typing this at the computer table, currently the only piece of intact furniture in my bedroom, having spent much of the last 24 hours removing wallpaper.

6. Wallpaper stinks. The only silver lining is that they only put the paper on the bottom half of the walls, sort of a half-assed chair rail look.

7. I've had to take wallpaper out of all three bedrooms in this house. I wish I'd realized how much better it would have been to do all of them at once before any furniture was placed in the room. We were smart and did Miss E's room before we unpacked it--of course, it was our office/guest room then, and it also had the most hideous wallpaper/paint combo: mauve, blue, and metallic silver seashells with the top half of the wall painted a pukey light mauve. Very 1984.

8. Mr. D's room was less onerous: blue and white vertical stripes with a blue and white floral border, the top half of the room painted blue. (Badly. In all 3 bedrooms, it looks like they tried really hard to make 1 gallon of paint stretch to paint all of the walls and the ceiling, so they were all streaky.) It actually looked pretty good--but then, when he was about 4 he figured out he could pick at the paper and peel it off, and pretty soon we had to do the whole room.

9. Our room has yellow striped/floral wallpaper with and lemon yellow above. And if you don't know why an English teacher wouldn't want yellow striped wallpaper (besides the fact it looks like something Laura Ashley puked up after a frat party gone bad), you need to go read this short story.

10. Each room also had sort-of-coordinating valences over the windows. I say "sort of" because none of them quite match exactly, and often the colors were far different. For instance, our yellow wallpaper is sort of goldeny sunshine yellow, but the paint above is full on lemon. I much prefer the streaky adhesivy walls I'm uncovering now, I must say.

11. So the next step is to prime over where the wallpaper was, and then get to work on painting the room. We're going to go with a nice neutral in most of the room, with an accent wall, probably deep gold (NOT LEMON YELLOW), behind the bed.

And that is today's list. I hope to return to knitting soon. I've made one washcloth in the past week and that's all I have to show.

Poetry Friday

2009-06-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Confessions of an Underpaid English Teacher

by S. Thomas Summer

I admit I'd like to stroll

the other side of the tracks

own the house on the hill,

stick a silver spoon in the pit

of my son's mouth; yet here

in the belly of July, heat

scraping the day like an ulcer,

beer is cold, grass freshly

cut. The hammock sways against

a breeze that ushers a mourning

dove through the air inches above

the backyard shed. For a moment,

it rests on a lounge chair, chubby

as a tear. Light rain falls--a pair

of robins spear the soft ground

for drowning worms. My son captures

a caterpillar in an empty jelly jar.

We celebrate--Fig Newtons and cherry

popsicles. And of course, there's a volume

of Kafka waiting for me on the kitchen

table, deep in the shadow of a wine

glass tinted red with a fine merlot.

*******

I originally found this poem in an issue of English Journal, the bimonthly publication of my professional organization. (You didn't know English teachers HAD a professional organization, did you??)

I found the title intriguing, and the sentiments are something every teacher can relate to: it'd be nice to be paid more, but the intangible benefits of this job, like summers off, can outweigh the lack of prestige.

The more times I have read it, though, I note the overall bittersweet tone, heavy on the bitter. There are a number of interesting word choices and images that, taken together, yield a dark effect: stick, pit, belly of July, scraping, ulcer, cut, mourning dove, spear, drowning worms, captures, Kafka, shadow.

It's not a simple poem, saying, "Gee whiz, teachers, isn't it great we get such neat-o summers?" Anyone who chooses to spend his summer reading Kafka, has got to be a little dark and twisty himself, with no illusions that having the silver spoon life he imagines would be any better than what he already has.

Best. YouTube. Ever.

2009-06-23T09:09:00.001-07:00

Fifi is finished...!(?)

2009-06-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

Finally finished 'er up. My expression in these photos, though literally due to the apparently arduous task of taking my own picture, suitably reflects how I feel about this sweater--conflicted, concerned...let's just say: the jury's out, and Fifi may not have Henry Fonda on her side.

Here's my litmus test for a handknit: if I wear it to work, and not one person says, "I like your sweater" or "cute sweater" or "did you knit it?"--I worry.

It could just have been that it was the last week of school and I spent most of the day I wore it sequestered in my classroom reading junior research papers that are a graduation requirement and thus engender more procrastination than any other paper my students write all year long...but I also nipped out for a couple of hours, taking my last bit of personal leave, to attend Mr. D's kindergarten graduation, and Not One Kindergarten Mom said anything, either.

So here's the fence where Fifi sits: A great knit, a fun pattern, entertaining to work, should be flattering to my body type...but I think I picked the wrong yarn. The Shine Sport just doesn't have the body that is needed for an overall ribbed sweater at this gauge: it flops and flows; it doesn't cling. I don't know if I should have used Shine Worsted, or Comfy, or if I should have gone all the way and bitten the Rowan Calmer bullet (though, expense aside, I REALLY don't like Calmer's color palette).

Thoughts?

Meme-a-licious

2009-06-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

How better to celebrate the end of the school year, that time of 180 days of focusing on OTHER PEOPLE, than a good-old-fashioned navel-gazing post?

Found this meme on Blue Garter's blog...
Rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people (if you feel so inclined).

What is your current obsession? I just started a knitted log cabin blanket (Mason-Dixon knitting) and I'm thinking that might be it.
What is your weirdest obsession? I only eat the same colors together when I eat skittles, and always two at a time, one on each side of my mouth.
What are you wearing today and why did you choose it? red Keens, red capris, blue & red Ravelry t-shirt, gray hoodie, and red ballcap. I have been working in my classroom all day, cleaning and filing, and wanted something peppy and comfortable, plus layers because the weather was indeterminate this morning...typical June in Western Washington.
What’s for dinner? Tortilla soup and a good malty beverage
What did you eat for your last meal? mandarin chicken salad
What’s the last thing you bought? Two copies of my Teacher's Daybook for next year, one for me and one for a friend...the best teacher planner ever.
What are you listening to right now? "Before the Goldrush," an album I just discovered & bought on iTunes. It is a benefit CD for Teach for America, and features artists famous and not-so singing covers by artists who influenced them. I'm loving Billy Joel's "You're My Home," covered by Rebecca Elliott; Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic" covered by Swell Season; and Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" covered by Korby Lenker. (full disclosure: Korby and I sang together in our college choir; he's since moved on to Nashville where he records great pop-bluegrass-uncategorizable music. I would heart him even if I didn't know him.)
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Downtown London and just sit and people-watch.
If you could time travel to anyWHEN in history for the next hour, where would you go? I'd go to Vienna and watch a premiere of a Mozart opera.
Which language do you want to learn? Spanish
What do you love most about where you currently live? Our backyard and all the natural light inside the house. I also really love our community as a whole.
What is your favorite colour? Red.
What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? my Back-to-school U-neck vest I made from Fitted Knits. It makes me feel stylish and cute, yet still professional.
What were you doing ten years ago? I was finishing my first real teaching job, starting my summer job and a whole summer riding my bike everywhere, and (although I don't think we knew it then) about 8 weeks away from moving to Texas.
Describe your personal style? Northwest casual is a good descriptor--Jeans, t-shirts, scarves, sweaters, fleeces. Not quite crunchy (i.e. granola), maybe just mildly textured? More REI than hemp.
If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on? $165.19 in US dollars...Hmm. Oh, I know: two Amtrak tickets to Seattle with my sweetie, Mariners tickets because we haven't gone to a game in years, and a dinner out before coming home.
What are you going to do after this? Pick up my son, go to the bookstore, and spend a gift card I just found in my desk while cleaning it out. (Cha-ching!)
What are your favourite films? Anything Baz Lurhmann (except Australia), Casablanca, Lord of the Rings, Pride & Prejudice (both recent versions), Say Anything.
What inspires you? Helping someone find their truth and express it in writing. Excellent analysis, humor, wordplay, and fearlessness.
Your favorite books? Jane Austen (I used to be a P&P devotee, but now Persuasion, I think, is on top), Lord of the Rings, Cold Mountain, Narnia--anything that transports me. Over the years I have really come to appreciate The Scarlet Letter.
Do you collect anything? random papers, receipts in my pocket, extra pounds on my thighs, and yarn.
What makes you follow a blog? A sense that the person is writing from the heart, with his/her own personal style and sensibility, and not pandering to an imaginary audience. I"ll read almost anything if it seems authentic and thoughtful. Nice photos don't hurt.
What was the most enjoyable thing you did today? Drilled through the piles down to the top of my desk for the first time in months.
What new skill would you like to learn? This summer I want to work on my photography skills, and actually be able to understand what all the gizmos on my yearbook cameras do without relying on the auto setting.

Consider yourself tagged. And, commenters, can you guess which question I added?

I heart vancouver

2009-06-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

The Mister and I got home Saturday evening from a long-overdue mini-break up to Vancouver, B.C.

This city is super excited for the Winter Olympics, which it is hosting this coming January. Witness crap cell phone photo, above, of the Olympic count-down clock, which is strategically placed outside of the art museum. Only 244 more days, people, until I have to decide what my knitting olympics project is!

Vancouver is one of my favorite places, no question.

I started to type that it is one of my favorite cities, but then realized I don't have many cities with which to compare it. I've been to Seattle, of course, many times...also San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix...but that's about it on the large cities of North America front, and most of those I've only visited for a day or two total, with the exception of Houston, where we lived for two years. Prague, Salzburg--which is really barely a city except for its long history--Venice, and Milan round out the European crowd.

(I'm not counting cities like Los Angeles, London, Baltimore, or Chicago, where I've only been through the airport.)

Full disclosure over. Now. Vancouver is one of my very favorite places.

I just can't express my love for Vancouver in strong enough terms. It is a compact city, with a very dense population in the downtown core (how nice that people actually LIVE downtown, unlike so many cities decimated by flight to the suburbs). I read somewhere that it is the most densely populated area in North America outside of Manhattan island, but you'd never know it while driving or walking around. There are huge high-rise apartment buildings and towers of industry, but it feels safe, and clean, and friendly somehow. (Canadians are the epitome of good-natured friendliness. Even punk pierced Canadian teenagers will stop and give you directions or return a smile.) Stanley Park is absolutely enormous, with an aquarium, lagoon, bike/walking trails, and miles of beach.

Over the years we've often day-tripped up across the border. (Vancouver is actually closer to us than Seattle; it takes about an hour to get there if border traffic is light.) It holds wonderful memories for us...it's the site of our first date and is the place M proposed to me, back when we were such younglings (19 and 20, though of course we felt so mature)....And now we have a new set of Vancouver memories to add: staying at Lonsdale Quay and watching the sun set over the city skyline, waking up early to see the big cruise (or was it ferry?) boat slide through the water and dock across from us...taking the water taxi across to downtown and walking up to the Dutch Masters exhibit--a Vermeer! some Rembrandt! and a bunch of other cool stuff!--at the Art Gallery...great Greek food.

We'll be back up in BC in July for sure, staying in Whistler for three nights with my folks...I wonder if we can stop for a day in Vancouver on either end of that trip? and how long can I stow away in the city before they notice I am American and make me go home?

A great mail day

2009-06-09T20:13:00.001-07:00

I still get a thrill when I get mail.

Real mail, that is, not credit card offers, political flyers, ads for Wal-Mart, or incredibly depressing investment statements.

So imagine my excitement when I opened up the mailbox and found, first:

The shaven head of Stephen Colbert.

The most hilariously unironic issue of Mary Maxim ever.

I mean, sequin art? Really?

And this little exciting number all the way from the UK--

I had forgotten I ordered the hard copy as well as the e-version. It is such a cute little booklet, so professional. I imagined something hand-made on a color copier, stapled together like those 'zines that were popular back in the '90's, but it's actually perfect-bound.

Well worth it for the gorgeous patterns as well as to support a fabulous designer.

The first peony!

2009-06-09T06:27:00.001-07:00

This is a terrible photo of a peony--but it is a beautiful flower. I just love the layers and layers of petals, like some sort of sea anemone.

I forgot to stake up the peonies in the front yard, so rescued this one from imminent disaster as it lay on the ground, toppled over by its own beauty...if you can call killing something "rescuing", I guess.

From the sublime to the ridiculous

2009-06-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have recently started facebooking. (It's like googling; it's a verb. This is what my students say.)

A couple of friends and family members had encouraged me to join, and there are some things I really love about it. I love being connected in with the people I care about. That part is fun, since I have a far-flung family and don't make the time for phone calls and e-mails as much as I should. And I have to admit that the novelty factor of "friending" people who I haven't seen or, in some cases, thought about in years, has not yet worn off. The guy I went to homecoming with in 10th grade? Teaches math. The diva-with-a-heart-of-gold from college choir? Opera singer in Toronto. My yearbook editor from 2005? Loving junior year of film school and pestering me with questions about "Lost." That part is cool--the sense of network, of connection, of reconnection--it makes the overall experience worthwhile.

The parts that I'm uncomfortable with. Well, they are legion.

The aforementioned people I haven't thought about in years? Well, they feel free to comment on my taste in books. (Hey!)
Other people can post embarrassing pictures of me from college and tag them with my name. And current colleagues and family members can click on them and see just how much beer I drank during the Europe trip of 1997. (The nice thing is that I was such a goody-two-shoes that my hair in the 90's will likely be much more incriminating than any party photos.)
There is an uncomfortable sense of being back in the not-cool crowd when I see the photos others have posted from high school.
I totally overthink the status updates ("What are you thinking about?" it asks) because I have both a lesbian librarian and an ultra-conservative quiver-full Christian in my friend list. Will saying "friggin'" offend anyone? Is saying I like the show "Dollhouse" revealing me to be in favor of the subjugation of women? If I'm gardening, am I pedestrian? If I'm reading Lord of the Rings, am I a nerd? Basically--this all comes down to feeling judged, and being a sort of private person who also, ironically, loves to connect.
How long will it be before a current student sees one of those pictures of me drinking the beer in Europe? How long before the worlds collide in ways that I can't anticipate??
With all the time I spend connecting with former/online friends--am I neglecting the actual flesh-and-blood people in my life, nay, in my house, even?

We're in the middle of a communication revolution.

I read a recent blog post that spoke eloquently of how historians can look back at pre-printing press and post-printing press and see clearly how the advent of literacy for all (or most, at least) changed civilization--religion, politics, you name it.

What historians can't comment on is how it felt DURING the revolution--to be a leader when the power structure was shifting under your feet--to be a follower, unsure of the ramifications of new freedoms and industries.

By the time our children are adults, I think the face of the change will be clear, the implications for education, privacy, and government. But for now--it all feels a little katy-bar-the-door.

What do you think? Do you facebook? What do you like--or not?

Fifi update

2009-06-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

So while I've been musing on my summer-vacation-to-be, and philosophizing about life as we know it, I've also been knitting. (I KNOW! Imagine that.)

My May (...june...) project has been Fifi, by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes. I bought Kristeen's new book, French Girl Knits, a couple of months ago, and fell in love with her design sensibility--feminine, romantic, yet practical. She specializes in one-piece designs: top-down, bottom up, and even side-to-side. So, since I had this wonderful book in front of me with 18 designs in it, I immediately...got on Ravelry and bought the pattern for Fifi instead of starting anything from the book.

Fifi calls for Rowan Calmer, six or seven balls of it for my size. This wasn't in my budget--it costs about $12 a ball--so I searched Ravelry for an appropriate substitute and landed on KnitPicks Shine Sport in Chipotle. Calmer is a cotton/acrylic blend, and so is Shine. There was one other Fifi on Ravelry in Shine Sport and the knitter reported not having to do any modifications as a result of the sub and her photos were supercute. So I ordered the yarn, swatched on size 7s, and it all looked good.

I don't know if it's because I don't knit with cotton very often, or because the sportweight wasn't a good substitute for Calmer, which is listed as either DK or light worsted depending on where you look, but I'm not 100% happy with the fabric. It just feels a bit...floppy. What was nice and smooth in the swatch is a little bit droopy in a full sweater. I don't know if I should have gone down a needle size, or if I should have used Shine Worsted or Comfy instead (two more popular subs once I started looking more closely)...

There are a couple of other issues with my Fifi, which you can see in the photo below:

my center cable is off center, since the stitches to the left of the cable (the little buggers are on the right in the picture, but remember the sweater was knit top-down) are really loose. I've not had this problem so dramatically before, and I knit a lot of cables, but that's probably also because the cotton is so much less elastic than my usual wool.
The pattern calls for inserting a few short rows at the bustline to ease the fit. It doesn't give directions for doing this unobtrusively, though...and as you can see from the WEIRD GAPING HOLE in the picture, I don't think I did this right. There weren't any directions, so I followed the short row directions in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, and the short rows just came out kind of funky and gappy.

I'm going to soldier on, though, because the fit is fundamentally OK and I think, cotton being what it is, that I will be able to shape it during blocking. I plan on making elbow-length sleeves rather than cap sleeves, and I've also switched to size 5s for the sleeve ribbing to keep it a little snugger. So we'll see. If the sleeves turn out well I may reknit the body on 5s or 6s.

Happy Monday, everyone!

2009-06-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

I just saw this on a blog I visited and thought, hmmm?

Please do not link to this blog, any post (or part of any post) , any project or any photo on Ravelry. I do not want their kind of attention and hope you will respect my request.
Thank you.

There is something I am not getting here. "Their kind of attention"?

I'm sure the blogger has a good reason for this, and I respect the wishes (not that I was tempted to link) but--what? Nefarious Ravelry? Big Brother and all that? So confused.

Summer: the double-edged sword

2009-06-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about teaching is its cycle of open and close, renewal, and fresh starts--every year a new chance, a change. As the season turns and another school year closes, my mind turns to new opportunities and summer studies.

It's hard to refute the stereotype of teachers getting "three months off" a year, especially since I have worked in the private sector and know the pain of an entry-level job that accrues a mere week or two of "Personal Time Off," or PTO, a year. For most, PTO time is intended to cover both sick and vacation leave, and the corporate lackey also receives, grudgingly, a few national holidays, which stud the calendar like raisins in a pudding (an image I think I just stole from Louisa May Alcott. Or someone).

That said, my husband and I have had very few summers "off." Either he, or I, or both have taken classes, worked a second job, or some combination of the two every summer for the past twelve years.

This summer, though, marks a milestone: No classes. No summer work. Just family time, and lots of it.

All this freedom? Oh no!

My summer could look like this:

Read classics I've always meant to read; study Anna Karenina with friend Michelle
Bike or run every day; look amazing
Finally develop that rhetoric/linguistics unit for my AP class that's been half-baked in my mind for two years
Refinish bedroom dressers (only 12 years late) and finally get rid of horrific yellow wallpaper in master bedroom
Weed-free garden; clutter-free home; healthy organic meals daily

Or, it could look like this

Eat crap, gain (more) weight
Futz around on computer, wasting hours per day
Procrastinate on school because "I have so much time until September"
Dither over house projects and end up starting many, but leaving several half-done

So...

How do I make option A happen and option B go away?

2009-06-05T22:08:00.001-07:00

Your rainbow is shaded yellow.

What is says about you: You are a joyful person. You appreciate optimism. You're good at getting people to like you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

2009-06-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Toni passed this on to me, which was so nice! Thanks, Toni.

The rules are:

1. List 7 things you love
2. Link back to the person who gave you the award
3. Pass it along to 7 other bloggers.

So.....

I love:

1. My husband
2. My children

3. Science fiction & fantasy

4. Knitting (duh)

5. Reading and writing nonfiction

6. Really great singer-songwriters

7. Sitting on the dock at my family's cabin on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho

And I will pass the award on to:

What Grownups Do

2009-06-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

A conversation between my husband and my daughter, age almost-3, yesterday.

Miss E: I'm getting to be a big girl. I'm almost a grownup.

M: Oh really? What do grown ups do?

Miss E: (Thinks.) Turn on the lights. (Something she has recently learned to do, being exactly the right height, on tippy-toes, to juuuust baaarely push up the switch.)

M: What else do grownups do?

Miss E: (Thinks again.) Turn them off again.

A second conversation, during a marathon Nerf basketball session in big brother's room. Mr. D has recently become very interested in money, how it works, how much he (and we) have, and personal buying power.

Mr. D: What would you buy with a million dollars, Miss E?

Miss E: (Without hesitation) Strawberries.

So there you have it. A million dollars' worth of fruit, and magical ability to make lights go on and off--that is what it truly means to be grown up. Rich indeed!

How Stash Grows.

2009-05-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have never been much of a stasher.

I know!

Is that blasphemous for a knitblog or what?

I have one five-drawer wire storage-thingy in the cupboard-under-the-stairs and that has been PLENTY for me. The top drawer is dishcloth cotton, drawer 2 is sock and lace-weight, drawers 3 and 4 are worsted/Aran, mostly wools, and drawer 5, the bottom, is odds and ends, some bulky, some weirdo acrylic, et cetera.

The thing is that non-stashing wasn't a purposeful thing, it just resulted from my lack of funds and my need to keep the hobby on the up-and-up. (The minute my hobby becomes guilt- or debt-inducing, the minute I need to stop.)

But I think I may have reached my tipping point, and I blame NaKniSweMoDo.

I hit my sweater-knitting stride this winter, starting with my Charcoal Cables sweater, and suddenly yarn purchasing took on a whole new mode:

I stopped thinking of yarn as a skein- or a ball-at-a-time enterprise, and a new phrase entered my purchasing lexicon: "A sweater's worth." Suddenly I didn't come out of endless Webs fantasy shopping sessions with two balls of sock yarn (that I would never knit but at least didn't cost too much and took up very little space)--I ended up with A Sweater's Worth.

I never got this idea until recently, because I hadn't knit many sweaters. Suddenly, though, I have the yarn for 4 or 5 sweaters in my stash and I Swear I Don't Know How It Got There.

One minute I'm surfing Ravelry, the next minute I'm buying 1200 yards of heathered aqua Patons Classic plus 1000 yards of Berroco Cuzco plus 900 yards of KnitPicks Shine Sport. And this all takes up more space than 1 or 2 balls of Peaches and Creme, y'all!

I never understood how peoples' stashes grow to extreme levels, taking up rooms and closets and small principalities. (And not in a superior way--it was just as alien to me as collecting modern art or classic cars. A financial investment I couldn't envision making.) I really couldn't fathom a day where I would have 45 sweaters' worth of yarn stacked as high as an elephant's eye. But here is the part I never understood:

It is possible to buy yarn at a pace that is exponentially higher than one can actually knit it up.

I am not a super fast knitter; I produce a 1000-yard sweater in a month or so. But I can BUY 1000 yards of yarn in the blink of an eye. And then I can do it the next day. All in good faith, all with my queue in mind, all without going over my monthly fun money allotment. (Well, mostly.)

Now I finally get the yarn diet thing, and the spreadsheets, and the endless talking about stash that occurs on the Interwebs. The question is whether I will be able to pull myself back from the brink of a full-blown, capital-S Stash before it's too late.

And if I want to.

Ebbs and Flows

2009-05-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

"Everything happens..."

"Don't say 'for a reason.'"

"No--everything happens."

- Dr Horrible's Singalong Blog

I haven't been posting much of late, not because I don't have much to say--in fact I've been overflowing with thoughts and musings and reactions and opinions--but because my natural reticence, my inability to possibly offend, and my aversion to conflict keep convincing me that what I have to say is, although legitimate to FEEL, not necessarily good to put on paper, or at least the internet.

This I am working on, I promise, and once life slows down at school enough to get a breath in, I will work on remedying this. I do promise. There has been knitting, much knitting, and new books read and ready to review and the sun is coming out and the garden is sprouting and the kids are growing and life is, for the most part, good.

That said--

A good friend and colleague of mine is getting laid off along with several other people in my building, and lots more teachers across the state. I won't say much more, because this blog is a) not about work and b) not about other people especially if they don't know they're being written about. Suffice it to say that my friend is an amazing teacher who most likely will not be teaching at all next year through absolutely no fault of her own.

I try very hard not to buy into doom and gloom and conspiracy theories and for the most part I succeed. But losing this person out of my personal and professional life (well, I guess I'm not losing her as a friend, just a colleague, but she may have to move to find any sort of job since our small college town isn't exactly booming with industry) has hit me hard and has made it more difficult for me to move with energy and positivity through my work days.

I want to make her a sweater as a gift. She always compliments the work I do--she's one of those people who doesn't realize just how easy knitting is--and I think I will take this on as my June project, a project to ease her out of the school year and into what comes next.

I was thinking about Hey Teach--but is that too ironic? What would you make for a friend in this situation?

2009-05-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

My April project is done (just 6 days behind schedule!)

It's the ubiquitous February Lady Sweater in Dream in Color Classy. A big splurge, but worth it.

(Excuse the poor photobooth picture, but it's better than nothing, no?)

I made very few modifications to the pattern as written. I did decrease away one of the pattern repeats under each arm, because I thought the arms would be too floppy. I toyed with doing a bit of waist shaping, but that seemed too daunting in a lace pattern.

It still needs buttons, as you can see, but I'm wearing it today anyway!

Pigtails & Bob

2009-05-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

See Leann Knit tagged all her readers for this one...a spontaneous self-photo meme.

The rules area:

1. Take a picture of yourself right now. No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.

2. Load the picture onto your blog.

3. Tag three people to play.

Couldn't resist doing it, since I am wearing my brand new Ravelry t-shirt that my sister got me for my birthday! Gotta love PhotoBooth...

And I must say I don't look as bad as I thought I would, considering I drove 310 miles today, home from Spokane.

I tag--anyone who wants to play!

The finished gift

2009-04-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just love putting together baby gifts. And this one was particularly thrifty--I think the most expensive item I bought was the yarn for the sweater. I found the pants on sale at a discount shop ($2 for two pairs), the shoes at Target, the socks at Tuesday Morning...the book, which you can't quite see, is the only full-price item. I even used my Jo-Ann 40% off coupon for the buttons...$.98.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm a skinflint. I love to buy presents but so often you spend a lot of $$ for not a lot of return. Especially baby stuff, which is outgrown in the blink of an eye!

What do you like to buy for baby gifts? what do you like to receive yourself?

Quickest sweater ever!

2009-04-22T18:18:00.001-07:00

baby kimono
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

This pattern and I have a history.

You see, it is the very first pattern I ever made.

I knit two of these baby kimonos while pregnant with Miss E--though her name was "Winky" then--I made one in pastels and one in blues and greens since I didn't know if Winky was a Winker or a Winkette yet.

(Speaking of Miss E, is this not the weirdest face she is making? She is trying to wink and smile at the same time. Pretty entertaining watching it.)

I've since made the pattern two more times as gifts. The pattern calls for cotton, but since that kills my hands, I chose wool instead.

I ended up making this with EXACTLY 220 yards of Cascade 220 paints...whew. I even had to split the yarn to seam one side. It's a gift for a baby shower on Saturday and is finished EARLY. yay me!

The reason this pattern is so great for beginners, or for quick gifts, is that it is all one piece. You knit up the back, then increase on each side for a while to make sleeves, then bind off for the neck and work one arm/front, then go back to your held stitches and do the other arm front, then seam, and, VOILA! All done, all garter stitch, all cute.

The last couple of times I’ve made this sweater I have had weird things happen with the fronts, though–I get to the 40 stitch limit about 2-3 inches shy of the length desired and I end up with more of a double-breasted look than a kimono. I think I need to do a few more rows even at the neck before doing the bindoffs and starting the increases. But I still find this pattern just so enchanting and the perfect little bitesize baby gift with matching onesie & pants!

I’m not crazy about the flashing and pooling with this yarn, but it looks OK in the garter stitch. Think I would have been really unhappy with it in stockinette.

And I can't believe my big girl once fit into one of these herself!

A Knitting Weekend (this time with photos!)

2009-04-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

I have come to the realization that I love worsted-weight yarn. It just provides me with a sort of knitter's equilibrium.

Witness Liesl:

And my February Lady sweater:

Both are top-down; both are simple lace patterns using worsted-weight yarn; both are eminently knittable and relaxing. I think I'll even knit Liesl again, this time using a bit thicker yarn (aran vs worsted, perhaps?) and the recommended 7 mm needles. (US 10.75 which are a bit hard to find.) I fell in love with some dark blue Plymouth Donegal Tweed when I visited a yarn store in Olympia last weekend--they only had one skein and I needed two or three, so I didn't buy it there, but perhaps Webs can do me a solid.

It's an overcast day today, day six of our nine days off...we spent the morning out in the yard building an eight-foot fence around the garden (we have deer) and planting some of the pea seedlings M started in the kitchen last week. In the garage I have a dresser to finish refinishing--I'm on the home stretch, since I did the 2nd coat of poly yesterday--just the final buff with the steel wool and the drawer pulls to install. (I won't mention that I started this project in August. Oh wait, I just did.)

I love these sorts of quiet slow days, full of projects and Harry Potter playing on the iPod in the kitchen. We all orbit slowly about the house, our own little solar system of a family finding the staycation groove.

I'm not going to think about the 9 weeks grades that are due on Monday, or the conference I'm leaving for on Thursday morning, or the re-written Catcher in the Rye essays that are coming my way Sunday night...for now I'm just thinking about a peaceful quiet cloudy Thursday.

a knitting weekend (sans photos)

2009-04-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

It is spring break--finally--and we have spent the last four days just winding down. It has been fab. We fired up the ol' Firebolt (AKA our 1985 VW Vanagon) and headed for Olympia to visit my in-laws, then out to the Olympic Peninsula for one night of camping. (We are easing the kids back into the camping routine--we hope to do a lot of it this summer.)

The weather was glorious--the kind of weather that (almost) makes up for the past 4 months of rain, snain, slush, snow, hail, and more rain. We could see Mount Rainier from almost everywhere we drove; yesterday from our campsite we could see the glorious peaks of the Olympics silhouetted against the ice-blue sky, and this morning we set our sights on Mount Baker and headed for home. (First volcano on the right and straight on until morning?)

I also did just a teensy bit of knitting--I finished the body of the Liesl I started for myself then quickly realized the gauge was all fubared but said oh well and it'll be for my tiny, athletic best friend--I also started a February Lady Sweater for myself and ohmigosh I can't believe how much I love knitting with Dream in Color Classy. I am in love. I will probably go back to my old reliable Cascade 220 for the next project (I just can't always justify the $18.00 a skein price, although for 250 yards that is a reasonable expensive, if that makes sense) but, whew. How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree??

Final (?) FO for March

2009-03-27T07:36:00.001-07:00

It's the ubiquitous February Sweater! It was Miss E's turn and this knit was fast and rewarding. Taking just about 2.5 balls of Moda Dea Wool-Silk blend, I followed some mods suggested on Ravelry for upsizing it to about a size 2T-3T, totally jettisoned EZ's sleeve directions in favor of my own top-down mojo, and left the garter stitch off the hem. I'll update the ravelry link with the specific modifications this weekend.

This yarn was fun to work with and softened up considerably after steam-blocking--the flecks of lighter color are the silk, I think, and it lends the garment a really beautiful charm. I would definitely use this yarn to make a grown-up version, maybe in black. (Although didn't I just vow not to knit black lace?)

Happy Friday--

Grape Ape? What was that?

2009-03-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

We bought a new computer! A 24" iMac! It is so...big!

Computer woes

2009-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

R. I. P. Grape Jelly

1999-2009

Gone but not forgotten

Our Mac--a purple iMac we bought in 1999--may have finally gone to the great Apple Store in the sky. It's been hanging along on life support for weeks, starting up only sporadically, whining in anguish, giving out in the middle of a browser session. But we fooled ourselves--you always do, don't you?--that we had more time, that the party wasn't quite over, that our little Grape Ape would always be there, its tiny little screen smiling at us when we booted it up.

We clearly have mastered the Denial stage.

What comes next? Anger--anger at the bad economy, at the society that tells us we have to have a computer, at the choice between new flooring (which we'd been shopping for, dammit!) and a lifeline to the world of the Interwebs, a place we really like to spend time. (And pay our bills, and research for work, and keep in touch with family and friends...)

The OK news is that we can live without ol' Purple Haze, for a while, anyway, because we do have another computer, albeit a cobbled-together PC (blugh) that was purchased by my dad for my husband so they could play Guild Wars together. As such, it has very little software, a crap monitor, and a keyboard so clickety-clackity that I sound like a 1950's variety show while I'm typing this.

It's decision time. Do we stimulate the economy and take the plunge for a new Mac? or do we do the uber-responsible thing and limp along with our ClicketyClacker until the flooring is installed and paid for???????

Oh--and in knitting news, I finished my daughter's February Sweater and picked the perfect buttons, but I have no photos because of..........computer problems. Urgh! But it's really cute! I promise!

March madness

2009-03-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Happy March!

I'm caught up. On my own self-imposed deadline. As of last Monday afternoon, 3/9--my NaKniSweMoDo mojo is back in business. I made the mistake of trying to finish two at once...and, guess what, I was late with both. At any rate--I'm counting the vest for February and Mr. D's sweater for March.

The first finisher: The Lacy Top.
I'm actually a bit meh about this vest, which is disappointing.

The pros:

soft and silky fabric with very nice drape
affordable yarn (Paton's Silk Bamboo)
quick knit (only two pieces, easily-memorized lace pattern)
excuse to buy two more KA circulars

The cons:

fit is boxy/blousy, which I should have realized earlier--I thought the 2x2 rib would be more waist-height, and it ended up being more hip-height.
Not much attention to styling or shaping in the pattern--the two pieces are exactly the same so either the front or the back droops when you wear it.
I won't knit dark lace again for a long time. I realized after I finished it that I gave myself a pretty good case of eyestrain for the final weekend I was working on it.
I should have made a size small for a more fitted look. The M is too large, even for my broad shoulders. I don't know if this was a gauge issue (I haven't measured it to see if I ended up in the ballpark) or a design issue.

But--it's done & looks cute with my bright pink scoop-neck tee underneath. Moving onward!

February's garment was the finally-finished top-down raglan for my son. His unfortunate case of stomach flu allowed me some good knitting time and it's all finished up! (His crossed eyes in the photo were his idea of a "goofy picture".

The specifics for this pattern are on my Ravelry page. I used two cable panels from Melissa Leapman's Continuous Cables, one for the front and one for the sleeves. I reversed the sleeve cable on the left sleeve, because that's how anal I am. (Side note: both this book and Melissa's Cables Untangled are FABULOUS.)

Mr. D has worn it to school already--it has some room to grow, which is great, and he likes it a lot! It took almost exactly 6 balls of Wool of the Andes Kettle-dyed in Jay, plus about .75 WoTA in Black for the cuffs and neckband.

My official March project is a February sweater for my daughter...and then it's back to me.

Entitled to what?

2009-03-03T21:17:00.001-08:00

I was scrolling through my google reader this evening and saw the following disclaimer on a blog to which I subscribe:

NOTE: In honor of No Cussing Week, I thought I’d take a minute to discuss my own swears. I know I’ve dropped some F-bombs in the last few posts. I do it on purpose, for a couple of reasons: (1) I swear quite a lot in real life. I enjoy it. And (2) I want to chase away as quickly as possible any uptight know-it-alls with overdeveloped senses of entitlement who might later be caught off guard by a random swear and then be inclined to send me cranky condescending emails about my language. Those emails are stupid, and I’m tired of getting them.

So what I want to know is:

I (me, myself) try not to swear, both in real life and on my blog. It's just not part of my personal vibe. Does that make me an "uptight know-it-all"? I'm not saying I DON'T swear, I just tend not to.
Does my NOT swearing offend my readers who enjoy the salty Anglo-Saxon-ness of it all?
Or is it the act of sending the cranky e-mail that qualifies one as an u-k-i-a?
And does writing an ultra-defensive blog post put one on the same category?
And what kind of person finds a blog on the OPEN INTERNET and presumes that she, because she reads it, gets to dictate the content?

There are a few blogs I've stopped reading because I didn't like their tone, or their focus, or their language. Interestingly, my issues with language are usually not because of swearing, which really doesn't offend me to read as long as I feel it's honest and not just an adolescent bid for attention--I love "The Sopranos" and Stephen King books--but I get enough gratuitous vulgarity hanging around in a high school all day, I don't need it in my blog reading.

What makes you stop reading a blog? Would you tell the writer, or just delete the blog from your subscriptions or list of links?

Two months later...

2009-03-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

So some (crazy) (overachiever) knitbloggers decided to raise the ante on NaKniSweMo this year, and create NaKniSweMoDo. Apparently it's no longer enough to knit a whole sweater in one month (which I did with one day to spare last November, thankyouverymuch), this group had to knit one per month all year, thereby raising the bar for all of us to feel like knitting slackers. That's what the Do stands for, dodecathlon or some such made up mathy word.

(Anyone else think of The Phantom Tollbooth when they hear dodecahedron? Anyone?)

I am going to roughly, roughly jump onto this bandwagon--they are specifying adult-sized garments, and that's just not feasible for me for either my knitting speed or my budget. And I have two children for whom I love to knit and it wouldn't be fair to deprive them for a whole year. And, really, a person's challenge should be their own challenge. I knit because I love it, not to fulfill arbitrary quotas. Unless I decide to, which is TOTALLY different. Fuggedaboutit.

So here is my own personal set of SweVeKiMoDo goals:

12 human-sized garments
kid garments count
grown-up vests count (I’m craving a vest or two, they’re great up here in the PNW)
I will alternate a garment for me with a garment for daughter, son, or hubby--so, six for me, two for each of them? Hmm.
at least one will be in pieces (all my sweaters have been 1-piece top-down or bottom-up so far!)
at least one will be colorwork, probably fair isle.
at least one will be cabled
at least one will be lace
queue can change at any moment (ooh, shiny!)

I finished my Ingenue sweater for January, ahead of schedule, even, but for February I made the mistake of starting two garments at once, both my Lacy Top (for Vestuary):
and Mr. D's top-down raglan. (I don't have any current photos because I've been sorely neglecting it. Really. It'd be done in a day or two if I'd just buckle down--I need only to finish the sleeve ribbing and pick up for neck ribbing.) So I'm fudging that if I finish both in early March, then they count for my February and March garments. (We shall not speak of the two Gretel hats I knit in February as well. Fuggedaboutit, ya hear?)

The Lacy Top has been fun, if kind of a grind--I wish I had chosen a cabled vest instead. It's two pieces, and is a free pattern from Patons. I bought the yarn at JoAnn, because I'm a sucker for that 15% teacher discount, and the only color they had in stock with enough balls of yarn for this pattern was...black.

Now, I love wearing black. I own four or five pairs of black pants and let's not get started on the shoes. Black is eminently practical, stylish, and chic. (Me personally, I am eminently...practical. One out of three ain't bad.)

But I hate knitting black. My excuse is that it was Vestuary, and I was caught up in the excitement, and the other colors weren't worth waiting for, and...black it was. The top'll be very practical when it's finished, it's just doing a number on my eyes. The lace pattern is only four rows and was easily memorized, so that's good...and, contrary to the photo above, I've actually finished the front (back) and am about halfway up the back (front). I just keep forgetting to take progress photos in daylight...if there's anything worse than knitting black lace, it's photographing it in artificial light. fuggedaboutit.

Anyway, I plan to tag the projects as I do them, so my Ravelry page should show my progress, and I will also put a list in the sidebar here.

As I type this, I wonder: why am I jumping on this bandwagon? Why stress myself out with artificial and imposed deadlines on what is supposed to be my escape from a life of artificial and imposed deadlines? (I do advise publications and work in a bureaucracy par excellence, don't forget. Deadlines are my life.)

Well--all I can think of is that it's fun to set some goals. As I enter year 3 of my serious knitting phase I have realized that I have tried most techniques and experimented with many (if not most) types of garments/projects, and that conquering techniques and trying new types of projects were what kept me interested. I've done socks, sweaters, shawls, scarves, vests, and hats; knit for men, women, and children; done lace, stranded knitting, cables, and textured stitches. I'm definitely not an expert knitter, but I am certainly a confident upper-intermediate knitter. It was time to set some different goals and figure out another way to keep learning now that there are few "first times" left in the technique arena.

For the love of cables.

2009-02-28T12:38:00.001-08:00

Hello, my name is Miss E. I am very two years old.

I am making this face because, unlike every other time Mommy gets the camera out, I have decided, just for this one minute span of time, not to like to have my picture taken, not to ask to see it on the little screen right away after Mommy takes it, and DEFINITELY NOT to say, like I usually do, "One more, Mommy?" You can't see it in the picture but I am making a weird noise like an Eeeeeee sound. It sounds icky like the dentist noises (even though I love the dentist, she's very nice and I get a new toothbrush when I go there with Tigger and Pooh on it.)

This is my back yard. It's February here, which Mommy says is Pacific-Northwest-ese for Depression. Mommy doesn't go running as much during February month, and she's pretty grumpy. On this day when I'm in the picture it is not raining but it is cold. On Wednesday it snowed and Mommy at first thought that was cool and sent Brother and me outside, but then we looked sad and we came back in. Because snow is colder than rain and you get wet when you come inside which is weird!

When it snowed, I wore my white hat and I looked happier than I do in this picture. Mom said the pattern is called Gretel by Ysolda Teague and she was very happy when she was knitting it; in fact, she let me watch an extra "Tigger and Pooh" on the On Demand. Tigger is funny and Pooh is nice, but neither of them have a hat like mine. Mommy has a red one that is floppier and it looks like this:

Mommy really likes hers. She wore it to school on the snowy day because her classroom is very cold and several of the big girls she teaches said they liked it so she came home and said it was a winner! (Big girls do not usually give compliments to their teachers' clothing choices.)

Next mommy is finally going to make me my pink sweater once she finishes brother's blue sweater which looks like this:

Only in real life it is not blurry and it has more arms and a bottom.

Yay! I hope I will feel happy for the pictures of my pink sweater.

Love,
Miss E.

Spring preview

2009-02-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

The IK Spring preview is up...

I like the Parker Cardigan--what jumps out at you?

Grey Gables

2009-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

OK, these photos turned out really teeny. Don't know what I did wrong. Alas.
But look ! Look at the pretty cabley goodness! Look at the superfast sweater (that now feels so 2008, probably because I finished it before Thanksgiving and just now got around to photos)! Look at the way I am concealing the screwups I made on the (non) waist-shaping, and how, by standing sideways, I am concealing the fact that this is a sweatshirty shape on me when i really wanted something a bit more fitted. Knitters errors aside, for what it IS it is great--warm, practical, cheap (Wool-Ease chunky on size 10.5 needles), minimal finishing, and a very cool cable that was easy to memorize.
The cable runs all the way up each sleeve and the back as well. It is dramatic and large scale. I used my favorite KA needles to cable w/o a cable needle and it went just dandy.The hood, I have to say, was a bit odd. When I put it on, it looks like I am a medieval monk with a duck's bill. But mostly I leave it down, which unfortunately covers up a lot of the pretty cabling (if I were to knit this again, I'd do the cable up the front, too, and make the v-neck less deep) but is more comfortable. In fact, I think I'll wear this tomorrow.

Scum Update

2009-02-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

So Project Bathtub is going OK so far. Daily sprayings and more conscientious attention to its needs are keeping it sparkly. We just used up the first batch of my home-made shower spray and it seems to have been effective, except in one major department: the smell.

After spraying, it makes the bathroom smell like a vodka and pickle factory. The essential oils in the Bi-O-Kleen were in no way powerful enough to overcome the alcohol & vinegar odors.

So when I mixed up this batch I added about 4 drops of a "Fizzy Lemon" home fragrance oil from the Body Shop that I had hanging around. I would have preferred to use a 100% oil but that's all I could scrounge up.

Just used the spray and the pickle/vodka scent is much lessened...now at least it smells like Absolut Citron.

Ingenious!

2009-01-30T07:13:00.001-08:00

ingenue1
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

I finished this sweater in less than a month--it's Ingenue by Wendy Bernard from her Custom Knits book (which I love, by the way). I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca and it is so soft and wonderful...

The color on the photo is terrible--i was taking it at night using the (sucky) ambient light in my bedroom--but the weater is a lovely heathered brick red.

For more details, see my Ravelry page...

Review: KA needles

2009-01-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

The search for the perfect needle is the philosopher's stone of knitting, and rather a ridiculous pursuit at that. Ultimately, the perfect needle needs to fit a) the project, b) the yarn, and c) the knitter.

With that in mind, I want to review a product I consider to be fabulous, but that I haven't seen much about (or anything, really) in the knitblogosphere--a quick Google search yielded only two reviews--KA needles.

One of my LYSes, the Wool Station, carries the full line of KA and I was first introduced to them about 18 months ago as a more affordable alternative to Addi Turbo--KAs run for about $8 a set. Now that I know more about knitting and have tried more brands of needles, I am increasingly happy I was introduced to the brand, because they have become my go-to needles for circular knitting (with one exception, which I'll get to in a minute.)

KA are a bamboo circular that comes in a full range of sizes and lengths. At first glance they look an awful lot like Clover circulars, which may turn some knitters off; they have a clear plastic, rather thick cable, like Clovers, and are, of course, bamboo. These similarities are merely cosmetic, however, for the KA are functionally superior in needle, join, and cable.

Let's start with the needle. Very light, with a polished and silken feel, the needles are cut on the straight grain from what the packaging claims is bamboo heartwood, harder than the typical bamboo needles. Who cares about harder, I wondered--I'm not trying to chisel anything. The advantage the harder bamboo yields, though, is in the tip. These are not blunt stubby needles (see photo above); the tips work well for all the types of knitting I've asked them to do, including cabling-without-a-cable-needle (which I would never do with a Clover!) and lace.

Next, the silken finish is superior to other bamboos; they're very similar to the Knitpicks Harmony and, dare I say it?, Addis. I've worked with Clover needles and have had a lot of trouble with stitches sticking on their rougher surface, but yarns, even acrylic blends, slide right over the KAs. They walk the line between slippery and grippy without tipping either direction.

I also appreciate the length of needle the circs have, even in the 16" size. Some brands (coughKnitpickscough) skimp on the needle-tip real estate, leaving the knitter with little to hang on to when working in small circumferences. I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy feeling like I'm only pinching the needles with thumbs and index fingers--this is a sure recipe for hand and shoulder fatigue. The 16" KA needle ends are long enough for comfortably knitting a hat, neckband, or sleeve in the round.

As for the join and the cable, this is where the most special feature of the KA comes in--the join SWIVELS. So even though the cable is admittedly stiff and much fatter than, say, an Addi Turbo or Knitpicks Options, you don't end up with twisted-up cables or recalcitrant lines of stitches. (I do recommend giving the cable a good steaming or even immersing it in boiling water when you take it out, though.)

I've used these needles for knitting sweaters in the round, socks and sleeves on two circulars, and a little bit of magic loop. I don't recommend them for two-circ work because the cables are so inflexible; you spend a lot of time coaxing them to bend the way you want them to, plus the needles don't come in a 24" size so you're always sweeping the 29" out of the way. My surprise of late was discovering how well they work for magic loop, a technique I try to avoid as much as possible. I was working up a swatch in the round for a cabled sweater, and found I could magic loop on one of their 29" needles just great; the swiveled joins really responded well to the contortions required for magic looping, and I didn't have any trouble with laddering.

So--to sum up--I find KA needles to be versatile, affordable, expendable, and reliable. They're not statusy, but are quiet little workhorses ready for whatever you throw their way. You'll love them, but you won't cry if you lose a pair--for around $8 more they are easily replaced. And they swivel! (Second life as ninja weapons?)

They are available from a number of online sellers and maybe even your LYS. I buy mine at the Wool Station here in Bellingham, but they do not sell online. Buy local if you can, and tell me what you think of them!

Sweet Coraline

2009-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

Today, when we stopped for lunch on the way home from Olympia, my kids got a kids meal with a "Coraline" toy.

I asked my husband, "Have you read Coraline? By Neil Gaiman? Because I read it a few years ago and first of all I don't remember the plot at all except that I remember it being kind of creepy and disappointing and not my favorite."

He got this weird look on his face. "Coraline?" he asked.

"Yes, by Neil Gaiman."

"As in 'Sweet Coraline'?"

"Well, I don't remember that from the book," I said. (He teaches third grade, so he often is more up on the world of kids/YA lit than me, although we both love it.)

He still had this weird look on his face. One of those I'm-being-patient-with-you-but-I-think-you're-a-few-sandwiches-short-of-a-picnic looks.

"Like the song?" he asked. "'Sweet Coraline, duhn duhn duhn....Good times never felt so good,'" he sang.

I nearly spit root beer out my nose. I'm sure it's not the first Gaiman/Diamond misunderstanding, but "Sweet Coraline" has got to be a first.

Oh, and I finished a sweater! Let it be proclaimed throughout the land--two sweaters in two months! (Should probably post pics.)

Spanking Clean

2009-01-13T07:07:00.000-08:00

You know how you have that one household chore you just hate? And put off? And put off some more? Until you spend an hour on your hands and knees wrecking your rotator cuff scrubbing and cursing at the soap scum in the tub and the weird pinkness that is encroaching and the just overall disgustingness of this mess that you yourself (with help from the rest of the fam) have made?

Well, as you can see, my cleaning Achilles' heel is the bathtub/shower. I just hate it. And I am embarrassed to say how long it's been since I really tackled this task and drilled down to what could honestly be called clean. It's been done cursorily, but it hasn't been done "for reals" in far too long.

This past weekend, I fought the lion. And won--without the use of harsh chemicals. (And there are people online who want you to use stuff like oven cleaner. Um, hello, do I really want to be showering in a big vat of LYE?)

Instead, it was just me, some baking soda, some white vinegar, a scrub brush, and a whole lot of elbow grease. (Plus a great tip: use plain white paper towels soaked in straight-up vinegar and stick them too the walls of the tub/shower for 5 minutes, which will soften up the nasty so you can get it with your brush.) All in all, it took two long sessions before I had it the way I want it, and then I trooped the whole family in to cheer.

But the thing is that the lion always returns. So I searched for green recipes for daily shower cleaners and I'm going to give that a whirl--M has agreed to spray down the shower when he's done, since he's usually the 2nd out in the morning...and it's his use of bar soap that probably causes most of the scum anyhow, but I digress...

Here's the recipe I "created" based on what I found online and what we had in the house:

1 cup water
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1/4 cup white vinegar
about a teaspoon Bi-O-Kleen Cleaner and Degreaser, for the smell and the grease-cutting factor

There's some interesting chemistry involved in soap scum, but all I really care about is that I never again spend two Webs podcasts' worth of my life drilling it out of my tub.

5 Things...

2009-01-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Wendy tagged all her readers for this one. And I absolutely love reading these little bite-sized views into other folks' worlds.

Five things in my bag:

iPod in its new ifrogz case (mine is Red Ruby with the Mud Pie band and the Orange Swirl sticker over the wheel--tres chic)
Red sparkly pen (an English teacher should never be without her red pen, no?)
School keys (add a pound of weight at least, it seems; I have 12 or so keys to various parts of the school)
C. O. Bigelow mentha lip tint in "natural"--a gift from my mother-in-law and I love it; not being a makeup person by nature I love this because it is simple and attractive, low-maintenance, and smells amazing.
JoAnn coupons in case of urgent yarn shortage

Five favorite things in my room:

My bed with its comfy mattress, partner preferred although currently out watching football
My books
My red Keens
My Manos silk-blend red cowl
And, because he just walked in from his nap, my five-year-old!

Five things I have always wanted to do:

Write for a living
Run a half- (or even full?) marathon
Sing on Broadway
Teach abroad
Live in a funky apartment in a city. Not as appealing any more with two kids, but still a dream

Five things I am currently into:

Figuring myself out
Knitting cables & colorwork
Reading about knitting cables & colorwork
Writing essays in my mind
My new bag & iPod case (deserve a whole post to themselves so I can sing the appropriate rhapsodies)

Consider yourself tagged!

Be a perfect person in just 3 days

2009-01-11T13:52:00.001-08:00

Did anyone else ever read that book when they were a kid?

The basic plot is this:
Boy feels bad about himself. Finds a self-help book called "Be a Perfect Person in just 3 Days." Follows the steps the book assigns--hilarity ensues, a la Judy Blume (though no toddlers consume turtles). Has to wear broccoli around his neck TO SCHOOL?! Every task has a lesson, of course: Don't care about what others think of you, etc, etc. Very after-school-special-y. But the kicker comes in the final chapter: he ends up sitting in a rocking chair drinking iced tea. And that's it. He wonders--um--what next? And the book, which I think is somewhat magical or at least very savvy about intermediate-grade kids' cognitive development, tells him: You're only perfect if you're not doing anything. So, to stay perfect, just sit in that chair with your iced tea.

Whoa.

In a lot of ways, I think I spend much of my life in the safe rocking chair. I let my desire for courtesy and kindness and safety and predictability outweigh my desire for justice and challenge and truth-telling.
For example: blogging (as it represents my desire to write publicly). I think about it--writing, that is--all the time. I constantly compose mini-essays in my head...I have pages of notes in my daybook for product reviews, responses to others' blogs, commentary on social issues, anecdotes about my life and my family...but something makes me balk when it comes to the publicness of posting it. Part of that is time, of course, everyone's bugaboo, but in some ways it's just the seeming safety of non-blogging. The desire not to put myself out there for critique. The knowledge that, if I put myself out there, someone will want to slap me down.

There isn't a goal or a resolution here, just a growing feeling--a feeling that I've got to get out of the chair, put on that broccoli necklace, and see what can happen.
After all, as my friend Jessica says to her choir students: "Make loud mistakes. It's the only way you get better."

MissE'sQuilt

2008-12-24T17:32:00.001-08:00

MissE'sQuilt
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

Christmas eve is...
...hunkering down in a honest-to-goodness snowstorm
...playing carols on a real-live piano.
...agreeing that the Baby Jesus wouldn't have wanted us to endanger ourselves on the snowy snowy hillside trying to get to church
...cracking open the wine, beer, and Jameson's now that we have no church duties to perform
...two blonde cousins playing jump on the bed until their cheeks are as pink as two Washington apples
...sledding down the hill and commiserating with a five-year-old who has never once before in his life suffered the indignity of snow down his pants
...not caring that half the presents are stuck somewhere in UPS limbo
...being with those we love celebrating the holiest day of the year and the return of light to the world. And cookies.
...finishing a quilt for your daughter and hearing her say, "My mommy made that."

Happy holidays to everyone!

Let it Snow!

2008-12-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

Knitted hats...in the wild.

The snow has been coming down for a week or so here...two snow days from school last week, and now we're on winter break. This just doesn't happen that often here--every few years or so, I'd guess--so it's pretty exciting.

And for me it was really gratifying to bundle everyone up and realize that we were all wearing at least one handknit.

Now if the pass will stay reasonably drivable until we can get over to Spokane...

tagged: 4x4

2008-12-20T20:44:00.000-08:00

Toni tagged me for a picture meme...

The rules:

* go to my 4th picture folder
* go to the 4th picture in the folder
* tell you 4 things about that picture
* tag 4 more people

I don't keep my photos in afolder, but in one big huge glob in iPhoto , so I picked a random set. Here's the fourth of that download:

This picture is from St Patrick's Day 2003, when Mr. D was 2 months old. (Hence M's shamrock-themed shirt and the corned beef and cabbage.)

He loved to stand on stuff so M was letting him stand on the table. You can't see it from this angle but he was cracking all of us up around the table because he was staring crazily and intently at our friend Kristin (at right).
St Patrick's Day is one of our favorite holidays. (I am all about the holidays that require much consumption of food and little other family or gift-oriented pressures.) We usually have people over and make the traditional corned beef and cabbage.
According to Wikipedia, corned beef and cabbage is not a traditional Irish meal at all, but is actually American. Also, Ireland and St Patrick were associated with the color blue, not green, until the 1750's. "The wearin' o' the green" referred to wearing a shamrock, not green clothing. And the pinching? Please.
Speaking of green, our wedding china, seen in the photo above, is Oxford Green by Royal Doulton. We have nine place settings. I like to use it for special occasions because why not?

I will tag: Megan, Janet, Jo, and Alana.