Knitting Lessons

Susan Gibbs Trunk Show

2012-01-26T18:15:00.001-06:00

Susan Gibbs Trunk Show
Originally uploaded by Sultry

"And the stash at WEBS is THIS big."

Even though the "trunks" of knitted items got lost (courtesy of UPS), Susan Gibbs gave a fine performance when telling us about Juniper Moon Fiber (and the Farm), the present day vagaries of the yarn business and how a dynamo works. Susan is the dynamo.
And who knew that practically all the wool grown in the US is promised to the US ARMY for wool uniforms? That's why "her" American-designed wool yarn actually comes from Italian sheep. And, apparently, US mills are either tiny and run like hobbies, or huge and only make thread for American Outfitters. Here she is a "job creator" and she can't make it work for Americans. (She does draw the line, however, at sweat shop conditions for both humans and animals. Those Italian sheep and millers don't know how lucky they are.
Plus, Susan was just SO endearing.
Gonna knit.

Square: Yearning

2011-09-03T02:33:00.001-05:00

Square: Yearning
Originally uploaded by Sultry

I'm just having fun. Life is good. but after I had lots of fun with purples and yellows and the mouse and filters, this seemed to need to be called Yearning.

Illustration Friday - Sweater

2011-02-17T04:37:00.001-06:00

Illustration Friday - Sweater
Originally uploaded by Sultry

I went and re-read the story of the Six Swans.. I'd always so identified with the sister "making" shirts that would break a spell of enchantment which entrapped her brothers. I had totally garbled the story... but I still think that knitting for loved ones will keep them from bad things!

So far it is working...

2010-04-20T17:51:00.001-05:00

With thanks to Wenders for sending the link, and to Mason Dixon Knitting for posting this in the first place.

Check your gauge

2009-09-27T18:27:00.001-05:00

Check your gauge
Originally uploaded by Sultry

Just a reminder to my knitting friends. ;-)

Not so fast.

2009-08-30T11:14:00.001-05:00

Not so fast.
Originally uploaded by Sultry

Found out I'd made two left fronts to DH's sweater. Ripped back to the beginning of the "vee."

So what did I learn (again)? Most mistakes can be fixed... even if the ones in knitting can be undone more easily than others.

Finally! A FO to post!

2009-02-16T11:26:00.001-06:00

Knitting-Noro-2-row-(3)
Originally uploaded by Sultry

Noro Silk Garden Two Row scarf. (Some of the color overlaps worked MUCH better than others.

2008-12-06T12:21:00.001-06:00

2-day-scarf
Originally uploaded by Sultry

This is The Harlot's One-Row Scarf in old stash yarn. The ball band said "Cantata" and had a loopy logo, but nothing on the web now matched the wool, nylon and poly fiber content.

I'm quite proud because I presented it in a gift exchange tonight and only started it two days ago. Yaay! And stayed on my "stash diet."

2008-10-12T23:06:00.000-05:00

I wanna be knitting! I had a great couple of hours this evening restraining myself from drooling over the new Knitter's Magazine and the debut issue of Debbie Bliss' Knitting Magazine.

Ravelry might be a more appropriate place to post these, but aren't they wonderful?

Must zoom through my wip's to do these!

Little Red Hen on the Town

2008-02-27T15:06:00.001-06:00

Entry #8 Little Red Hen on the Town
Originally uploaded by shayneknitter

MasonDixon had a contest in honor of Project Runway to design knitted designs for critters that were not bears. Go to Flickr
http://www.masondixonknitting.com/archives/2008_02.html#002338 to see all the entries, and then to Mason Dixon to vote for your favorite.http://www.masondixonknitting.com/

Cardi Porn?

2008-01-21T15:55:00.000-06:00

This was part of a fashion layout in last weeks New York Times. Something about surfing in the Hamptons. As if.

Anyway, even though this is a lovely cotten and linen sweater, what do you think is a reasonable price?

Are you sure?

OK. Now check out the price, circled in red.

What did I learn?

That if there's a market, it'll be sold.

If there isn't a market, it'll be on sale.

And sometimes, I'm unwilling to pay the asking price.

2007-05-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

Knitting and Armed Combat

I've just ended a six week fling. My son introduced me to the guy. Fell in love with Jack Reacher-- The hero in the thrillers by Lee Child.
(The author looks pretty good, too, don't you think?)

Within the hour, I've finished reading ALL of the Jack Reacher books. I only started reading them about a month ago. (There are 11). They are addictive and have easily won my attention away from laundry, filing, and gardening. (Well, it rained part of the time.)

At least one has been optioned by Paramount. But the lead's not been cast.

In Without Fail, there are a couple paragraphs with knitting ... a woman he cares about is being
pursued by bad guys and doesn't know where to begin to look for them. (There are really, REALLY bad guys in all of these books)

"Maybe one of them is an old lady who knits sweaters. Are you going to walk up to her and say, oh my God, what's with you? I can't believe you actually have the temerity to know how to knit sweaters."
"You're equating armed combat with knitting
sweaters?"
"I'm saying we're all good at something. And that's what I'm good at. Maybe it's the only thing I'm good at. I'm not proud of it, and I'm not ashamed of it either. It's just here. I can't help it. I'm genetically programmed to win, is all. Several consecutive generations."

This is his newest hardback, but I'm glad that once I was "hooked" (by Hard Way) I went back and read them in the order they were published.

I'm getting back into the knitting. Please be patient!

Trolling for compliments

2006-12-22T03:43:00.000-06:00

Here are two gnome/trolls that DD felted from a kit.
If I can find a source for boucle "hair" I'll probably make more as gifts!
I'm sure they only do good deeds.

A Joy-Fulled Pair

2006-12-22T03:08:00.000-06:00

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was knitting bowls and boxes? Well, I finally ran them through the wash. (There was a shocking pink tweed hat in there... but I forgot to take a photo of it. Perhaps the recipient will forward me one!

Anyway, here is an eggplant "bowl." It is actually rectangular. And the toy polar bear doesn't much help with scale! It has some paperclips and glitter stars in it which gives more of a clue. It is about 3 x 4 inches.

I free-form knitted a "box" I may need to do something different about the "lid" because obviously it doesn't cope with the bulging sides very well.

Just the same, I was happy with the I-cord loop and "button."

I made several bowls in Christmasy colors and filled them with candy. They sold well for my PEO fundraiser. Do you think it was the chocolate or the bowls?

If I have time, I'm going to make some stitch markers with wire/beading supplies I got during the summer.

Graft and Seduction!

2006-12-22T02:47:00.000-06:00

I've now grafted TWICE on the Circumnavigated Cardigan! On purpose! At one point I was using three circular needles.

The second grafting was at the bottom edge of the sweater.... so that the pocket would actually have a bottom rather than be a two sided hole. It is deep enough for my fingers and a kleenex or ID or housekeys.

First was at the top of the pocket... from which I am knitting onward and upward toward the arm hole.

I think the bottom "edging" will be 4 or 5 ridges of garter stitch... so I'll have more of a jacket than sweater. I certainly don't need ribbing or snuggness anywhere in the middle!

I am really liking how the offset-eyelet pattern, pocket, grafting, faux side seam and pocket edging are coming together. You can click on the images to see them bigger.

I apologize for the variety of colors in the pictures. Invariably I do my finishing up and photography in the wee hours of the morning... I debate whether I should use the flash... which washes everything out, or not, which requires vigorous use of photoshop tools. It would probably help if yarns came with Pantone numbers! Even with just brightening or lightening the images, the colors vary a lot. On my monitor this one is truest.

Off the beaten Path

2006-12-08T02:21:00.000-06:00

A woman in London knitted a Ferrari as part of her art degree.

Thanks to K. Olbermann and Countdown for having the story... and to DIY for having some searchable photos.

Cookies, Chocolate, Civics or..... KNITTING

2006-12-05T02:03:00.000-06:00

Which will you pick?
These are all listed as part of the 2007 USPS commemorative stamp project.

Knitting Content!!

2006-12-03T02:45:00.000-06:00

Progress (if not perfection)! I got past a significant transition in the Circumnavigated Cardigan tonight. I fused the front pouch pockets. The outcome isn't perfect, but then, I've fiddled with this pattern so much, I didn't expect it. I know I'll make this sweater another time... and I have some ideas about how I would cope with the challenge of the pattern's assumptions of stockinette stitch, when in fact, I was doing a 4 row repeated pattern. Nevertheless i find the results quite adequate.

What are you creating?

2006-11-26T17:16:00.000-06:00

I had just been thinking about how the quantity of my knitting and posting are mostly un-related.

When I know what I'm doing, I do a lot of it. So I have almost deep-enough pockets on the circumnatigating cardigan-- and nothing interesting to say about it. It is K2 K2tog YO over and over!

On the other hand, I was also inspired by Mason Dixon to knit some "boxes". A friend tried it and warned me that she didn't care for the texture of the felted garter stitch, so I was already mentally prepared to fiddle with the pattern. Um, make that "ignore the pattern"!

So I've been knitting and crocheting and free-form knitting with the skeins of Cascade I got last month. I probably should have felted a sample sooner, but look at all the possibilities I've created.

Some boxes and some bowls. I'm thinking they'll make nice cachepots for earrings or rings ... which I may make, too. Or purchase. You know... extra gifts for the increasing number of people who seem to "have everything."

Then this quote came via a weekly quote subscription.

Life isn't about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
George Bernard Shaw

That's the thing about knitting. You don't go FIND it. You create it. The process of doing it makes it made clear.

Imagine and reflect.
Inform yourself.
Take a risk or two or twenty.
Repeat

I would love to hear about what YOU are creating.

Starting. Finishing. Middling.

2006-11-05T13:40:00.000-06:00

So you've set up a goal.
And it is SMART.

specific

measurable

achievable

reasonable

time-limited

Do you know where you stumble?

I committed to the Circumnavigated Cardigan. I even committed to what yarn to use (with the urgent and optimistic comments from DD: "Just buy it, Mooms." )
And I swatched.
And swatched and swatched. Because, of course, I'm not doing my sweater in plain stockinette. O No! I'm going to add staggered eyelets. A ventilated sweater is a good thing when you are prone to having hot flashes.

In my swatch I even figured out how to knit the pattern backwards from the wrong side.

Then I figured out how to stagger the pattern depending on whether I was knitting on the right or wrong side within the same row. (Trust me, the pattern is just as weird and magical as it sounds.)
So I measured my circumference (Equatorial in measurements), multiplied by gauge, multiplied by inches, and cast on.

PROVISIONALLY. (Which I hadn't done before.) Cool. I learned three ways to do it, too.

And it's coming along. Slowly. But that's to be expected with projects do that have a couple of hundred stitches per row.

In the meantime a new knitter that I coach brought a bag full of not-quite-finished projects to me "for advice."
She'd done the knitting. Her kittens had tried to make holes in a couple of scarves, but I showed her how you could rearrange the yarn and get back to the original tension. (Rather like blocking, but without water!)

She mused that she seemed to have a fear of finishing. I told her she's not the only one!

What keeps you from finishing?

There are two things (among others) that slow me down in the completion phase:

Fear that I don't know how to do the finish work. (The kitchener stitch is "new" every time I run into it.... still.)
Realization that how to finish the piece is totally up to me. Fringe? Tassels? Buttons? Hooks? Frogs? Zipper? And sometimes how I'd like to finish it involves another case of not knowing how to do it.

This kind of fear is just not helpful. There is nothing life-threatening about finishing a scarf, pot holder or sweater. Like DD says, "Just do it." And if you don't like it, you can frog it and do something else. Or you can do a different one and jettison the first one. It's not life or death! It's life! It's knitting!

Oh, and it doesn't hurt to have a few cheerleaders nearby, no matter what.

Knitting Lessons

2006-10-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

48 Meme

Today, I'm answering questions that are going around.
1. FIRST NAME? Dana

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I think I was named after a whole country: Denmark

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Last Tuesday after a doctor’s appointment. I’ve come to an age where it feels like it's just patch, patch, patch..

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes. I used to teach calligraphy and it still shows.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Chicken or pastrami.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Sure. I'm caring but funny.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes, I do. And I write in it!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Are you kidding? No way.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? GoLean Crunch

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Depends on how tight they were tied and whether my toes are tired.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? More so every day.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Starbucks Java Chocolate

14. SHOE SIZE? 8 ½ or 9

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My tendency to whine too long instead of taking action.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Friends from a coffee group. I stopped going to their church and feel I don't have enough in common with them.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Post it on your blog, leave me a comment. Or just email me. :-D

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Purple heathered sweats, mauve sweater with red (!) socks. No shoes.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Peanut M&M’s

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Dallas Stars vs Phoenix alternating with the Cardinals/Tigers World Series game.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue green.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Fresh brewed hazelnut coffee. Pine trees.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My sister-in-law in Missouri.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Shoulders. Eyes. Smile.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you got this from? Very much: My daughter.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Rusty Nail, Coffee, Diet Coke, Water

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Hockey. Making puns.

29. EYE COLOR? Blue.

30. HAT SIZE? Plus sized.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes. And reading glasses.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Mostly anything I didn’t have to cook. I make really good banana bread, though.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Depends. I like to think about the characters.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Fall.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Key Lime Pie or Paradise Pie (from Chili’s)

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Social Intelligence (Coleman), and Robert B Parker’s Spenser mysteries.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE? Enlarged water droplets.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Hockey. Countdown.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Wind chimes. Marching bands. Harp.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Ireland or Scotland. Ireland was definitely a longer flight.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Using metaphors to help people understand themselves or family members.

<>47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Pasadena, CA

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I took it from my daughter’s blog.

On the road again

2006-10-09T02:23:00.000-05:00

I am embarrassed to realize that I wrote TWO entries about quitting. Isn't it odd that in our world, it is OK to start things, but less OK to stop them. How do you suppose we learned that it was OK to start a war, but not stop one, or OK to roll out a new flavor of COKE, but less OK to recall it.

Don't get me wrong, I Know I'm not a quitter by nature and I stand by what I wrote as paraphrased:

When things aren't going the way you want, and nothing helps, STOP. Do "nothing" and let the nothingness be helpful.

Apparently, I did nothing (at least as far as knitting goes) for long enough, because yesterday I investigated yarn, PURCHASED yarn, and have begun SWATCHING for the Dallas Handknitters Guild year long project: The Circumnavigated Cardigan. You can see several versions on the Ample Knitter's page. There's a diagram, too.

This version on the Joslyn's Fiber Farm site
is gorgeous in blue! The pattern itself allows for a Jacket collar, a V-neck and several shoulder/sleeve combinations.

I figured out what I needed in order to start up again from that "Nothing helps" place. Guess what the missing pieces were?
Yeah... The same ones as always. Preparation and Support.

With most any action (and definitely with any change) there are 7 steps:

1. Precontemplation -- What, It's summer still, why would I even think about making a sweater?
2. Contemplation -- Hmm. The guild's doing a neat sweater. I might enjoy that.
3. Preparation -- What are my measurements? (gasp) What kind of sweater do I want? What color? What's the budget? Does it have to be washable? Who will be supportive? The darling visiting daughter!!
4. Action --START KNITTING. The DVD is investigating double knitting in Encore, So I have companionship while I knit. Wheeeeeeee!!!.
5. Maintenance -- KEEP KNITTING
6. Relapse -- Maybe take a break for making gifts..... Or not!
7. Completion or Normalizing. FINISH THE SWEATER.

I'm making it out of Superwash Nashua. (Thanks to the Romanian sheep) It is a lovely aqua color. I may get another needle a size up to see if I want the fabric to be looser with more drape. The DK on 7's is rather form in texture.

Oh... and I didn't win the haiku sock yarn contest. But be sure to go here to read the winners!! It'll improve your health because I don't think you can read them without LAUGHING!

Cease, then!

2006-10-09T02:19:00.000-05:00

I was getting 'bad' side effects from a 'good' medicine. I complained to someone with the knowledge and experience who gave me permission to stop taking it for a while. If your knitting stops working (or anything else) Stop. It may be that you can start up with better results later. Or, you may discover that something just isn't you. For some it is lace, or socks or angora. It is OK to be your real self in all aspects of life and craft.

Here is some weaving I saw at a local art fare. Don't you love the colors?

When nothing helps, Do nothing.

2006-10-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

I'm away from home trying to be supportive of my husband as well as his immediate family while is mother recuperates from a fall and hip surgery.
I thought I was going to be able to knit.
I checked an ENTIRE second bag with the airline that ONLY had knitting in it. DK in a terrific aqua for a new lace shawl pattern.Socks to finish.Scratchy, tangly yarn (in a small quantity) for a scarf.Ribbon yarn (see WAY below) to finish a sweater for self.
Knitting isn't the right thing to do. I should have brought log cabin squares... or maybe a baby blanket. THOSE projects would have been simple, repetitive and soothing enough to work on. The WIP's aren't any of them like that.
So, instead, I am reading Spenser novels by Robert J. Parker and drinking coffee or Diet Coke and being as fully present as I can to what takes priority.
Family. Common Ground. Understanding.
Sometimes knitting lets you know what your priorities really are... even when it isn't the knitting.

What tempts you?

2006-09-22T23:20:00.000-05:00

A contest and the possibility of "free stuff" (sock yarn! whoo hooo!!)

January One tempted hundreds of us knitters with sock yarn.

This is my entry. Go read the "rules." Contest closes Saturday the 23rd.

Sheep feet freeze in Fall.
Lacking opposable thumbs
knit wool gift socks rock!

You are the only one

2006-09-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

who can be creative in YOUR way.

Knitters sometimes don't think they are creative because they follow patterns, fiber recommendations and always knit to gauge.

I say that if you didn't have anything before, and now you HAVE something, creativity has been in the room.

Other knitters think that if they didn't follow the pattern, used something completely different than was called for and switched needle sizes that they were "stubborn," "wrong," or "careless," rather than creative.

I have an email friend, Elin, who does a painting a day. They are usually landscapes, usually in California, and often with horses in them. Sometimes she ventures as far north as Big Sur, or south to San Diego. Everyday I wonder what she will have sent me by subscription.

And then she sent this a piece she did as a demonstration in a class. As she noted, it is completely different from what she usually does. And as much as I like the taste of California, this is the one I most regretted not being able to purchase.

It goes to show. There are the things you usually do. And they have value, and people come to expect them of you. Then there are the things you do rarely. Perhaps even accidentally. And THEY have value, too.

Love your creativity, your experiments, your effort.
(What creativity IS will be the topic for another day.)

2006-09-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are interchangeable.Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

2006-09-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

Do you start with Love or Reason?

I had the pleasure of attending the local opening meeting of the Dallas Hand Knitter's Guild last week. It was great to see so many new knitters, and get re-acquainted with knitters I came to know last year. Some I know by name (fewer than I'd like), some I know by project (the ones who embark upon huge projects that take a long time, and some I know by the kinds of colors they use.Most of us are the ordinary/extraordinary types you'd expect to meet at a craft or art meeting. Women. But not just "women of a certain age;" women of ALL ages. I am impressed by one knitter who comes with her guide dog. She made a beautiful baby blue cardigan last spring... even though she said she'd forgotten what color it was when she held it up for show and tell. I admired the courage of the solitary male knitter who was in attendance with needles clicking.

The beginning of the year announcements included a thrilling idea. An all-guild knit-along of something called (I think...) a Circumnavigated Sweater. NO SEAMS!!!! And we'll learn how to use a VERY generic (but pretty famous) pattern and measure and swatch and count and add/divide/multiply so it FITS.

But first Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer or E-S (as she refers to herself) spoke about yarn.

How do you choose your yarn? Are you a lover or a planner?

If I am "only" in the budget range for a couple of skeins, I tend to be a lover.
How does it feel? What color is it? Pretty superficial, actually!!

But Jackie made a great case for being a planner when it comes to investing the money, time and EFFORT in making something substantial. If you ever get a chance to take her full workshop on yarn selection, it's a good investment.

Until then, here are some highlights from my notes.

Figure out what the numbers on the ball band or cone mean so you know how many yards/meters you'll need.

Learn about ply and stranding. It will let you know how likely your yarn is to pull apart (think cotton candy).

Yarns can have Z twists or S twists. They will look different when knit up.

And there are tests!

Does your yarn bleed when soaked?

Does your yarn kink when wet?

Does your yarn shrink after being wet?

Does your yarn burn, self-extinguish or melt?

It might be of value to consider being more of a planner than a lover in other areas of life and work, don't you think? Here are some that came to mind. What would you add?

Hiring employees
Buying anything that needs to last: car, house, winter coat
Coaching someone's college choice
Coaching someone's career change

And the best news? I truly believe that when the planning is well done, loving the outcome comes naturally.

The Curl in the Heat Wave

2006-08-30T20:56:00.000-05:00

Until yesterday it was too hot to knit. At least for me.

I have at least as many WIP's as the average person. And some of them have begun to pout because they have been set aside for so long. But my lap and wool just don't get along when it is over 100 degrees.

Yesterday, though, it rained. And rained long enough to actually be part of a cool front. So this evening it is down to 85 (almost 9 pm).

I got excited about one of the yarn combos from my last stash addition venture. The swatched combo wasn't as thrilling as I wanted it to be, so I rummaged around amongst earlier acquired balls and skeins. Nobody NEEDS a scarf in August in Texas. But making one for December is another story.

Lesson?
When it doesn't feel like the right time to do something, you can count on a right time coming around soon enough. (When it arrives, do not procrastinate!)

Having a little extra something for a rainy day can make life a lot more fun.

Snobby, Snobbier, Snobbiest

2006-08-27T04:04:00.000-05:00

In my work as a life coach, I rarely come across people call themselves snobs.
I bet my fifth grade social studies teacher would say that true Americans are not snobbish, because after all, it's right in the Declaration of Independence that all men (sic!!) are created equal. And then there was the "melting pot" in the Land of Opportunity. I even remember her trying to convince us that the concept of "class" didn't apply to the United States. That I did not believe. Even back then. If snobs know anything, it is that not everyone or everything is created equal.

As a knitter, I bet you've run into a Yarn Snob or two. You know there's bulky yarn and lace weight yarn. There's acrylic, eyelash, wool and alpaca. There's hand spun, hand dyed and hand plied. There's cheap and there's outrageous. They just aren't equal. Some people discriminate to such extremes that they refuse to work with whole categories of fiber.

It's my view that there's no BAD yarn. O, there's wrong yarn, to be sure. The wrong yarn for the project, for the knitter, for the season, for the needles or for the wallet. Whether my yarn is better than yours, is only a matter of my (extremely) subjective criteria and judgment. It might not even have any basis in experience.

I've knit my share of acrylic baby items. I like that they are soft, washable and virtually indestructible. I know a Red-heart baby-blanket that had a very happy 25 year life!

I've knit with Debbie Bliss's CashmerinoAran, too. The finished sweater is soft, handwashable, and cost me so much that I think I scared the recipient out of ever wearing it.

One of my nearest and dearest recently confessed to being a "craft snob." She was sucked into a rather powerful vortex of scrapbookers who were en masse at a Convention. It may even have been a trade show. In my experience, scrapbookers tend to be suburban moms, and they tend to like things that are "cute." People at tradeshows can be pretty intense, too. Focused or manic? You decide. Ms. Near and Dear is an independent urbanite with no kids. She ditched "cute" about the same time she realized that neither Barbie nor any of the American Girls had 401K's.

One of the problems with "crafts" is that they are sometimes mixed up with "art." That stuff you did at summer camp was "arts and crafts," right? And some of us gained a reputation for being "artsy crafts" or if we were really into it we were "artsy fartsy." Guilty on all counts. Without doing lots of research, I think "art" is about expressing an individual's unique experience of the world in a creative way. Sometimes our life is our art. Othertimes our art is poetry, or painting, or parenting. Craft or crafts is about doing something useful in an elegant or beautiful way. There can definitely be creativity and expression, but crafts should evidence craftsmanship. I am not a snob when it comes to well-crafted crafts, whether it be a quilt, a birdhouse, a mosaic coaster, or a scrapbook. Whether it is snobbishness or thrift or preference, I don't have much use for projects of any kind that were done sloppily, or unconsciously. But when art or craft comes from the heart, snobbishness is best set aside. How snobby are you?

Set your TIVO

2006-08-20T17:46:00.000-05:00

Somebody's got to do it.My DH tells me that The Discovery Channel is taking on the challenge of Shearing Alpacas this week. I wouldn't have thought it would be part of the series The Dirtiest Jobs. Tuesday night or Friday. Check your local listings and thank your lucky stars for your LYS or Web Shop!

Folk ARE rather amazing when you think about it.

2006-08-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

I snagged Folk Shawls in pristine, awesome condition at Half-Price Books this afternoon.
I'd seen it many times in many places and had been in too much of a rush to really look at it. The author looked at lots of shawls from lots of places and de-constructed them (she's got LOTS of degrees in lots of things, so I am quite sure that deconstruction is an appropriate word!) for the rest of us. Faroe shawls, Irish shawls, a silk Japanese tea shawl, a Tibetan prayer shawl. At least half of them have lace work and her inclusion of charts AND descriptions look like they will be helpful.

But I was really thinking about the just plain folk who made these in the first place. They had time and materials and the desire to improve ever so slightly on what their mothers or grandmothers had done. And then some industry or something wiped out the need for this, that or the other. Some would surely include knitted lace in the "nonessential" category! I wish I'd known my great Aunt well enough to improve on her pie pastry. Ha! Not likely.

My point is, even if you think you "just" scrap book, or "just" tinker with a banana bread recipe, know that you are part of folk craft, folk art and the thread that links craftswomen and craftsmen together; continent to continent, religion to religion, hemisphere to hemisphere.

Knitted Nefertiti?

2006-08-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

I just got home from a VERY successful book buying adventure at Half Price Books.

Now don't get me wrong, I love this book, and am excited about reading it closely and maybe even trying some of the patterns. The author, Jan Messent, has invested thousands of hours, I'm sure, in making padded dolls with armatures and then clothing them in well-researched, knitted replicas of historical costumes.

Knitted Nefertiti and her escort?
Elizabeth I?
Hester Prynne?
Mozart or his cousin?
King Henry VII?
A Gibson girl?
They are all here. Knitted knickers and all.

But what did I already learn?
There's always SOMEBODY curiouser than me. And that's saying something!
It also means that if I'm interested in something, there's probably somebody else who cares, too. It's nice to have company!!

Oh, and she wrote Knit the Christmas Story, Knit an Enchanted Castle Knitted Garden too. And in her book there's also a promo for The Knitted Farmyard.

Sometimes doing what you "usually" do is the wrong solution.

2006-08-07T21:48:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I got burned out. My knitting needles and numerous Works In Progress lacked all appeal. No matter how many times I looked at them, or at the pattern books, or even at the list of things-to-be-completed before December.

It might be the 100+ tempertures (or evening temperatures in the low 80's.)
Too hot to knit. Cranky. Even with lovely synthetic ribbon yarn or light lace weight alpaca.

So I put away the WIP's and got out my needle felting barbs.
Jab jab jab.
Stab Stab Stab.
Being calm and meditative couldn't hold a candle to fibrous hostility.

I'm molding a small polar bear. No, I won't be able to "wear him in the winter" or show him off at a wedding shower.
But I will have my sanity. That's a good thing.

Sometimes it pays to change pace.

Never Ignore a Mistake

2006-07-28T18:46:00.000-05:00

Humans make mistakes. Inevitably. At school. At work. At home.

Given that sweaters, afgans and even socks have hundreds and thousands of loops, knots, yarnovers and irregular combinations of same, knitters make mistakes.

I learned something valuable about fixing mistakes from knitting. .

Mistakes appear at different times. Sometimes you know right away. Sometimes you don't notice for a long time. Mistakes happen at the beginning, middle or end of a process. Sometimes they hide until the project is (supposedly) finished.

When you find a mistake, my first bit of advice is to admit it. Especially to yourself. Even if it turns your stomach, turns your blood to ice or gives you a headache. Do NOT castigate yourself or whip up a frenzy of shame and humiliation. Calm yourself and tell Panic to go away.

First, figure out what went wrong.

dropped stitch?
twisted stitch?
purled instead of knitted or vice versa?
wrong increase or decrease?
erroneous knitting of a yarn over?
read from the wrong part of the pattern?

Figure out what it will take to fix the mistake as soon as possible. With most projects you'll notice before the object is finished and off the needles.

Sometimes, with a steady hand and a crochet hook, one can drop a single line of stitches, fix the wayward one and pick the stitches back up.

Other times, when the pattern is very complex, you just need to rip back. It might feel like starting over.

Rarely, the best solution is "cosmetic surgery." The Yarn Harlot figured a way to stitch over a cable that went in the wrong direction... which meant she did not have to reknit the whole front of the sweater AND the error was nearly invisible.

Take the time to figure out what went wrong.

I make more mistakes when I

am tired
am in a hurry
do not adequately prepare
try short cuts
forget the real purpose and value in what I am doing

The problem with not fixing mistakes is that you always know where they are, AND that your integrity, pride, craftsmanship or whatever was insufficient to make the end result the best you were able to produce.

It is humbling to admit error. It can be embarrasing to do what it takes to fix it.

It is better than wondering

"Who's going to notice?"
"What will they think?"
"What will happen next?

the sooner you rip back, the sooner you get back on track

Got Gauge?

2006-07-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

"Knit a swatch to make sure you are knitting to gauge."

Aside from a few folks who make dish- or wash- cloths from their swatches, I don't know many people who really like to make gauge samples.

If you GET gauge, there's the belief that you'd have already "gotten somewhere" if you had just started your project. A baby sweater might be equivalent to the swatch you need for a linebacker's fisherman knit. The urge to skip swatching is especially strong as Fall approaches and people realize they have impossibly long lists of knitted gifts to make before year's end.
If you do NOT get gauge, there is a period of high anxiety coupled with multiplication, fractions and proportions during which you decide how to alter the pattern to get the size and drape of knitting you and the pattern-designer had in mind.

Another way to talk about gauge is "tension." Everyone sees to have their own normal level of tension that is normal and works for them. My knitting gets overly loose if I am falling asleep while purling. It tightens up if I am watching Fright Night on the tube, or if I
am riled up about something.

In life, like knitting, it is important that you work at your natural, "best" tension level. I call my best tension level "alert" or mindful. I respond quickly and easily to my sensory intake. I think clearly, avoid most errors, correct them as quickly as possible and am satisfied with the results.

What does it take for you to be at your ideal tension level?

Eyeore and the Blues

2006-07-16T00:32:00.000-05:00

A friend of me confessed she was feeling like Eyeore because she'd been in the (very large, very tidy) home of a friend to watch her children for her.

Now, I must confess that I have felt the same way at my local hand knitting guild. The Finished Objects these people display!!

Some of them must have Platinum accounts at the most exotic yarn shops, or stock in Rowan and Debbie Bliss. Others have more hours in the day than I do, and certainly fewer hours requiring the use of their eyes and hands doing anything besides knitting.

As it happens, I have never knit a Kaffe Fassett sweater.

Nor have I ever knit a Fair Isle sweater. I hope to, but it hasn't happened yet.

(This blog is lessons FROM knitting, not lessons IN knitting, okay?)

Feeling BLUE can be informative, though most people find it unpleasant.
For me, the bad part about feeling Blue is having to listen to the Nasty Little Voice of depression. The NLV is almost ALWAYS saying:

I wish I hadn't stopped myself from trying that.
I could have done it if I had kept fear out of the driver's seat.
I wonder if I'm not as good/smart/valuable/(etc, ad infinitum) and the person who did it.

I can silence the NLV. by:

finishing a project that I have in the works -- like those cabled and lace socks in the WIP drawer.
finding a new one that is exciting and starting it -- Oooh, there's a lace knit along and a log cabin knit along. What fun!
thinking about something completely different.

Perhaps you would prefer to avoid the Eyeore experience in the first place?
It is really quite simple.

Do not compare yourself to others.

Think about all the inner conversations that would come to a standstill if there were nothing to compare yourself to. For that matter, think of all the debate, arguments and outright disagreements you could avoid with OTHER people by refusing to compare or be compared.

When a project is NOT finished

2006-07-15T01:04:00.000-05:00

I got a lot of knitting done today.

More than I expected because of a LONG wait before an appointment.
The good news is that I have now finished the back of the sweater I'm making. One piece finished and 3 more to go. Not to mention the sewing up and blocking.
It occurs to me: I AM PROUD OF MYSELF! When you get to a significant benchmark and want to celebrate, CELEBRATE! And when you are ready, re-start your engine and get back to work.

If your life went as smoothly as your knitting, what would you choose to do?
The Knitting Coach would be glad to help you get started... "swiftly"

After a project is finished

2006-07-12T01:15:00.000-05:00

I forget that even though I have now knit TWO cabled Fisherman type sweaters, (and many fancy scarves, a jacket, and socks, socks, socks!) there's no guarantee that the next project will go smoothly.

The first fisherman was naively knit in acrylic (OMG... but it was the 60's!!) Like the sister in the Tale of the Seven Swans, I tried to knit a protective spell for the then love of my life and bane of my mother's existance. I don't know if he wore it much, but it fit. It was beautiful, and heaven knows it was probably indestructible. (More so than he was. According to Ancestors.com I've outlived him.)

The second fisherman was knit for my son. I still don't know why I waited until "the baby" was over 6 feet tall to do a hand knit for him. It needs the cuffs to be "tightened" and even in Indiana said son says it is too warm to wear. It is in Bliss' Cashmerino Aran and is divine. If I don't see evidence of it being worn, or get it in the mail to fix the cuffs, I may ask for it back and wear it at night!

Anyway-- Even though you might have accomplished something very challenging -- such as a cabled sweater, or getting a raise, or surviving one form or another of cancer, grief or natural disaster, it doesn't mean that there won't be more challenges ahead.

Wouldn't it be nice if a challenge in the past acted like a vaccine against future trials?

But it doesn't. I nearly went bats learning the Arrowhead Lace pattern. I mumbled unpleasant incantations while knitting face cloths of all things. Well, they WERE lace and used size 2 needles. And then there's the brioche stitch swatch to the right... and there were INSTRUCTIONS for that.

In real life, when you see the next challenge has arrived, brought new baggage but no instructions it, and acts like it's sticking around for a while, take a deep breath, pace yourself andget to work.

First apply what you already know. It might be enough!
If that doesn't work, what do you need to know? I went to my local yarn shop when in the throes of the Arrowhead Lace and whined to the resident expert. All she did was ask one powerful question: "What happens on the row before?" When I got home to my knitting, focusing my attention there clarified the whole pattern, even with its repeats!

Always,

remember to avoid sleep deprivation,
ask for help when you are repeating your same mistakes,
remind yourself that it isn't an emergency, and
that you can take another crack at it in the morning.

If you'd like a powerful question to clarify a challenge, contact me!

Knitting Lessons

2006-07-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

How to begin?

When I begin a knitting project there has always been some inspirational seed that was planted previously. It might be a gorgeous color, or fiber, or pattern, or even some fad that I wanted to be a part of. It might EVEN be a matter of need or practicality.

So sometimes the beginning happens even before I begin.
So, if I have an idea of what I want to end up with, and I have the yarn, and, yes--have knit a gauge swatch-- there is still the matter of how to begin.

There are 4 cast-on methods that I actually know how to do. There are several more that I know about, but have never tried.

For this project, I decided to "just do it" and use what to me is the quickest.

Sometimes it's just fun to make a lot of progress and do what you know how to do.

It's OK if it doesn't immediately resemble what you hope it will. Can YOU tell what this will be?

And it's also OK to just love little bits and pieces of what you do. I have some concerns that the finished fabric will be a little clingy... and am ignoring them for now because I love the interplay and randomness of the very short color changes in this yarn.