The plummeting temperature of our apartment has us wondering if we shouldn't abandon our current projects and instead put all our efforts into knitting some gd INSULATION.
Not to dramatize the situation here, but I've literally had to take breaks from typing between these tiny paragraphs to warm up my hands. I guess if I can't actually knit insulation for the apartment, I could do the next best thing and knit some insulation for my mittens.
Or I could abandon absolutely everything and follow the example of one Raveler who posted today about knitting herself a coffin. I bet it would be warm in a knitted coffin.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tricot Treat!
That's right, I'm treating you to the very most obvious pun on French knitting vocabulary! Because you know me -- I only deal in superlatives, and lately only the guiltiest superlatives: the longest lunch, the earliest bedtime, the bare minimum and, of course, the last minute.
But there is always time to spare for a bit of knitting, especially if it's the easiest possible knitting, like the tube scarf I'm working on in some yarn I bought at La Droguerie, an amazing yarn store I visited in Paris. That's right, the scarf is literally just a tube. See?
I cast on 70 stitches, joined without twisting, and just took off knitting. I'm a little over halfway finished, having just started on my second of 2 skeins. I'm thrilled with the results and a lot less concerned than I expected to be about the simplicity of the "design." I tried various ribbings but was disgusted by my tension problems. I CANNOT get the first purl stitch of the column to look nice! Luckily it turns out that the yarn requires very little from me in order to look beautiful. It's actually two yarns held together (one a 100% bamboo and one a laceweight mohair), an idea I ripped off from a sample scarf hanging on the wall at the store. The friendly clerk helped me coordinate the colors and wound the two strands together in skeins for me, and I was so pleased by my success in conducting this transaction in French that I hardly noticed the price (27 euros, yikes! If only it were dollars!).
Like I said, the store itself is wonderful. It's in the neighborhood of Les Halles and the Saint Eustache cathedral, and it's pretty big for a French store of its kind, or at least seemed so to me. One side is devoted to yarn and patterns, with all the available colors in each yarn hanging unwound from hooks on the wall. Deeper in is a display counter of buttons, most simple and sophisticated but some very silly. On the other side of the store, they sell beads stored in jars like penny candy and embroidery supplies. When I was there, it was crowded and just past twilight, so I did not take any photos. However, a few days later, I was shopping at Printemps and paid a visit to the Phildar boutique on the top floor of the store, and I can show you that, if from a bit of a distance. I wish American department stores gave as much space to craft supplies.
But there is always time to spare for a bit of knitting, especially if it's the easiest possible knitting, like the tube scarf I'm working on in some yarn I bought at La Droguerie, an amazing yarn store I visited in Paris. That's right, the scarf is literally just a tube. See?
I cast on 70 stitches, joined without twisting, and just took off knitting. I'm a little over halfway finished, having just started on my second of 2 skeins. I'm thrilled with the results and a lot less concerned than I expected to be about the simplicity of the "design." I tried various ribbings but was disgusted by my tension problems. I CANNOT get the first purl stitch of the column to look nice! Luckily it turns out that the yarn requires very little from me in order to look beautiful. It's actually two yarns held together (one a 100% bamboo and one a laceweight mohair), an idea I ripped off from a sample scarf hanging on the wall at the store. The friendly clerk helped me coordinate the colors and wound the two strands together in skeins for me, and I was so pleased by my success in conducting this transaction in French that I hardly noticed the price (27 euros, yikes! If only it were dollars!).
Like I said, the store itself is wonderful. It's in the neighborhood of Les Halles and the Saint Eustache cathedral, and it's pretty big for a French store of its kind, or at least seemed so to me. One side is devoted to yarn and patterns, with all the available colors in each yarn hanging unwound from hooks on the wall. Deeper in is a display counter of buttons, most simple and sophisticated but some very silly. On the other side of the store, they sell beads stored in jars like penny candy and embroidery supplies. When I was there, it was crowded and just past twilight, so I did not take any photos. However, a few days later, I was shopping at Printemps and paid a visit to the Phildar boutique on the top floor of the store, and I can show you that, if from a bit of a distance. I wish American department stores gave as much space to craft supplies.
Finally, I made one other yarn purchase back in Dayton that was just as exciting to me as the ones I made in France: my first skein of handspun yarn, made my the mother of one of my oldest friends. Her website is here. She showed me her spinning wheel, her fiber stash in the attic, and her imposing yarn storage room, barricaded with impenetrable walls of rubbermaid containers. From one such container, I chose a lovely blue and orange wool, which Joe says smells nice and wooly. 
After a bit of experimenting, I chose the Opera scarf pattern, which blessedly consists of just a single row to memorize. I'm in a race against spring with all this scarf knitting. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Catch Up, Catch All
You know how once you fall out of touch with someone, part of what keeps you from making contact again is the guilt you feel over the initial neglect? Along with the pressure of reporting on months' worth of living in a single and inevitably newsy letter? I guess these are my lame but honest excuses for having abandoned blogging this fall and holiday season...But today, fooling around with Picasa, I found a solution that has once again hoisted me back in the blogging saddle. So I offer you, first, a compilation work-in-progress photo of all the gift knitting I did for this year's birthday and holiday season:

Then, of course, there are the corresponding FOtos (hey, it's my neologism and I'm sticking to it):
Needless to say, each of these gifts has a story and a reason for being just what it is, but I think this time the stories will just have to remain unwritten. Nonetheless, I think we can all agree that the most "special" of all my knitting projects turned out to be Uncle Louie's Orange Hat, which as expected inspired much good cheer and not a few jokes of questionable taste at this year's Christmas party. That photo deserves a blowing up:
If I have half as much fun in 2008 as Uncle Louie is having in this picture, it will be a good year.

Then, of course, there are the corresponding FOtos (hey, it's my neologism and I'm sticking to it):

Needless to say, each of these gifts has a story and a reason for being just what it is, but I think this time the stories will just have to remain unwritten. Nonetheless, I think we can all agree that the most "special" of all my knitting projects turned out to be Uncle Louie's Orange Hat, which as expected inspired much good cheer and not a few jokes of questionable taste at this year's Christmas party. That photo deserves a blowing up:
If I have half as much fun in 2008 as Uncle Louie is having in this picture, it will be a good year.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Knit One, Kill Two
I'm sure, however, that your mind has never left the yarn, and I can't say I'm surprised. I was faced with a terrible choice, Reader: which yarn should I choose for the simple sock project that would take my mind off the sweater debacle? If I were a stronger person, I'd have waited until Lilyriver came back from France and let her decide what she wanted, but I, I am sorry to say, am not so good, nor so patient, and I've been eyeing the Zitron Lifestyle for awhile. It did not disappoint. It's a 100% superwash merino sock yarn, and I'm guessing the base yarn is Louet Gems, because it feels just like Koigu. It's just flat-out a pleasure to knit with such a well-spun, elastic yarn. I cast on 64 on 2.5mm dpns, did 5.5" of cuff in 3x1 ribbing and a 2.75" gusset. As you can see, I've finished one sock since Tuesday, and I'm about halfway through the foot on sock #2--I've never knit socks this fast before. Admittedly, this is partly because I've been glued to my Heroes season 1 boxed set, but a lovely, non-splitty yarn really helps. (I broke out the DPNs for the first time in awhile, and I think that for me, DPNs are faster than 2 circs. 2 circs have many other advantages, but I don't think DPNs can be beat in terms of speed.)
The drawbacks: the yardage for the Lifestyle is scant. Not quite Colinette Jitterbug scant, but two balls (100g) total only about 340 yards instead of the more standard 400ish. I had to rip back my first sock and start the toe decreases earlier so I'd be able to make them long enough to accommodate size 10 feet. I finished with maybe 2-3 yards left. Most people would find the yardage just fine, probably, but I like to make the leg part of my socks pretty long. The yarn is thicker than, say, Trekking (100g of Trekking Pro Natura has about 460 yards), and the ball band says you could get away with needles sized 2-4 (US) instead of the usual 0-2 (US), which helps make up for the comparatively little yardage. But that brings me to drawback deux, which is the durability factor. I've mentioned here, I think, that one of my Koigu socks got a hole on the bottom after less than a half dozen wearings and washings. I also knit those on 2.5mm (that's a 1.5 US for non-knitters). (I patched up the hole with some regular wool in the hopes that it would felt, and so far it seems to be working fine.) I tend to be hard on socks, so I'll be watching these to see if the Koigu/Louet Gems hole was a fluke or if I just need to stick with sock yarn that has some nylon in it.
If you want some of this, I'd recommend Astrid's Dutch Obsessions; while she's shipping, naturally, from the Netherlands, she charges $6 a ball instead of $10, and she has all the solid colors of this yarn, which are numerous and not widely distributed in the States.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Sweater autopsy
My First Sweater (TM) has turned out to be my Waterloo (a joke that never gets old, right? Right? Hello? Is this thing on?), Reader. I chose the Wicked sweater from Zephyr Style, a top down raglan (I think?) with a boat neck and some cabled details, and I used heathered burgundy Cascade 220. I will admit that I had my doubts about the Cascade 220: it didn't seem all that special to me, but it's cheap and known to be durable. As I used it, I came to appreciate its softness and springiness--I don't think you can go wrong with it. I do still think the donegal tweed version looks stupid. Sorry, Cascade.
This pattern is known to run large, so when my gauge was 20 stitches/4 inches rather than 18 on size 7s, I decided to just go with it. Reader, I can picture you muttering to yourself: Aha! Foreshadowing! This turned out, however, to not be the problem. Neither was it a problem when I realized about halfway through the collar that I'd forgotten to do the twist stitch and decided I didn't care. The problem is that the sweater is terribly unflattering. I've had this confirmed by Lilyriver, who tactfully noted that she thought it was too big. That might be one issue, despite the theoretical 2" of negative ease I thought I'd built in. Issue #2: worried that the sweater would be too small, I didn't do the waist shaping. I have a men's sweater that doesn't have shaping, so I didn't think the waist shaping would make much of a difference here. It may have, but it wouldn't have helped issue #3, which is that worsted-weight yarn and size 7 needles makes for a somewhat bulky knitted fabric. As acknowledging that it's possible that I might only be able to wear fine-gauge sweaters would cause me no small distress, I've decided that the real problem is issue #4: what was supposed to be a boat neck came out like a crew neck. I thought this might happen from some pictures I saw on Ravelry. Since patterns are resized according to a formula and not by reknitting the garment in each projected size, I think the neck doesn't doesn't quite work on the larger sizes. I think a v-neck would have helped the sweater look less bulky and would have given it a little more style.
For now, I'm not going to reknit it. (I actually still have a sleeve and a half left to go.) I'm tired of the yarn and I'm not sure I could fix it enough to make it wearable outside the house. I may eventually go back and experiment with waist shaping.
Happy new year, Reader!
This pattern is known to run large, so when my gauge was 20 stitches/4 inches rather than 18 on size 7s, I decided to just go with it. Reader, I can picture you muttering to yourself: Aha! Foreshadowing! This turned out, however, to not be the problem. Neither was it a problem when I realized about halfway through the collar that I'd forgotten to do the twist stitch and decided I didn't care. The problem is that the sweater is terribly unflattering. I've had this confirmed by Lilyriver, who tactfully noted that she thought it was too big. That might be one issue, despite the theoretical 2" of negative ease I thought I'd built in. Issue #2: worried that the sweater would be too small, I didn't do the waist shaping. I have a men's sweater that doesn't have shaping, so I didn't think the waist shaping would make much of a difference here. It may have, but it wouldn't have helped issue #3, which is that worsted-weight yarn and size 7 needles makes for a somewhat bulky knitted fabric. As acknowledging that it's possible that I might only be able to wear fine-gauge sweaters would cause me no small distress, I've decided that the real problem is issue #4: what was supposed to be a boat neck came out like a crew neck. I thought this might happen from some pictures I saw on Ravelry. Since patterns are resized according to a formula and not by reknitting the garment in each projected size, I think the neck doesn't doesn't quite work on the larger sizes. I think a v-neck would have helped the sweater look less bulky and would have given it a little more style.
For now, I'm not going to reknit it. (I actually still have a sleeve and a half left to go.) I'm tired of the yarn and I'm not sure I could fix it enough to make it wearable outside the house. I may eventually go back and experiment with waist shaping.
Happy new year, Reader!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Waiting for Godot.
Silence for so long, and then a pictureless post? I know; it's terrible. I promise not to make you any promises, Reader, since we know how good I am at fulfilling them. But you have a right to know of avery important development since I last wrote to you: I have decided--and this is not a decision I entered into lightly--I have decided--perhaps you'd better sit down--to sell all of my yarn and take up the noble art of Moon Sand instead.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
In lieu of an actual post, I offer you a comic. Drawn by someone else.
nataliedee.com
Courtesy of a loyal reader.
A real post will follow in the next few days, darling Readers, perhaps with a preview of my selfish, selfish winter break knitting plans, but Bolty has some papers that aren't going to grade themselves. The thing is that I think the ideal TA for this course probably is a robot, but Mechanical Man Corp. hasn't gotten back to me yet on the Bolterbot2000.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
We'll bend it to our awe, or break it all to pieces.
I have been holding out on you, Reader: I've got two pairs of mittens and two pairs of Fetchings I haven't blogged about yet. The Fetchings are a bit of a disappointment. One pair, out of Lion Wool, is just okay: the yarn isn't very exciting for a gift and I'm blah on the color. I did the other in Manos, and while I like the Manos (I don't love the Manos, may the dear lord baby Jesus strike me dead), I'm afraid they're too big. The problem is that Fetching is kind of a dainty pattern as opposed to a sturdy one, and I am a sturdy knitter. Manos is a sturdy yarn, Lion Wool is a sturdy yarn, and everything I knit comes out sturdy; so why I thought these things would add up to a dainty pair of Fetchings is rather beyond me. I have a friend who might like the Manos ones, and the Lion Wool ones will probably languish until in a fit of pique I claim them for my own. Maybe I'll try dyeing them I color I like better.
As for the mittens: I won't mince words, Reader. I looooove them.
I recently finished two pairs: one for Lilyriver for her birthday (only a week and a half late!) and one for an unnamed recipient.
At left is the right mitten of L.'s pair--it's a wretched picture, and I apologize, but that's how we roll in my woods. I do not know why I just said that, but it's staying. I'll attribute it to mitten ecstasy. That is how we roll in my woods. Anyway! The yarn is Frog Tree Merino Melange, which is, hands down, the softest yarn I've ever touched. Unfortunately, I had to frog it approximately 403840983029843 times, and it got rather pilly in the process. A bit of alchemy happened in the blocking: it got sturdier, rather than softer, when wet. The finished product reminds me of a very decadent cupcake*.
What's the pattern for this delicious mitten, you ask? Why, it's a one-of-a-kind Bolty original. Two-of-a-kind. There are two, I swear. And, okay, it's not really a Bolty original, per se, as I basically just applied a cable** from the Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 2 to my favorite easy mitten pattern at freevintageknitting.com. Put away the hot poker, Reader. You and I have no secrets.
The second pair of mittens isn't even badly photographed--indeed, it's not photographed at all. They're flip top mittens based on an amalgam of patterns and they are damned fantastic. I used a spring green tweed, the Queensland Kathmandu I've blogged about before. Flip tops are absolute genius. I realize that I call every new knitting thing I learn "absolute genius," but it's true. It is also true--and if you're an Expos teacher, you'll spot the "secondary emerging thesis" of this post--that when I learn a new technique, I have to frog like a maniac. But I don't mind frogging overmuch***.
At the moment, I'm--or rather, was--working on a cabled hat from Cables Untangled--it's a ribbed hat with braided cables in a gorgeous red tweed (also Queensland Kathmandu), or, at least, that's what it's supposed to be, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not fated to get past the ribbing. I started it in size 8s (the pattern recommends size 7s, but all I had with me whilst visiting E. this past week were 8s and 6s) and the hat was freaking huge, so I frogged about 5 inches of ribbing and switched to the 6s. Three different pairs of 6s, Reader. I only had 4 of my 5 size 6 dpns with me, and there were way too many stitches to fit comfortably on those needles, so I made E. take me to Jo Ann's on the way to the airport, where the only size 6 circ I could find was 29" long. I bought it thinking I'd just Magic Loop, but the cable was very stiff, so when I got home I borrowed the 16" cable and size 6 tips from my Celtic Cabled Scarf and was happily knitting away when I realized that I'd misread the pattern for the increase row and had to frog back to the ribbing. Then I thought I misread the cable pattern and frogged again, only to realize that I hadn't misread it at all. Demoralized, I have put the hat back in its plastic bag for now in favor of starting another pair of flip top mittens out of some lovely Beaverslide McTaggart Tweed. Which I have also had to frog twice. I told you, Reader; I've no secrets from you.
*A cupcake that looks like a hand. Wow, this suddenly got creepy.
**It's called the Seven Sisters. The ribbing is ktbl1, p1; the cable is a basic 12-stitch cable following the ktbl1, p1 rib.
***This is a lie.
I recently finished two pairs: one for Lilyriver for her birthday (only a week and a half late!) and one for an unnamed recipient.
At left is the right mitten of L.'s pair--it's a wretched picture, and I apologize, but that's how we roll in my woods. I do not know why I just said that, but it's staying. I'll attribute it to mitten ecstasy. That is how we roll in my woods. Anyway! The yarn is Frog Tree Merino Melange, which is, hands down, the softest yarn I've ever touched. Unfortunately, I had to frog it approximately 403840983029843 times, and it got rather pilly in the process. A bit of alchemy happened in the blocking: it got sturdier, rather than softer, when wet. The finished product reminds me of a very decadent cupcake*.
What's the pattern for this delicious mitten, you ask? Why, it's a one-of-a-kind Bolty original. Two-of-a-kind. There are two, I swear. And, okay, it's not really a Bolty original, per se, as I basically just applied a cable** from the Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 2 to my favorite easy mitten pattern at freevintageknitting.com. Put away the hot poker, Reader. You and I have no secrets.
The second pair of mittens isn't even badly photographed--indeed, it's not photographed at all. They're flip top mittens based on an amalgam of patterns and they are damned fantastic. I used a spring green tweed, the Queensland Kathmandu I've blogged about before. Flip tops are absolute genius. I realize that I call every new knitting thing I learn "absolute genius," but it's true. It is also true--and if you're an Expos teacher, you'll spot the "secondary emerging thesis" of this post--that when I learn a new technique, I have to frog like a maniac. But I don't mind frogging overmuch***.
At the moment, I'm--or rather, was--working on a cabled hat from Cables Untangled--it's a ribbed hat with braided cables in a gorgeous red tweed (also Queensland Kathmandu), or, at least, that's what it's supposed to be, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not fated to get past the ribbing. I started it in size 8s (the pattern recommends size 7s, but all I had with me whilst visiting E. this past week were 8s and 6s) and the hat was freaking huge, so I frogged about 5 inches of ribbing and switched to the 6s. Three different pairs of 6s, Reader. I only had 4 of my 5 size 6 dpns with me, and there were way too many stitches to fit comfortably on those needles, so I made E. take me to Jo Ann's on the way to the airport, where the only size 6 circ I could find was 29" long. I bought it thinking I'd just Magic Loop, but the cable was very stiff, so when I got home I borrowed the 16" cable and size 6 tips from my Celtic Cabled Scarf and was happily knitting away when I realized that I'd misread the pattern for the increase row and had to frog back to the ribbing. Then I thought I misread the cable pattern and frogged again, only to realize that I hadn't misread it at all. Demoralized, I have put the hat back in its plastic bag for now in favor of starting another pair of flip top mittens out of some lovely Beaverslide McTaggart Tweed. Which I have also had to frog twice. I told you, Reader; I've no secrets from you.
*A cupcake that looks like a hand. Wow, this suddenly got creepy.
**It's called the Seven Sisters. The ribbing is ktbl1, p1; the cable is a basic 12-stitch cable following the ktbl1, p1 rib.
***This is a lie.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Measure for measure.
From: E.
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 12:08 PM
Re: the most important thing for us: hair products.
To: the bolter
Actually I've been blackballed from all of the yarn shops in Denver for "casting off" on too many patrons and sending them to the hospital.
----- Original Message -----
From: the bolter
Later:
the bolter: You have no idea what casting off means, do you?
E.: It means punching people in the face with brass knuckles.
the bolter: It's hard to disagree with that, actually.
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 12:08 PM
Re: the most important thing for us: hair products.
To: the bolter
Actually I've been blackballed from all of the yarn shops in Denver for "casting off" on too many patrons and sending them to the hospital.
----- Original Message -----
From: the bolter
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007 8:49 am
Subject: Re: the most important thing for us: hair products.
To: E.
also, i have been hunting down yarn shops for us to visit!!! are you excited???Subject: Re: the most important thing for us: hair products.
To: E.
Later:
the bolter: You have no idea what casting off means, do you?
E.: It means punching people in the face with brass knuckles.
the bolter: It's hard to disagree with that, actually.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
The Last of the Time Lords.
There have been some complaints, Reader, about the late scarcity of posts that feature actual knitting, as opposed to chatter about yarn shopping*. Well**--I do take the point. Thus, as your happiness is of paramount importance to me, I offer you one completed pair of Nikki Sixx-inspired Knucks.
Specs: 1 skein of Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed, in some browny color I'm too lazy to look up. This yarn is the same as the Queensland Kathmandu I have already noted that I love (really, it's the same; I don't know what the deal is, but the Queensland Kathmandu comes from the same manufacturer and is generally a dollar or two cheaper--or more, if you find it on closeout at Webs...). I'm giving some thought to using this yarn in the far distant future*** for the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan. Anyway, the Knucks pattern is genius; it's knit fingers-down, which seemed to me to be a cockamamie scheme if I've heard one, but it worked out well enough. I somehow managed to do the gusset in a different way on each glove. It's not terribly noticeable and doesn't affect the fit, so I've decided it doesn't matter. They are a gift for a non-knitter who will, I hope, forgive me. I hope she's feeling kind about my elementary embroidery skills, too. Maybe I should redo the "8" before I send them.
I do hope Lilyriver will soon post about the very excellent hat she knitted me for my birthday; I may otherwise have to take matters in my own hands.
*I realized today--yesterday--well, see below; time is relative--that I have been buying yarn in various shades of green, to the extent that I am in serious danger of becoming mightily sick of green before I've even knitted up a skein of it. Okay, that's totally a lie; really, what I'm feeling is the strong desire to buy some more yarn--maybe this time in a rich blue.
**Hey, Daylight Savings Time just happened! I've been watching Doctor Who on and off all day and am feeling especially inclined to believe I have just gone back in time.
***Spring Forward?
Specs: 1 skein of Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed, in some browny color I'm too lazy to look up. This yarn is the same as the Queensland Kathmandu I have already noted that I love (really, it's the same; I don't know what the deal is, but the Queensland Kathmandu comes from the same manufacturer and is generally a dollar or two cheaper--or more, if you find it on closeout at Webs...). I'm giving some thought to using this yarn in the far distant future*** for the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan. Anyway, the Knucks pattern is genius; it's knit fingers-down, which seemed to me to be a cockamamie scheme if I've heard one, but it worked out well enough. I somehow managed to do the gusset in a different way on each glove. It's not terribly noticeable and doesn't affect the fit, so I've decided it doesn't matter. They are a gift for a non-knitter who will, I hope, forgive me. I hope she's feeling kind about my elementary embroidery skills, too. Maybe I should redo the "8" before I send them.I do hope Lilyriver will soon post about the very excellent hat she knitted me for my birthday; I may otherwise have to take matters in my own hands.
*I realized today--yesterday--well, see below; time is relative--that I have been buying yarn in various shades of green, to the extent that I am in serious danger of becoming mightily sick of green before I've even knitted up a skein of it. Okay, that's totally a lie; really, what I'm feeling is the strong desire to buy some more yarn--maybe this time in a rich blue.
**Hey, Daylight Savings Time just happened! I've been watching Doctor Who on and off all day and am feeling especially inclined to believe I have just gone back in time.
***Spring Forward?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The roots of debate and the hope of dialogue.
Can we talk about how my new favorite yarn in the whole world is on closeout at Webs and my first instinct is to buy a truckload of it or maybe the whole warehouse and then I think, hey, maybe I should pay my bills instead? But how I really just want to buy yarn? Yeah. Let's talk about that.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
What's black, white, read, etc., etc.
No, not my Milton paper (wish me luck or something)--this.
It's a bit weird to me that the artist insists that turning your newspapers into yarn is good for making "tangible" memories--you can't read the paper, she says, but sometimes you can see snatches of dates or words. Playing devil's advocate for a moment, why is it necessary to "justify" art by insisting that a piece has tangible value? It's not a huge leap from "tangible" value to capital, either; making memories tangible also makes them buy-able, so sign me up for an October 24, 1983, newspaper yarn rug, you know? Is it an accident, I wonder, that the article reads a whole lot like somebody's trying to sell me something? And that her text (which seems to have been translated from the Dutch) reads like a catalogue? And I, a trained (indoctrinated?) consumer and moreover used to the insistence that 1) "indie" yarn is hand-dyed art and therefore I should feel better (more organic? more artistic?) about using it because it's not commercially made, and 2) that you can put a price--often a high(er) price--on "indie" hand-dyed/hand-spun yarn, immediately went looking for her web site so I could see how much the stuff cost. It doesn't--it's part of her portfolio and she just graduated from a design academy; she's selling herself (1).
(1) I happily sweep intentionality off the table, but I do wonder what her statement is; it's not a terrible way to think about memory--bits and pieces woven into a larger tapestry (or sturdy doormat)--or about (god help me) "culture." The idea that something else (/"different") can be made out of newspaper.
I wonder if the stuff is as flammable as newspaper usually is. On a more technical note, I wonder what she's plying it with--there's some kind of thread, it looks like, wrapped around the newspaper tubes. Is she using a spinning wheel? Or is she doing it by hand? I was also surprised at how colorful the tubes were; I forget that newspaper isn't--well--black and white anymore.
It's a bit weird to me that the artist insists that turning your newspapers into yarn is good for making "tangible" memories--you can't read the paper, she says, but sometimes you can see snatches of dates or words. Playing devil's advocate for a moment, why is it necessary to "justify" art by insisting that a piece has tangible value? It's not a huge leap from "tangible" value to capital, either; making memories tangible also makes them buy-able, so sign me up for an October 24, 1983, newspaper yarn rug, you know? Is it an accident, I wonder, that the article reads a whole lot like somebody's trying to sell me something? And that her text (which seems to have been translated from the Dutch) reads like a catalogue? And I, a trained (indoctrinated?) consumer and moreover used to the insistence that 1) "indie" yarn is hand-dyed art and therefore I should feel better (more organic? more artistic?) about using it because it's not commercially made, and 2) that you can put a price--often a high(er) price--on "indie" hand-dyed/hand-spun yarn, immediately went looking for her web site so I could see how much the stuff cost. It doesn't--it's part of her portfolio and she just graduated from a design academy; she's selling herself (1).
(1) I happily sweep intentionality off the table, but I do wonder what her statement is; it's not a terrible way to think about memory--bits and pieces woven into a larger tapestry (or sturdy doormat)--or about (god help me) "culture." The idea that something else (/"different") can be made out of newspaper.
I wonder if the stuff is as flammable as newspaper usually is. On a more technical note, I wonder what she's plying it with--there's some kind of thread, it looks like, wrapped around the newspaper tubes. Is she using a spinning wheel? Or is she doing it by hand? I was also surprised at how colorful the tubes were; I forget that newspaper isn't--well--black and white anymore.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Caught up in Webs
And speaking of pilgrimages, tomorrow is the Yarn Harlot! There is a lot that has to happen before we get there, but it is nice to have something to look forward to.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Dear Abby,
Is it possible to accidentally buy yarn?
I realize that this entails, say, the googling of "yarn shop," and a few errant keystrokes in the sale section of Knitch, but--you know, given enough monkeys and enough typewriters, you get Hamlet, right? It's harder to explain one's wallet accidentally unzipping and one's credit card number accidentally appearing on screen, but weirder things have happened. Look at Michael Jackson.
Send me your thoughts as soon as possible, c/o debtor's prison.
Signed,
Not That This Has Happened To Me Or Anything
I realize that this entails, say, the googling of "yarn shop," and a few errant keystrokes in the sale section of Knitch, but--you know, given enough monkeys and enough typewriters, you get Hamlet, right? It's harder to explain one's wallet accidentally unzipping and one's credit card number accidentally appearing on screen, but weirder things have happened. Look at Michael Jackson.
Send me your thoughts as soon as possible, c/o debtor's prison.
Signed,
Not That This Has Happened To Me Or Anything
Friday, October 12, 2007
The sun also rises.
I don't want you to get too excited, Reader--perhaps you'd better sit down--but we are going to see the Yarn Harlot a week from today. A week and eleven hours from right this very moment. This is all thanks to the sharp-eyed Sarah G at Yardage, who, I think we can logically conclude, must have some kind of super power, because she found this out even though Stephanie hasn't put it up on her website yet.
I have been doing some knitting myself, although not quite as fervently as Lilyriver. I have been working on some gift knitting for friends I won't write about here, partly because progress has stalled out. I've also been working on a pair of Knucks--also a gift, but for a non-reader of the blog, I think--that I plan on embroidering with Nikki Sixx's knuckle tattoos. It's rather more difficult than I expected to find you a picture of this. She would know in a heartbeat, but--well. ETA: Aha! Top right. I will be so pleased with myself if I can make the embroidery look halfway decent. The Knucks pattern is practically genius, as it's knit top down and comes together fantastically well. I'm using Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, which is about 85% wool and 15% silk and cashmere, I think, and it knits up beautifully. I ordered a couple skeins in Aran weight to use for a hat I'm planning. Uh, for myself.
I have been doing some knitting myself, although not quite as fervently as Lilyriver. I have been working on some gift knitting for friends I won't write about here, partly because progress has stalled out. I've also been working on a pair of Knucks--also a gift, but for a non-reader of the blog, I think--that I plan on embroidering with Nikki Sixx's knuckle tattoos. It's rather more difficult than I expected to find you a picture of this. She would know in a heartbeat, but--well. ETA: Aha! Top right. I will be so pleased with myself if I can make the embroidery look halfway decent. The Knucks pattern is practically genius, as it's knit top down and comes together fantastically well. I'm using Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, which is about 85% wool and 15% silk and cashmere, I think, and it knits up beautifully. I ordered a couple skeins in Aran weight to use for a hat I'm planning. Uh, for myself.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Way We Were
Yet, alas, summer is beginning to fade and there will be less and less use for lacy cotton tops. Look how happy and carefree I am in the photo! I don't expect to look that way again for-- what's the date, again? -- oh, about four or five years.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
More than one way to wear a hat...
...especially if the hat is accidentally oversized and floppy. Lately I've been just ambushed with work and have been able to steal so few moments for knitting that blogging hasn't seemed as exciting as it once did. I have finished two hats recently, however. One of them, a cabled Utopia hat in my new favorite worsted weight wool, Mission Falls 1824, was sent away before I took pictures of it, but the other has been photographed from literally every angle. It's Ysolda's Urchin pattern from the latest edition of Knitty. I knitted with desperate speed with the first super bulky yarn I could get my hands on, Paton's Rumor, which is full of acrylic but comes in lovely colors. The hat is just plain too big, but it's also kind of fun.



And I'd like to close this post, such as it is, with a shout-out to our good friend over at Yardage, whose awesome new knitting blog has nudged me back in the saddle.
And I'd like to close this post, such as it is, with a shout-out to our good friend over at Yardage, whose awesome new knitting blog has nudged me back in the saddle.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Postcards from the edge.
Don't think I have forgotten you, Reader! I have not. But my knitting energies have lately been redirected into some gift projects for friends and I can't share them with you--partly because I am not sure that I'll wind up having the time to complete them. Apparently, I'm not allowed to knit instead of writing papers, nor am I allowed to knit my final papers. I'm disheartened, but I'll press on.
A few brief notes: I tried the magic loop technique and found it to be quite cumbersome. I only did a few rows with it, but jockeying the needle into place interrupted my flow. I can see trying it again in the future; there are certain practical benefits to it, the chief amongst them being that it only takes one needle and one is thus spared half the trouble when needle-hunting and half the expense of buying new needles when one realizes that one has approximately 4308240328043802843 size 1.5s, but no size 2s.
Secondly: I'm using Lion Wool for the mystery project, which is a 100% worsted weight wool. I'm suspicious of wools that advertise that they are good for felting, which usually means that they are either scratchy or poor quality, and I'm suspicious of all Lion Brand products because I succumb easily to internet-born yarn snobbery peer pressure. But it turns out that while Lion Wool is not by any means a soft yarn, it's actually a quality, sturdy workhorse yarn. I do remain puzzled as to why Lion Brand has chosen to put it out in 85g skeins instead of the 50g or 100g that one usually sees, but I got my 85g on sale for 3.25, so I dare not complain too loudly. A limitation of the yarn is that it doesn't come in very many colors; there are only a few of the colors to which I could say I was genuinely drawn (although there are many that would do)--and no heathers at all. And I test-felted a bit of it and they were right--it really does felt well. A side note: Lion Wool is also available in a few variegated ("print") shades.
Lastly: there's been a promise made concerning a visit to yarn shop in Princeton next Wednesday, and it's like I'm eight again and I'm about to get an American Girl doll for Christmas.
A few brief notes: I tried the magic loop technique and found it to be quite cumbersome. I only did a few rows with it, but jockeying the needle into place interrupted my flow. I can see trying it again in the future; there are certain practical benefits to it, the chief amongst them being that it only takes one needle and one is thus spared half the trouble when needle-hunting and half the expense of buying new needles when one realizes that one has approximately 4308240328043802843 size 1.5s, but no size 2s.
Secondly: I'm using Lion Wool for the mystery project, which is a 100% worsted weight wool. I'm suspicious of wools that advertise that they are good for felting, which usually means that they are either scratchy or poor quality, and I'm suspicious of all Lion Brand products because I succumb easily to internet-born yarn snobbery peer pressure. But it turns out that while Lion Wool is not by any means a soft yarn, it's actually a quality, sturdy workhorse yarn. I do remain puzzled as to why Lion Brand has chosen to put it out in 85g skeins instead of the 50g or 100g that one usually sees, but I got my 85g on sale for 3.25, so I dare not complain too loudly. A limitation of the yarn is that it doesn't come in very many colors; there are only a few of the colors to which I could say I was genuinely drawn (although there are many that would do)--and no heathers at all. And I test-felted a bit of it and they were right--it really does felt well. A side note: Lion Wool is also available in a few variegated ("print") shades.
Lastly: there's been a promise made concerning a visit to yarn shop in Princeton next Wednesday, and it's like I'm eight again and I'm about to get an American Girl doll for Christmas.
Friday, September 7, 2007
We join this program already in progress.

All right, darlings, I've finally done a little sweater scanning. I've got about 10" of a project 18" for the bottom of the Lucy cardigan. The stitch pattern is so simple that I'd probably be gouging my eyeballs out if it weren't for the yarn--I've gone on a bit about the Berroco Ultra Alpaca before, and I won't do it again here, but it's fantastic. Not so great for stitch definition, as is the case with most dark yarns and most alpaca yarns; the scanning picked up the patterning in one dimension much better than the eye can actually do in three. But that's okay, because it doesn't matter, really, and I think when blocked, it'll be a little bit crisper. My other potential problem is that while I'm ly(tru + mad + deep) in love with the Peat colorway, it turns out that dark green actually doesn't go with a great deal in my wardrobe. I think the green's too dark to go comfortably with black or navy blue, and reds are out unless I want to look like Mother Christmas. Brown could make me look like a tree, and greens, possibly too matchy, and anyway, the only green shirt I have is more lime than earthy. So I'm left with light blue--and the feeling that this might be a good excuse to start collecting shirts in the purple family. But first Bolty's gotta get paid.
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