November 23, 2009 at 9:24 pm (CameraWorks, Good Stuff, Knit Goods, Links, Out of the Ordinary, Reverence)
Spending some of this down time surfing knitting blogs. Finding ones that make me feel utterly inadequate as a crafter. Finding ones that fill me with awe and wonderment. Finding ones that inspire me.
And, finding this one. No way to translate, but the work is stunning. The shawls are especially breathtaking:
November 18, 2009 at 6:04 pm (Consumerism, Just Because, Knit Goods, Media, Opinion, Projects)
I’ve never counted the number of knitting patterns, knitting magazines and knitting books I own. Frankly, I’m afraid I’ll. . . Well, I suspect you understand why I don’t wish to start counting. And I’ve gone through them dozens upon dozens of times, looking for just the right pattern for a particular yarn. Or vice versa.
And yet, from all those options, there are one or two books that I go to more than others. This is one:
Whether it’s that an awful lot of the yarn I buy puts me in mind of ripples, or that, after an all-stockinette project, I’m ready for some variety, I thumb through this book probably 3 of every 4 or 5 times I’m deciding what to knit next.
Do you have a go-to pattern collection?
November 6, 2009 at 5:41 pm (Ailments, CameraWorks, Consumerism, Family, Fandom, Knit Goods, Media, Projects, Truisms)
While watching “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” Wednesday night (God, Ava Gardner was beautiful), took pictures of almost all the hats I’ve made. Must now resize them to post on etsy. Hope to use free time over the weekend to photograph and upload some more worked-all-those-weeks-for-nothing-then-couldn’t-even-make-it-to-the-festival things.
Hannah’s had the stomach/throwing up things the last couple of days. Her best friend was just diagnosed with mono. Lots of friends nearer and nearer to all three of us are down with the flu. The germy circle is closing in around us. Who will be next? What will the symptoms be?
Watching a stunning, searing, brilliant piece called “God on Trial.” From the BBC, about Auschwitz prisoners. Quiet. And something that will stay with me.
October 31, 2009 at 5:10 pm (CameraWorks, Consumerism, Frustration, Knit Goods, Not Much in Particular, Projects)
New books: hattitude and Noro: Meet the Man Behind the Legendary Yarn. Nice ways to stay distracted today, along with a couple of catalogs that came in the mail. Thank goodness for libraries, huh?
Had been working for, maybe, a week, on a diagonal lace-type scarf out of laceweight yarn. Discovered mistakes all the way back almost to the beginning last night, so unravelled it all and started making a simple cowl. My concentration is not what it should be at the moment. Also working on a secret Christmas project, a pair of mindless Noro wristlets, and did cast on a yellow mohair shrug last night:
You?
October 26, 2009 at 7:54 pm (Anger, CameraWorks, Frustration, Kinda Weird, Knit Goods, Out of the Ordinary, Projects, Quandries, Truisms, Whining)
Paraphrasing Marin — this sock looks perfectly innocent, doesn’t it?
Wrong.
This sock gave me as much aggravation as any sock I’ve ever knit. And if the colors and striping hadn’t been so lovely, I would have given up on it.
Well, that and the fact that this was the second sock, the problem didn’t crop up until the foot, and the fact that I don’t like to be beaten.
It was the yarn. All of a sudden, mid-skein, the yarn was all twisted. You know, as in, when you let it go, it spins into a long, long spiral between the skein and your needle. Now, I”ve had twists in yarn before. They can usually be worked out in a little while. This twisting went on and on. I couldn’t cut out around it, because I might not have had enough yarn to finish the sock.
Yet, the yarn itself was screwy, too. Like it was spun too tightly or something. It wasn’t soft, airish yarn anymore — it was tight, thin, THIN, like heavyweight silk thread tight.
HUH?
It was not fun knitting, it was knitting I just got through as quickly as I could to both minimize the aggravation and finish the damn thing.
Hey, art ain’t always pretty.
October 17, 2009 at 6:54 pm (CameraWorks, Consumerism, Friendage, Knit Goods, Projects, Quandries)
One of my best friends, Internet or otherwise, is Shannon . She is also one of most creative and gifted craftsters I’ve ever come across. And she and I are facing the same dilemma: pricing the things we make for sale. How in the world do I come up with a price for something that I made on a whim? Versus something I planned? Something I did in 20 minutes, but that looks more involved than something I worked a couple of days on?
Me, I just thread the tags on the things, slap a number on each, and put them away. They either fit or they don’t, but all my work is done.
October 11, 2009 at 6:59 pm (Ailments, Frustration, Knit Goods, Truisms)
No solid food from Wednesday until yesterday. No anti-depressant for about the same.
I’ve been a ray of sunshine lately.
And then, of course, there’s this:
Anyone in the market for some handknits?
October 10, 2009 at 4:51 pm (Ailments, Frustration, Knit Goods)
Festival that I’ve been preparing for was today. Too sick to be there. Lots — lots — of knit goods on my hands.
Hello, etsy.
October 5, 2009 at 5:46 pm (CameraWorks, Consumerism, Knit Goods, Out of the Ordinary, Projects, Purely Random, Quandries, Truisms)
Suddenly, Saturday, I got inspired to make knitting/sewing things for the Festival this weekend. Why did I not get this idea/inspiration sooner?
My first effort:
This is Weenky. What do you think?
September 12, 2009 at 7:07 pm (CameraWorks, Consumerism, Contests, Kinda Weird, Knit Goods, Memory, Pets and Other Housemates, Projects, Quandries)
THREE HUNDRED-plus votes yesterday? Really? Some of you were making use of every available computer, methinks. . . There are 6 nominators left in the competition; we’ll have to have a tie-breaker no matter what. Stay tuned!
I thought Mike Rowe would make it all the way this year. He has some dedicated fans out there, I’ve discovered. Also thought PDemp was going to breeze in; it looked like he had some serious momentum. Shows what I know. . . You get your chance to vote for the other finalist Monday.
The last 3 things I have knit for the Festival (which is four weeks from today — yikes!), I want to keep for myself. Is that wrong? A pair of footies, a hat and a neckwarmer. I’ve got tags on everything else, but pricing is killing me. I haven’t the foggiest notion how much to charge for any of this stuff. Got a catalog yesterday that was selling a stockinette hat (just a simple pull-on) out of not-that-exotic-type yarn for $48. Are you kidding me?? It did have a knit flower tacked on it, but still . . .
Remember when Esme was a tiny little thing? Look now! (She’s on the left.) She and Madeleine have become great playmates. Esme is the only one of our cats still near kittenhood enough not to find chase demeaning.
Lily, by the way, does not like Maddy at all.
Which I simply cannot understand.
Erin was trailing Esme and Madeleine in the previous picture, no doubt on her way to a typical Saturday on my bed:
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