Monday, May 29, 2006

Stash Enhancement Procedure #4

1 - get it into your head that you want to start spinning yarn

2 - try to convince your boyfriend's mother (who just happens to have a hobby farm) to acquire a sheep or alpaca with a promise of learning to shear

3 - attend the local Sheep Shearing Festival you heard about from your ever-supportive mother

4 - become mesmerized by spinning and weaving done by members of the local spinning and weaving guild

5 - learn that there is a great spinning teacher at a new yarn store you haven't discovered yet (!)

6 - go to said yarn shop at the first available opportunity only to discover that they also stock mill-ends & discontinued yarns (for less than $4!) and bring them in on a regular basis

7 - pull out preferred plastic card with magnetic strip...

Friday, May 19, 2006

Birthday Loot

Wow - Do my people ever know me well!
.
.
Detail of the yarn basket...
beautiful
.
.
.
Already fully in use...

(imagine that!)

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Words, words, words.

(non-knitting content)

You know when you hear that certain lyric or read that bit of poetry and your heart sings or your brain hums? I organized a swap for people to share those words they find inspiring. This spot is for those involved in the swap to share the words they receive in the mail. Please post your words as a comment.
For those of you who were not involved in the swap but are still interested in participating please feel free to leave any song lyric/poem/literary excerpts that you find especially inspiring. Please credit the author, but rest assured original words are welcome as well.
Let's have fun with this!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Socks!



I love making socks. I have completed only four socks, but it's something I really enjoy. Part of it is knitting with four needles. My grandma always knit mittens on four needles and I really like the format. Part of it is the fact that my mother doesn't generally knit on four needles and seemed SO impressed with the first sock I knit.

I enjoy grafting the toe, turning the heel and picking up the stitches to create the gusset.

The fact that I can take it with me almost anywhere is helpful too. I can knit a few rows on my lunch break at work, or on the bus, or at the bar. Here I am at the Carleton Tavern working on the socks for my mom.



[Now for those of you who don't know, the Carleton Tavern in Ottawa is one of those bars that used to have separate men's and women's entrances, that is - after women were allowed in at all. It reminds me of those bars you often find in small towns that used to be a hotel, the ones with a lot of history and a few unsavoury regulars. My boyfriend was reasonably supportive in that he was amused by but not embarrassed with my knitting while watching the playoffs at the bar.]

My mom loves her mother's day socks. The finished shape of them seems odd but they look fine on her feet. There's my first pair too!

My first Hedera sock is almost finished. I had to alter the pattern to accomodate either my gauge or my stubby feet (or both) but it seems to be working out ok. I love this pattern. The twisted ribbing is fun and the four row lace pattern is addictive. I had to force myself to start the sock heel for fear I would end up with unwearable thigh high lace socks! It looks lovely and it's a nice, gentle introduction into lace knitting. The Pomatomus is next on my hit list; I'll have to learn how to conquer a chart.

But first I have to start my squares.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

CRAP!

I just realized that I need to sit down and make some serious squares! or, take some serious time to make some squares...or, seriously take some time to make some squares...

Nikki Shell is working on creating a Wall of Yarn for her gallery. She has requested submissions from all over the world and will hang the embellished 15 x 15 cm squares for mid-June. The exhibition will run for six weeks then it will be auctioned off (as a whole or in parts, I'm not sure) and the proceeds will go to charity.

I LOVE this idea!! It is fabulous and community creativity like this excites me beyond...well, beyond the beyond! Little explosions happen in my brain when I contemplate this project!

...and then I realized that somehow I have to get at least one square to Australia by June 9th.

I've got some work to do!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Balance

I bought the summer issue of Interweave Knits today. (It comes out May 16th...guess i'm ahead of my time!) I couldn't help it with all the talk of lace knitting I had to make it mine. It seems everyone is talking about lace knitting and knitted lace - maybe I'm just their ideal pawn falling in to the next knitting craze. What's next? Knitting with dandylion fluff? I'll be all over it!

Speaking of lace, now that I've finished the practice socks/Mother's Day gift for my mom I can turn my attention to these socks. I started them last night and just got to the lace part but the combination of my halfhearted attempt to follow a movie and my boyfriend's wholehearted attempt to nap during the movie (& use me as his pillow) caused me to miss the start of a round. Rather then try to tink my way back through a lace pattern I decided to just frog it. It was only 15 rounds; no great loss. It always upsets my boyfriend more than me anyway. Oh! I'm using Lanett Superwash, a lovely spring green merino wool, for these socks. Decadence.

And for those times when I absolutely have to serve as a pillow or pay attention to the tv I picked up 14 balls of Topacio Valeria di Roma in a cool turquoise to make a baby blanket for my friend's impending little one. It will be done in basket weave with a border loosely based on a pattern I found in last Fall's Knit It! magazine.

Ah, the perfect combination of projects - one complex, one meditative, one for the love of pattern, one for the love of a person. Now if only my life were so balanced.
National Capital Knitters
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