KodachromeKnits

Great Loves, Present and Past

2008-02-15T10:42:00.005-06:00

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This is Coltrane, our newest family member. We rescued him from the local pound--he'd been there for 30 days and we adopted him on day 31. He's about 7 months old, and full of beans and love. I've never met such a dog who *loves* to cuddle more than anything. I suppose 30 days in jail will do that to a fella.

And forever in our memory and our hearts is our Mingus, who past 23 December 2006. We love you Mingus!

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Happy Belated Valentine's Day, everyone. And thanks to you all for your sweet, kind comments on Rusted Root. I've missed you, one and all, and I'm so grateful that you're still reading :)

ox,
K.

Rusted Root via The Great Parikha

2008-02-07T18:44:00.000-06:00

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Anyone still here? :)
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Guess what I wore to work today?
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Let's try another jacket...
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Now, it's back to the wild for me...
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Pattern: Rusted Root by Zephyr Girls
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Alpine Lilac (2.3 skeins)
Modifications: I am a sheep. I followed Parikha (Ravelry link). She graciously said to me, "Heck, go on and copy me." Okay, not quite those words, but it captures the spirit of our email exchange last year :)

Thanks Parikha for the inspiration. Thanks Zephyr girls for a great pattern. Thanks to anyone who might still be reading ;)

Hi :)

2007-11-18T20:32:00.001-06:00

Hi!

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How easily I am distracted these days. I move from one project (both crafty and academic) to another, but never feel like I'm accomplishing much of anything. For instance, I simply have the sleeves to finish on Rusted Root, and then I'll be done that top. And yet, the top remains (a bit more finished than the state in the photo below) unfinished.

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Indeed, I went a bit crazy last weekend. I wanted a particular Banana Republic dress for a wedding that we have in December to attend. The trouble is that I saw it in September. It was a beautiful navy silk dress with cute-cute cap sleeves, but my size was sold out EVERYWHERE in the US. I called many places, looked online, searched ebay, and found nada. How is that possible that the dress is nowhere to be found, but was everywhere sixty days ago? So I decided to take the matter into my (crafty) hands--to make my own version of the dress, thinking that I was capable.
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Alas, I'm not feeling so capable anymore. Sewing is REALLY hard. I think everyone should have to sew his or her garments at least once in his or her life so that everyone can appreciate and value the knowledge, talent, expertise, and labor that goes into each piece of clothing that we wear.
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The other distraction: well, after feeling useless with the sewing machine, and seeing no satisfaction in sight, I quickly cast on for Dashing given that my Guido noted that his hands are cold now in the morning and at night when he's outside smoking his pipe.
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The DASHING pattern is great and is free from Knitty.: details are here on Ravelry (speaking of MAJOR distractions!) And I've really enjoyed the Primo yarn that I got from WEBS last week for a song.

Final distraction: dog-sitting for the next eight days as a friend is away, running a marathan (!) and visiting family over Thanksgiving.

These two dogs are used to running 4-6 miles every other day with their marathon-running mama. I took them for less than a mile run yesterday, and then pooped out on them. The poor things. They looked up at me as though I was completely LAME-O. And they were right. I can't believe that last year, I was running 6-mile races, and now I can barely make one mile. Lame-o, indeed. I guess that's what sitting on your butt working--er, okay, okay, knitting--gets a person...

Inspired = New Project Underway...

2007-10-19T11:15:00.000-05:00

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So some cooler weather has finally arrived in the Southwest, and thus Forecast is finally getting to come out of the closet. But let's face it, I'm not going to get too much wear out of Forecast in West Texas (except when I go home to Canada in December for the holidays [YAY!]), so I'm casting on for a new project which will get much more wear down here on the Panhandle: can you guess? Here's an INSPIRED hint...

I wrote to "The Brown Sheep" to see how Parikha would feel about my Zephyr Girls' Rusted Root being a version of hers. She was so cool about it, and so now, I'm underway. BTW, this isn't the first time I've been totally inspired by Parikha--see? see?

Who inspires you?

Have a good weekend everyone--

Blog Action Day Continued

2007-10-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

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"Not Just a Platform for My Dance"*

this land is not
just a place to set my house my car my fence

this land is not
just a plot to bury my dead my seed

this land is
my tongue my eyes my mouth

this headstrong grass and relenting willow
these flat-footed fields and applauding leaves
these frank winds and electric sky

are my prayer
they are my medicine
and they become my song

this land is not
just a platform for my dance.

-- Marilyn Dumont, Cree/Metis poet

*This poem is from Marilyn Dumont's collection, _A Really Good Brown Girl_ (1996), which I highly recommend.

I wanted to quote Marilyn Dumont's poem for yesterday's Blog Action Day post, instead of listing the several things that my partner and I do to try to live green, but my copy of Dumont's book was at the office. I think we all know now--or at least the resources abound for finding out--the changes we need to make in the ways that the people (of the First World) live (if to consume is to live).

Therefore, I wanted to use my little blog space to ask ourselves to remember that in these noble efforts to "save the earth,"--which, of course, is a bit silly given that eventually the earth will be just fine--it'll be us humans and many/most of the animals that will be long gone--that we need to listen carefully to indigeneous peoples from around the globe who have always lived closely and respectfully with the earth. Indeed, to quote Barry Lopez, "what is it going to take to get people to start listening finally to our world's aboriginal peoples and to take their very important knowledge seriously?"

Blog Action Day--Unite!

2007-10-15T08:04:00.001-05:00

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You can go here to find out more about Blog Action Day, and you'll find there a link to the Action Blog where you can find tips and ideas for living green from other bloggers. Of course, we knitters also have a great resource on Ravelry--the Green Craft Discussion Group [that link only works for those who have a Ravelry account].
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{BTW: I took the poultry photos from the last post when I attended my first County Fair last month and ate my first fried cheese on a stick (eewww)}.

Feeling Cocky

2007-10-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

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So thank you all for your kind words on Forecast. I was really flattered by your comments.

But I'm also waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy late in thanking two other women whom I admire so much: Olga of YoLaTejo and Parihka of TheBrownSheep. These two talented, intelligent and gorgeous women tagged me for two awards: Olga honored me with a "Schmoozer Award" and Parikha, a "ROCKIN' GIRL BLOGGER" award weeks (months?) back, just when I was forcing myself to step away from all the blogging/ravelry time for a rest from the computer world (and to get some work in the so-called real world done!).

These awards mean a lot to me, because, as Olga says in her post, "I probably wouldn't still be doing this blogging thing if it weren't for you all." It's true for me too. The group of warm, genuine, supportive women I've "met" via this blog--and theirs--has added immensely to my creative life. Often the blog seems like another thing I have to do on an already full list, but then I think of you all, and how much I enjoy interacting with you, and I know for sure that I want to keep blogging--even if it is really sporadically, at times. So a big shout out of LOVE goes to all you--even the silent lurkers!!

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And this photo is for Al Gore, who just might be feeling a bit cocky today as well :) YAY GORE AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS EVERYWHERE!! YOU'RE ALL DEFINITELY ROCKIN'! And so, in honor of this wonderful day for Gore and the UN panel and the EARTH, I'm going to point you towards a few of my favourite environmental websites: SewGreen; localharvest.org.; and treehugger.com

~ And remember: 15 October is Blog Action Day: Unite!

Can You Tell?

2007-10-05T12:51:00.000-05:00

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Can you tell how much I love my Forecast? How pleased I am with the results? (BTW, the above photo was inspired by halfandhalf's photoshoot of her fantastic Forecast).

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No? Well, let me give you a few hints...

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How's that? Need more?

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Pattern: Forecast, by Stefanie Japel of Glampyre Knits, free from Knitty
Size: XS
Yarn: Cascade 220, 4 skeins
Needles: US 5 and US 7
Modifications: I used the now famous, original modifications of Winnie and Pinku, which are posted at the Forecast KAL.

FORECAST: LIGHTENING!! (I love this photo best!)

My heartful thanks go out to Stefanie Japel (who's pregnant! congratulations!) for creating such wonderful (and often free) patterns for us to knit. I now want to rush out to buy Fitted Knits to make the U-shaped vest and the classic V-sweater. And my heartful thanks go out to the many wonderful knitters, such as Winnie and Pinku, and those on the Forecast KAL, who inspired me to go ahead and make this beautiful sweater. Merci beaucoup!

Coming Out From Under A Rock

2007-10-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

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Thanks to my dear friends-readers who welcomed me back to blogland so quickly, so warmly. I've missed you all so, even though I've been quietly reading y'all in the background. I don't want to talk about what's been going on. Instead, I want to use this reemergence to talk about what I want to do. And, dear readers, having been inspired by all of you, there is oh so much I want to do.

Stay posted :) I'm coming back...

Testing...

2007-10-01T18:16:00.001-05:00

Working My Knits; or, Wearing My Knits to Work; or Why I Want to Be Just Like Julia When I Grow Up

2007-08-01T17:39:00.000-05:00

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So today I'm wearing Kat Coyle's Eyelet Skirt to work. I let it soak again in a nice warm bath, reblocked it, stretched it back to fit evenly, and now it's ready to rock again. It's so comfortable, and airy, and here are the project details at last:

Project Details:
Pattern: Eyelet Skirt, free from Knitty, designed by Kat Coyle
Yarn: Classic Elite Flash, Electric Blue, 7.5 skeins
Needles: US 5
Modifications: Once I got to the eyelet section of the pattern, I did not follow the directions which asked me to "Inc 1 st each end every 6 rows 11 times."

Errata: Kat Coyle herself (!) emailed me, to let me know of the Elongated Stitch correction, so if any of you are thinking of making this skirt, please know that there is one small correction to the pattern. Thanks again Kat. I was thrilled by the idea that the designer herself had contacted me.

Recommendations: I would knit this in the round to avoid seaming. For some reason, I thought that I needed to have seams in order to give the skirt the structure, but if I were to make another, I would forego this step completely. I'm just not the best seamer (seamstress?).

More information: You can see my swatching notes for the yarn and needles in this post.

Lastly, I want to say that the inspiration and courage to knit a skirt came from Julia at Mind of Winter. When I saw her in this skirt, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at a skirt, especially given that I live in skirts for much of the year down here in the Southwest. So thanks Julia for being my muse on this project.

Now it's back to the grind...

Pictured above, some of my many coffee/tea mugs that I must use to get me through the day. The problem: at the end of the day, I just don't want to spend the time going to the lounge to wash them up. Hence, why I need so many of them, I guess. (Oh, and do I even need to say it? Probably not, but the mugs, of course, are courtesy of our local thrift shops.)

The Forecast: Raining Cats and Dogs

2007-07-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

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So Forecast is finally blocking...FINALLY!!...and the Eyelet Skirt disaster has been averted (I'll show you the reblocked skirt this week, along with Forecast modelled, and provide all of the knitty gritty details of both projects: I PROMISE!!).

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I just need to choose which buttons to use; there are three choices here and I think I already know which ones I'll use. But just so y'all can have a say in the matter, here's a close-up of the button choices:
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And didn't I say the Forecast was "cats and dogs"?

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Why, yes I did. Cats and dogs indeed.

The two cats are ours. The two dogs are our friends' who have gone on vacation. Let's just say our tiny household is in a constant frenzy right now. I'm getting an up-close and personal look at why world peace is so hard to achieve...*sigh*

When Disaster Strikes....

2007-07-18T17:10:00.000-05:00

....one should: (A) procrastinate dealing with it by admiring all of your favourite knit-bloggers, (B) decide to copy (yet again!) one of those said bloggers, (C) start a new project, (D) all of the above.

Answer: D
Hence, the Elisa Tote has been started, inspired as always by Dogged Knits (take that, pretty gymnastic girl--Ashley soooooooo rocks the house!).

Plus, this tote not only will help distract me from the Eyelet Skirt mishap, but it will also help me with my commitment to living green. (Now go join the GreenCraft group on Ravelry if you can and if you haven't done so yet. There are awesome tips being shared, and Al Gore, Leonardo, and the Earth will thank you.)

Speaking of the Earth, here's my first sunflower, which I present to those of you who helped commisserate with me on the Eyelet disaster, and who offered tips--or just sympathy! Now I'm about to go home, and face this task. I will rescue the Eyelet! I will!
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Can you see the difference in length here in the post-disaster photo? It's not the the end of the world obviously; the skirt would still be wearable (I guess), but I'm positive I can reblock it to be of the same length. It's at least worth a try...

Where Did She Go? Or, Egads! Or, The Horror, The Horror...

2007-07-17T18:33:00.000-05:00

So I had asked you to sit down with me in yesterday's post--to read along all week of all my latest creative pursuits, including what was to be, first off, a detailed post outlining the process and finishing of the Eyelet Skirt. But let me interrupt myself before I do by saying thank you for your welcoming back comments. You are all so sweet--and especially so as you've kept me on your reading lists despite my oh-so-sparse posts as of late.

Now, you're probably wanting the pattern details I promised on the Eyelet Skirt... This is when the "egads!" and "the horror! the horror" subtitles come into play. This is also the reason for the now-vacated chair above. For, you see, I decided last night to wash gently and reblock the skirt because I had worn it already about five times, and I had noticed in the photos recently posted that it was looking a bit stretched out from all its wear. So, a nice fresh blocking for today's photo shoot and blog post was in order, I thought, to convey more of how nice the skirt had turned out, and so as to present it to the knitting world properly.

Flash forward to this morning: the side facing up is dry, the side facing down is not quite. So, instead of simply flipping it over, I decide to pop it in the dryer *very briefly* so as to speed up my photo shoot with it on (you see, the nice morning light was starting to wane and turn into the nasty harsh summer light that I didn't want).

You do know what's coming don't you?

After a very short time in the dryer, I pull out the skirt to discover that the side that was already mainly dry is now two inches shorter than the side that was still damp. However, the entire skirt is now dry. So I have a skirt where the back is considerably longer than the front. Now, I know that this is sometimes the style, but it's not the style I like or want for my Eyelet Skirt. Understandably, I threw the skirt down on the bed in horror, and left for the day. I'm home now, have taken photographic evidence of the debacle while sipping a strong, much-needed drink*, and am about to soak the skirt again in hopes that I can get the two sides to match up once again.

Any advice, dear knitters? Any suggestions? I figure I'll soak it, and then try to reblock it so that both the front and back are the same lengths again, and for whatever reason, I'm believing (vainly?!) that this will work.

In the meantime, let me present to you the newest member of our family who has been one of the many delights that has kept me away from the blog:
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This is Winston, adopted from a family whose other cat used to beat him up constantly. He's now sharing his life with Morph, and they seem to love each other already, immensely. They are constantly wrestling with each other, chasing each other, and then sleeping nicely together. It's great to watch all the kitty play and love between them.

*I'll post the photos of the disastrous, two-lengths-skirt tomorrow; I yet again forgot my camera transfer-cord at work.

I Flew The Coop, But I'm Back

2007-07-16T14:07:00.001-05:00

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Dear, Dear Readers:

I apologize for my long absence from this blog. There has been much activity of all sorts in my life as of late (including a lot of inward reflection that has tired me out). Quite simply, I just felt that I didn't have the time or energy or motivation to blog. But as I said before, I've been reading the blogs and rambling about on Ravelry, and now I'm glad to say that I'm back, and will post every day this week with a different project (not all knitting)--all sorts of things that have kept me crafting away my life since we last spoke.

First up, for tomorrow then, will be the finished Eyelet Skirt (Kat Coyle's design) from Knitty. All details will be related. Until then, I ask that you sit down with me throughout the week, and I'll tell all...

*See you tomorrow :)

Girl Interrupted

2007-06-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize for my silence. Many things have occured that have taken me away from my blog and knitting, though I have still been reading all of you (just silently) and knitting vicariously through you.

And now that I'm ready to show you a completed Eyelet Skirt, I do not have the use of my camera at the moment (I cannot find my bleeping battery recharger for it). So, I give you one of my Ms Pacman scores. Yes, dear readers, instead of knitting I've been playing Pacman when I haven't been on the road (I returned to Canada for a family affair, and am only now back in the USA).

And to make matters worse, I no longer have an internet connection at home, so blogging will have to be on the fly (sly) at work -- I'm a closet blogger and don't want my office-mate to see -- and so blogging, until the beginning of July when I get Internet access again, will still be sparse. I will keep reading, mind you. :)

Miss you all, and hope you are having a good summer thus far.

PS: I missed my birthday and my blogoversary, so I'm thinking July 1st (Canada Day) will be a good day to have a wee bit of a contest giveaway :)

WIPs

2007-05-18T11:30:00.001-05:00

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So the Eyelet Skirt is coming along. I've actually finished this half of the skirt, cast off with a lovely picot edge, which I'd never done before so it was great fun for the first time.

Also, Kat Coyle herself (!) emailed me, to let me know of the Elongated Stitch correction, so if any of you are thinking of making this skirt, please know that there is one small correction to the pattern. Thanks again Kat. I was thrilled by the idea that the designer herself had contacted me!

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And here's my tiny vegetable and herb garden in progress.

Forecast just needs the buttonbands knit on, and then it too is done.
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Have a good weekend everyone!
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"Gone, Gone, Gone, She's Been Gone So Long, She's Been Gone, Gone, Gone, So Long"

2007-05-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

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Firstly, I apologize for my lack of blogging and commenting these past few weeks. Grading in the last weeks of the semester got a bit crazy: final papers, journals, presentations, AND final exams for three sections--all that got the best of me, and something had to give. I know, I know, many of you still managed to post and do your grading and knit and design beautiful (Marigold!) socks and sew beautiful quilts (TWO quilts! or is it THREE??), and beautiful dresses and frocks! but I just felt so tired and overwhelmed, that I decided to take a wee break from it all.

But all grades are in, and now I'm back with much to show. First, however, I must take this post to say THANK YOU to so many of you, and I'll show you why...

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My mailbox has been brimming with so much goodness lately. I received my letter from my Knitterly Letter Swap pal, Marie. (Go have a look at her beautiful flowers!) Marie's wonderful letter is tucked in behind the beautiful letterpress (and wood block?) images created by the very talented Andrea.
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Andrea has been exploring so many wonderful pursuits lately: basketweaving, spinning, and what I'm most interested in--I'd love to do it!--letterpress. She's also been providing so many useful links for anyone also interested in letterpress. Thanks, dear Andrea for being so generous--for sending the beautiful calendar and cat print--and thanks also for having such an informative, thoughtful blog for us readers to visit.
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Speaking of generous souls: what you see above is the glorious bounty of a package mailed to me recently by the kind Megan of Woolly Interlude. I entered her blogoversary (sp?) contest , and my goodness, it's the first knitting-blog contest I've ever won! And boy was I shocked when the package arrived, because the box was full to the brim with so many wonderful things, not only the Rowan Kidsilk Haze that she said she was sending(which I've always wanted to try but never have!). It was like Christmas as a kid... Thank you, dear Megan. I'm so overwhelmed by your generosity, and I'm going to cast on for a shawl this weekend. I have a wedding to attend in early June and I definitely need a shawl (especially given that I sent Kiri away to a church auction last month.)
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And would you believe that just a couple of days later, I found out I was chosen for another contest? Having entered contests for over a year, and never to have won, and then to find I'd also won some beautiful green sock yarn from Elinor, well, I was considering going to buy lottery tickets next. I've never been so lucky. Seriously. Plus, dear Elinor sent a beautiful Carte Postale of Paris along with the sock yarn. I was so excited by the beautiful green color that I cast on immediately for the Denmark Socks in Nancy Bush's _Knitting on the Road_. Thank you, dear Elinor, and thank you also to dear Ashley who mentioned my blog in Elinor's great (and useful!) contest. I was so flattered, Ashley.
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Lastly, do you see that beautiful stich marker. That was made by Wendee, my other Knitterly Letter Swap Pal. Thanks, Wendee, for the beautiful markers (they're already getting used!), and for the yummy looking recipes.

So to all of you wonderful knitters-bloggers, I shout out a huge, warm, heartfilled

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(that's more of Andrea's beautiful printing)

To end, let's just say that the knitting community has overwhelmed me in so many ways, and during these past few weeks of slogging through grading, there were so many wonderful things to brighten my days. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, I think it's only right to give back to this wonderful community from which I've received so very much--so much friendship, advice, feedback, suggestions, information, inspiration, letters, yarn (!), tissue holders (from Craftapalooza!), stich markers, yarn (!), letterpress images, etc. etc. What do I mean give back? I mean, there's a CONTEST coming up chez Kodachrome! Watch for it in the coming week! There is going to be some giving back, y'all...

At Last: Kiri. So Long, Kiri.

2007-04-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been remiss in a few things, one being writing up the finishing specs and posting some modelling shots of Kiri.

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Pattern: Kiri (free pattern courtesy of All Tangled Up: see sidebar for the PDF)

Yarn: Peruvian Baby Cashmere from Elann; six balls used of color 3724 (camel).

Needles: US 6 circulars

Modifications and Thoughts: No real modifications. A straightforward, and enjoyable pattern to knit. The lace repeat is easily memorized, and so the shawl was a calming project to work on. I really enjoyed the Baby Cashmere, and would recommend it. I used the Elann's Baby Silk previously on this shawl. My preference is the Baby Cashmere for the simple, but important, fact that the cashmere is much softer against the skin. In fact, I find the Baby Silk shawl itchy to wear, but I am extra sensitive to wearing wool next to my skin (I'm trying to work through this; EZ would want it that way.)

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I've actually sent this shawl off to my mother, who is in charge of a church auction. They're trying desperately to raise money to keep the United Church of my very small town going. I hope that Kiri finds itself in the hands of someone who will love it as much as I (briefly) did. I guess this constitutes my first real act of charity knitting. I liked it.

BTW: What good news for Crazy Aunt Purl. Her book, not even released yet, is already climbing the charts.

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Spread Peace. Spread Love. For Virginia Tech.

2007-04-17T19:57:00.000-05:00

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Something Old. Something New. Something Blue.

2007-04-17T19:21:00.000-05:00

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So here's an updated photo of Forecast. I have half a sleeve to go, then the buttonbands. Until then, check out Carrieoke's recent beautiful version of the sweater.
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These lovely skeins of sock yarn were brought back by my lovely Guido who was in Boston at a conference recently. The yarn is Mountain Mist Jubilee Merino sock yarn made by Blue Ridge Farms. It seems all the academics descended upon Newbury Yarns for some good yarn shopping while in Boston.

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Finally, thanks to all of you for your advice regarding the knit skirt possibilities. I soaked and blocked the swatch that I had made for the Eyelet skirt. The gauge changed from 18 st/4 in to 16 in/4 inches. The swatch itself really softened up, and is quite lovely to the touch. It also has lovely drape now too, so I think I'm going to go ahead with it. Oh, and I misspoke when I said the yarn was Classic Elite Provence. It's actually Classic Elite Flash. In any case, I suppose I'll go down to US 5 or US 6 to make up for the change in gauge post-blocking. I'm also thinking that I'll knit it the EZ circular way, and therefore avoid the seaming at the end (the pattern says to knit two identitical pieces and then seam it together but my finishing skills aren't that great.)

Now back to the knitting--something that always brings comfort and calm into my life.

Best to all of you.

Eye Candy : A Swatch : A Cheer-Up Link

2007-04-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

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Before the weather took a sudden turn, and became really quite nasty here (see the ice photo of the previous post), spring had sprung.

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This meant that on my way to the library each day, I would pass by this amazing "burning bush."

The Southwest is such an interesting region: so hot and dry in many ways, and therefore, without color. But then there are moments--intense sudden bursts of color and life--such as this bush. I'm quite fascinated by this region, really.

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Now, to switch gears, let me just say that NO ONE tried to guess what I was swatching for in this photo. So let me point you in this direction.

What do you think? I'm really uncertain about knitting one of these--thinking about all of the misshapen "bum" fabric that might occur. But then I saw Julia's and have been thinking of making one ever since.

The yarn that I made the swatch out of is Classic Elite Provence. I did get gauge (but I have yet to wash and block it....) but I'm worried that it isn't drapey enough--that it'll be too stiff. And I really do have nightmares that a knitted skirt will stretch and warp and hang like a potato sack off of my bootie. But then again, there's Julia's, and it's just so dang beautiful...

(ETA: I mean Julia's *skirt*, not her "bootie" [though I'm sure Moxie would attest to her having a beautiful bootie!]. But upon reviewing my post of today, I thought I better edit this part so it doesn't seem like I'm lusting after Julia--I'm lusting after her knit skirt!! Ahem. Hope that clears everything up!]

Any feeback? Andy sage words of wisdom or advice?

While you're thinking of those wise words, you might want to go here and watch this video. It'll put a smile on your face, I'm sure, and leave you singing the song all day. As DJ Kodachrome, I send this one out to MellowTrouble who's feeling a bit glum today, it seems.

Container Wednesday--Sorta

2007-04-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

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For Carson's "Container Wednesday," I took the above photo last week. But I also took the photo to demonstrate the difference between myself and my neighbours. The bike shown above is "my container"--my "wheels". This is how I get to campus, which is about ten blocks away. Below, you'll find the photo of my neighbour's "container"--his "wheels": this is how he rides to get to the campus which is, again, ten blocks away.

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I'm not sure what he encounters on his drive that requires such big tires, but apparently, he's gotta be ready for the extreme--that seems to be the Texan way (for many, anyways).

The photo is taken from our porch, and you can see the school yard that is across from us. Notice there are no play structures in the school yard. A litigious culture gets you this type of school playground. Seriously, it's an elementary school (where a very famous singer went to school in fact) and there isn't a single play structure because parents sue the school board.

You'll also notice that in the photos above, taken last week, you can see some of my geranium and marigold blooms. (I choose geraniums and marigolds this year because these are always the flowers found on my parents front steps, and it makes me think always of home-- :)

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In any case, that was last week. Below, is this week:

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Yep. That's right. In Texas, you don't get snow in April, you get ice rain. How pleasant. It seems that between the dust storms and the ice storms and the 90 degree (35 degree?) weather of the past week or two, the Apocalypse is fast approaching this place.

So with that, I wish you all a very Happy Spring.

Now let me go look outside to see if the Black Plague and the locusts have begun to mark their arrival yet....

Happy Birthday Marj

2007-04-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

Today would be my Aunt Marj's birthday. She passed away a few years ago, but I always honor her on this day by eating her favourite candy bar--a Mars bar (or a substitute since coming to the US)--and by having a Kahlua & milk (or a substitute if no Kahlua is on hand). So, while chewing on Milk Duds, I raise a toast (of a gin & tonic) tonight to a wonderful woman who was the grandmothers I never had a chance to know. * I love you Aunt Marjorie, my lovely grandmother.

ETA: Now look down to give me some flannel advice in the next post-- :)

Look Up! Look Up!

2007-04-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

Do you see it? Look up. That's right: my banner has been fixed, and boy does it look better. My thanks go out to Carrieoke, who both designed the banner and then uploaded it to my template. Thanks also go to Megan and her partner for trying to help upload the banner earlier. You girls rock, and I mean it when I say that I am grateful for your help.

*

So last summer I began a blanket for my nephew, inspired by The Brown Sheep's blanket. I finally dug it out and blocked it this past weekend. It's been sitting in my WIP pile far too long.

What's been giving me trouble is deciding upon the backing. So, inspired by yet another fabulous blogger, I'm going to try to back it either with this "I love you/Je t'aime" flannel...
*

...or with this crazy monkey flannel...
*

I personally like the monkeys the best, and the colors match so well. But I'm letting my sister give the final decision; ideally, I'd leave it up to my nephew, but if I wait until he learns to talk, well then this blanket really will sit in the WIP pile far too long.

*

In other news--I find myself torn these days: like all of you, I have not a lot of free time (or so it feels, but I obviously have much more than others given I do not have children nor am I a brain surgeon), and so I want to spend that time knitting (and gardening...YAY spring!), but I also am really attracted to sewing. So (sew?!) I've started collecting fabrics whenever I stumble across them at the thrift store.

But all I've really been creating so far are piles. Lots of piles of fabric.
*

*
I also found this pattern at the GW, and though it's for kids, I think I can tweak the largest size by a few inches to fit me. So this might be my first piece of clothing (the red top on the far right) that I try to sew.

The only thing is is that I probably won't be getting around to this project until the summer months arrive. But until then, I do love just looking at the pattern, restacking the fabrics, and wondering if they'll ever be enough time in one's day...

Write Letters! * Play Ball!

2007-04-02T09:23:00.000-05:00

*

So as you baseball fans know, yesterday saw Opening Day for the baseball season. And as you Domesticat fans know, yesterday also saw the start of the Knitterly Letter Swap.

*

And here's my first letter recieved--from Domesticat herself!! YAY! It was both exciting and strange to find the fancy, sealed envelope in the mailbox, one because of the beautiful stationery found amidst bills and ugly flyers, but strange too because when I first saw the handwriting on the envelope, I thought it was a letter from a long-ago, now estranged, friend. Domesticat's handwriting is just like the handwriting of that friend I once knew, and so it was an unusual moment of thinking that she (lost friend) was suddenly contacting me. I was quite relieved, in fact, to see it was Domesticat, and then I was just plain enthusiastic to read my first letter in the great Knitterly Letter Swap. See the Rowan yarn strand she included? Only knitters would understand the pleasure of receiving snippets of yarn....So thanks Domesticat!

*

Other wonders showing up in the mail have included Megan's fragrant, delicious soap (yum!) which I'm too busy smelling as it sits on my desk rather than using it yet. (I don't want it's yumminess to be gone too soon--)
*

And next wonder of the etsy world--this print by Black Apple. It sits above my crafting table, spurring me on to make the world--through my mind and then through my hands--a better place. My crafting table is where I banish bad thoughts, and dream the world a better, more beautiful one through fibre, textiles, a string, a needle, etc... I always feel quite calm and settled when I sit down here to practice some of my new sewing skills or fondle different fabrics, or just sit and gaze at the beauty of my knitting needles and yarns knowing that great possibilities reside in them all.

*

And in me.

*

So for a girl who tends towards the pessimistic, I look up at the Black Apple girl (for whom I am finding a frame this weekend!), and am reminded that crafting is a way for me to be optimistic, and that in this crafting corner of my life, I firmly can and do believe that we are leaving our marks on the world in a very good way for handmade goods are powerful in their ability to connect to people in what increasingly feels like an alienating, crazed, consumerist world.

But hey, I don't need to tell you people that! The Yarn Harlot's experiences in NY is all the evidence we need (as if we needed more, but I'm just sayin')...

*

And so create I will...
*

Now, whatever might I be swatching for?????

You Like It * It Likes You

2007-03-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

My second contribution to Carson's Vessel Wednesday:

An old 7-UP bottle, found, (do I really need to say it?), at a local thrift store.

*

I love the caption: "You Like It -- It Likes You".

There's nothing like your bottle of pop giving you some love.

*

Because Cara Asked: A Photo Journey of My Weekend

2007-03-27T16:49:00.000-05:00

Cara, famous Cara of January One, poses the question: "How was your weekend?"

I thought it would be rude not to answer her question. So, here for you all, is My Weekend--all its thrills, spills, and chills. (Whatever that means?)

This weekend, I had MUCHO grading to do. So, I started it off, as any sane teacher would do, with a Bloody Mary and the beginnings of the infamous Mason-Dixon Warshrag.

I must admit, I sat a little bit too long on the sunny porch (before the incessant rains began!), sipping the drink and knitting the rag. (Why does writing that--"knitting the rag"--sound so offensive?)

But despite this relaxing start to the weekend, most of my weekend was spent indoors, grading furiously (that is, furiously as in a frenzied state to finish 60 papers, AND furiously, as in how could my college students--some of them SENIORS!--not know how to use a comma, a semi-colon, even an apostrophe?!?!?!) Needless to say, I looked like the photo above most of the weekend--unshowered, pulling out my hair, feeling like I was in a state of agony.

Our black-cat-from-hell, on the other hand, felt just fine while grading his papers. Calm, cool, collected. Nothing to it.

So I wouldn't die from the boredom/frustration/agony of grading 300 pages of sophomore literary criticism, I broke up the day by cooking one of my favourite meals: hey! it's not procrastination, people. One must eat, and therefore, one must spend 1.5 hours preparing Chicken Saffran & Fennel Stew (or Ragout, as "the French" would say, and really, it sounds better than "stew") with Baby Potatoes. AND I made homemade baking-powder biscuits. AND I made brownies. AND I really didn't want to continue grading...

But the papers got done. It was brutal, but they are back in the hands of the students who have probably already smashed them--filled as they are with all my useful comments, suggestions, corrections--into their knapsacks, never to be looked at again, already forgotten.

Just think, in three weeks, it gets to happen all over again. What fun!

Oh well, at least we ate well. Oh yeah, and the warshrag got done too. It was MUCHO fun.

Amazing: The Softie Awards

2007-03-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

This beautiful bird was made by Abby Jane at AsSheNaps. The photo of the beautiful softie was taken from AbbyJane's blog: whileshenaps.typepad.com

I came across "The Softie Awards" through FlintKnits this morning. You must go see it if you, like me, didn't know about it. There are some really amazing softies over there, and I'm always blown away by the talent of people.

My favourite, besides Abby Jane's beautiful bird above, is this one by RubyCrownedKinglette . I really *luv* him...

ETA: Ooooo, so sorry to edit my post but I overlooked the PaperbackWriter. I luv him too. That category will be difficult to decide for voting: Old Man or PaperBack Writer???? Hmmmm.....

Vessel Wednesday

2007-03-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

Carson has been running "Vessel Wednesday" for a while now. There have been some really lovely vessels photographed as of late. I've been meaning to take part, but this is the first Wednesday that I have actually thought of it in time. Unfortunately, I don't have a very "artsy" photo, but this one will have to do for this particular Wednesday.

I found this birch bowl in a Goodwill store back in Canada about six years ago. It usually holds tealight candles and my Canadian money, but I think such a pretty wooden bowl should actually be holding these instead:

The first day of spring actually means starting to garden here in the Southwest (unlike in Western Canada where the first day of spring meant waiting two more months before getting to start gardening...)

This is the bottom of the vessel: it says "Birch" then "Sid and Ella Kingdon, 1984".

No, I Haven't Flown The Coop....Yet....

2007-03-13T11:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm still around--no taking off here for a fun Spring Break trip (oooooooo, how I envy Ashley!!) What I am doing is sitting in a library carrel (or I am *supposed* to be sitting in the library carrel), trying to get writing done. With Spring Break, the library is ghastly quiet (but I like it that way...hey, it's a library, right!?). Really, it's just me and this bird, who keeps landing just outside my library carrel window.

And, a la Megan's literary spectrum, here's a shot of some books in my carrel. Typical grad student fare. I'm not actually reading these (I'd be in trouble if at the late dissertation stages, I'm still trying to make my way through the cheat books!)*, but I do like lining some of these up with their colors and their "weighty* names. The Lowell is in there just to give me some poetry breaks from time to time, when the bird isn't around for me to take a break with.

Promising this: that modelled shots of Kiri are on their way. And Forecast? Well, I'm on to the first sleeve, so I'll show you some shots of that too.

And what am I lusting after now? Well, after perusing the B&N bookstore's knitting section (oh right, I'm supposed to be in the library carrel!!), I am wanting to make the crew-neck sweater from Glampyre's Fitted Knits, a jacket/sweater/cardigan from Erika Knight's Classic Knits, many, many things out of Lace Style (see Julia for a great review of this book), these socks, and these socks, and oh so many other things....

And what am I addicted to smelling right now? This....Hmmmm...

*Of course I (we!?) still use these kind of cheat books in the later stages of writing the dissertation-- :)

The Blocking of Kiri: A Silent Film*

2007-03-01T16:29:00.000-06:00

*I didn't have time this morning, besides to drape Kiri over Guido while he was playing the piano, to do a modelling photo shoot for Kiri, but I'll see to that in the coming days. Then, all details and thoughts on this project will be shared with you all.

**My sincere apologies to Wendy of Knit&Tonic for the possible offense caused by this silent film of the lacy shawl--a lacy shawl that requires pesky little pins to block; I'll be sure to move the shawl immmediately off the chair, and hang it on the wall, as soon as I get home tonight-- ;)**

**You gotta love people who aren't afraid to share their opinions :) Although, I must confess, I'm a bit nervous now about modelling this for everyone in the coming days after her post of today and all of the commenters saying how much they dislike the look of shawls, especially triangle-shaped ones (something about the arrow pointing to one's butt!?!). I hope I can pull it off. And if not, who cares? I *love* my Kiri shawl.

"WIP It Girl": Or, A Tale of Works In Progress

2007-02-26T14:18:00.000-06:00

So I've begun Forecast. Here's a close-up of the 3-stitch bobble that I'm using, a popular adaptation ever since (I think) Winnie's version of Forecast first appeared.

Here's Forecast a bit further along, now resting outside. I'm using Cascade 220 (for the first time) and I'm loving it.

The back view...

Can you tell that I'm in love with this pattern, and that I'm loving taking pictures of it?

Other things as WIPS: the My So Called Scarf manages to go nowhere these days. I really like the stitch pattern, but given that it's now March (practically), there's really no sense in making a thick, warm scarf like this. So to the back-burner you go. (Besides, if I were to be making a scarf these days, it'd *definitely* be a rip-off of these fantastic ones everyone is talking about these days...)

So, instead of continuing with the SoCalledScarf, I've *finally* finished Kiri (see left margin for free PDF pattern). That's right, this shawl has been languishing for a long time. The reason? I ran out of yarn when casting off. Seriously, I only had about 40 more stitches to bind off when there just wasn't any more yarn left. ARGH. So then I had to wait until Elann restocked this color (Serenghetti Sand), so that it could be completed. It's blocking today, so FO photos will come later this week.

Lastly, I quickly knit up another We Call Them Pirates Hat because the first one I made was immediately too small for the newborn and the parents kept telling me how much they liked the hat. This one, made from acrylic yarn left over from this, doesn't look too hot. Mind you, I haven't blocked it yet, but I'm not sure what difference it'll make, really, b/c of the acrylic. Oh well, I just need to get it to them before the cooler temperatures are completely gone, and before the baby girl grows out of this one too.

BTW: Thanks for the feedback regarding "blogger etiquette". I'm going to write a "reply" post to this, summing the comments/suggestions up, sometime later this week.

Awww.....

2007-02-18T15:52:00.000-06:00

....shucks! Look what Carrieoke has designed for me. A better, improved, longer banner that's cleaner, clearer, and with a great new font to boot. What a girl, she is! It's no wonder Jacob (the Pants?!) wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

Now I just need to see if I can get this new image up on the banner space in my template. Let's hope so. And THANKS, Carrie. I really do love it and appreciate the time and effort you put in for me. Man, I love this knit-blog community!!

Now, speaking of this awesome knit-blog community; MamieKnits Bits left this comment regarding my previous note on the fact that I wanted to learn "proper" knit-blogging etiquette: She writes, "If you find any essential etiquette tips out there, will you post them? i wonder at times if there is some code of honor to learn though it seems like the knit bloggers in the world are a really gentle bunch."

This is also how I feel. I've been reading blogs for about a year now, and then started my own in May 2006. But I've always wondered if there is an unknown code or etiquette that I should be following. Specifically, I never know what exactly to do about comments and responses. If someone asks me a specific question in a comment, then I will respond to their question (or try to). But if it's a comment where no specific response is required, then I usually don't. The main reason for my lack of response is that Blogger doesn't seem to allow an easy, "hit reply to respond" and so it involves going to that person's blog, finding their email address, and then going back to my email account to reply. Now I know, people, that this is not that big of a deal, and really doesn't take a lot of time and effort. Also, I know that many feel that if someone takes the time to comment, then one should take the time to reply. What I usually do is go to that person's blog and leave a comment on their blog, and so hopefully, in this way, we begin a blogger relationship/dialogue. But I'm also wondering if I am perceived as rude for not replying to everyone's comments individually. Okay, okay, I know I don't get many comments, but I do get a lot of student-work-family emails each day that I *have* to reply to, so for the blog comments, I don't want to begin to feel that it's also a part of my work day--being obliged to reply to everyone's comment. I DO NOT want my blog to begin to feel like work instead of play.

Because I soooo love playing here with y'all, but I do want to make sure that I'm being a "good" playmate at the same time.

So am I out of line because I don't respond individually to every comment, even despite the fact that I am not getting 243 or even 12 comments a day? Am I being rude? You can tell me if I am. Like MamieKnits wrote, if us newbies aren't aware of an honor code, then someone should (gently) tell us of it so we can play nicely too. And are there other aspects of this unwritten code? Does anyone know of a (in)formal knit-blog etiquette that helps us get along? Or do we just follow our intuition and decide for ourselves what's best and what works?

Just wonderin' 'cause I love this community so much that I'd hate to exclude/alienate myself or others from it [especially when there are such nice people such as Carrie helping us to make beautiful banners and such :) ]

Another To Do/To Make List

2007-02-17T20:23:00.000-06:00

1. Learn how to make my banner stretch out nicely like everyone else's. Mine looks terrible, but I can't waste any more time fooling around with it.

2. Buy a bedwarmer from Dogged Knits's etsy shop, and some soap from KnittingPhilistine.

3. Knit a skirt, after seeing Julia's at MindofWinter, to wear this summer.

4. Actually start piecing together the squares on this quilt-to-be instead of just rearranging them all the time, and then restacking them. Given my sewing skills, I'm nervous to start for *reals*.

5. Post some progress photos of Forecast, which I'm loving right now; I'm nearly at the arm-holes.

6. Sew some beautiful (but *easy*) blinds like these. (Shoot, I can't find the flickr photo of the blinds I wanted to sew....argh!)

7. Post some photos of the new blue living room that I painted this past week.

8. Learn proper/standard/acceptable knit-blog etiquette.

A Poem for Us All

2007-02-14T15:29:00.000-06:00

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

-Raymond Carver, Late Fragment*

A day of love and peace to all of you,

and much love to the man who brings much music into my life.

(sorry for the blurred photo but we were just so excited to get to the concert)

With love, with faith, with kindness, with compassion, with patience, with understanding, with forgiveness, with determination, maybe even with luck--with whatever it takes--

here's to many more trips to the lake; here's to many more concerts in the park....

(*I was reminded of this poem when reading A Bird in the Hand's blog recently.)

The Beret, The Banana Republic Coat, and...and....The Bedwarmer??

2007-02-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, I mentioned a while back that I'd show you the finished beret, the Banana Republic coat found at a thrift store, and the bedwarmer made after seeing Ashley's. Here, folks, are two of the three. The third has yet to be photographed. Soon....very soon.

BTW: Have you seen this new flickr group: Handknit Street Style? It was begun, I believe, by LollyGirl, and the requirements are that you post a photo of a handknit actually being worn--no WIPs, no sweater artfully laid out on a bed, no hat positioned on Hemingway's head. I like this idea of Lolly's because so often we never get to see people actually wearing their handknits and this must change! For one thing, I'd like to see if a garment is wearable before investing my time and money in making it. (I know, I know, it's supposed to be about the process, the craft, the artifact created, the feel of the silky wool between your fingers, but quite frankly, I'm also very much interested in the utility of it as well--hence, why we are considered to be both craftspeople *and* artists!) So start wearing your knits, people, and then show us that you are indeed wearing them, and how, and that it isn't simply for a staged photo shoot. (For instance, the photo above was taken on my way home from campus, in the university washroom. The entire time I was hoping/praying that one of my colleagues or students wouldn't walk in. How embarrasing would that be?)

(Silent) Poetry Reading

2007-02-02T13:06:00.000-06:00

The Creation Story

I'm not afraid of love
or its consequence of light.

It's not easy to say this
or anything when my entrails
dangle between paradise
and fear.

I am ashamed
I never had the words
to carry a friend from her death
to the stars
correctly.

Or the words to keep
my people safe
from drought
or gunshot.

The stars who were created by words
are circling over this house
formed of calcium, of blood

this house
in danger of being torn apart
by stones of fear.

If these words can do anything
if these songs can do anything
I say bless this house
with stars.

Transfix us with love.

--Joy Harjo

**(And because one poem is just never enough...)***

Sonnet XLIII: "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why"

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

--Edna St. Vincent Millay

**Last One!**

My Makeup

on my cheeks I wear
the flush of two beers

on my eyes I use
the dark circles of sleepless nights
to great advantage

for lipstick
I wear my lips

-- Rochelle Kraut

There Was A Time...

2007-01-30T13:46:00.000-06:00

... when I lived in Paris, France.

For one year, I said "oui, oui."
I kissed cheek-to-cheek.
I ate steak tartar.

I was only eighteen.

Pity that in all of that year, not once did I don a beret.

No chapeau graced my prairie-girl head.

Now, in Texas, I wear a beret,

and each morning, before I leave,

to walk through the streets of monster trucks,

I wrap a silk scarf around my neck--

a la mode francaise--

I put on my chapeau,

my beret,

spray my French perfume about my neck,

and stick earphones--Joni Mitchell's voice--into my ears.

Indeed, Joni shows me that a girl can be both of the praries,

and of la vie francaise.

There is no contradiction in that; only endless possibilties.

Pattern: Tweed Beret, from Interweave Knits (Winter 2006)

Needles: Size 7 US

Yarn: Ballybrae 100% Virgin Unscoured Wool by Yarns Brunswick

Thoughts on Yarn: I liked the yarn well enough, but now that I've begun using Cascade 220 for the first time (I cast-on for Forecast already), I will now always lean towards the Cascade when needing a 100% worsted-weight wool yarn. It's that good--the Cascade, I mean!

Modifications: Instead of finishing the beret's rim off with stockinette as the pattern directed, I continued on in the ribbing, reducing the number of stitches and trying it on with each reduction to ensure that it would fit. (All this just because I didn't like the curled rim on the original version for some reason).

However, unlike the intelligent, savy Grumperina, I did not sew elastic into the edge, and I really should. Because, though the beret fits, and I've worn it several times around about the town already (pretending to be a real flaneur of sorts), it is tight, and I do need to give it a bit of a tug to get it on.

But other than that tightness, when I put it on, wrap the silk scarf around my neck, spray the French perfume, and get the music going on my mp3 player, I turn back into that femme francaise et je suis heureuse dans ma coeur... just like Joni.

*PS: For those who care about such things, the mini oil painting pictured above was found in a thrift store the day after I cast off the beret. Serendipity? Pure chance? I think not.

When First You Don't Succeed...

2007-01-26T12:48:00.000-06:00

....refuse everyone's good advice to rip it out and instead just start all over again, but in a different shade of pink.

So here's the completed EZ baby sweater with its matching cute chenille bunny all set to go off to live with the new girl who's come into the world.

The baby girl was born two weeks ago, but I'm hoping that everything will fit just fine still. Besides, how's one to know anything about baby sizes anyways? (Oh right, I guess I could have consulted this site...I actually completely forgot all about this site again...geesh!)

Pattern: The February Baby Sweater, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, found in _The Knitter's Almanac_

Yarn: Caron's Simply Soft, 1.5 skeins (acryllic! gasp! sorry EZ! next time it'll be wool!)

Needles: US 5 circulars

Modifications: No real modifications, except for the helpful advice of those many who have gone before who suggested casting on an extra stitch on each side of the sleeves (so cast on 8 instead of 7 stitches), and then you can slip this extra stitch each time. This slipped extra stitch will create an easy-to-seam-border for the under-arm seam.

Final Thoughts: I really loved working with this pattern, and found it simple and concise. More so, I loved the fact that there are only two small seams to mattress-stitch at the end (and those seams are under the arms so even if your seaming skills are less than par (as mine are) it's not that big of a deal given they won't show all that much.

My main concern with the instructions however (as mentioned above) is not knowing what measurements I was aiming for. Having no babies nearby, I felt uncertain about the arm lengths for one (again, I forgot about the yarn standard size charts but I'm pretty sure that these sleeves are going to be on the short side). I kept reassuring myself of the sweater's size ambiguity by noting that the baby this is meant for is new-born, and so, at some point, shouldn't this cardigan fit--whether it be when she's 3 mos or 1 year? Let's hope so.

As for the yarn: the Caron's Simply Soft wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, and it cost only $1.50/skein which is a bonus (and which is the main reason I decided on it). That said, however, I don't think I'd use it again. It just wasn't as pleasurable to work with as merino/wool would have been, and it didn't block out in the way I wished it would (especially with respect to showing off the gull lace pattern.) But, the new parents (who both work full-time) will be able to throw it in the washer and dryer without a second thought so maybe, in the end, the acrylic isn't such a bad choice. I just hope it holds up, and doesn't look like crap after a wash or two. I'll ask the mother to give me an update on it, and pass the information on to you all.

Next up: the beret, the bedwarmer, and the BananaRepublic coat!

CSI: Panhandle Plains

2007-01-24T15:01:00.000-06:00

The photo that accompanied Ashley's cautionary tale this morning reminded me of my own cautionary tale: don't leave a ball of yarn sitting out on your beside table at night unless you are prepared to wake up to this shocking scene the next morning:

Hmmm....I wonder what could have possibly happened here during the night while I slept soundly by....

Uh-huh. Caught in the act--the bad-ass black cat that we continue to (put up with) love.

PS: Camera cord has been located; photos of FOs to come--

Post Sans Photos (of My Own Taking...)

2007-01-23T14:18:00.000-06:00

Well, I have so many things to show you: a newly knitted beret (inspired by Julia's and Anna's); a finished EZ baby sweater; a rice-bag footwarmer (a la Dogged Knits); amazing shots of snow in a city that never gets snow; funky, fun, charming Japanese china (6 cups and 6 snack trays) that I got for $5.99, and a beautiful Banana Republic tweed coat, $9.99, procured at thrift stores this past week!

I cannot, however, for the life of me, find the cord that plugs my camera into my computer so that la transfer can happen. So, instead, I offer today a photoless post full of links of things that I love or find amusing or find thoughtful in order to entertain y'all whilst I search for that darn camera cord--

As I said, I love Ashley's foot-warmer and she has graciously offered a tutorial for it so that we all can have warm feet tonight. I also want to make this "stop-the-draft" window-sleeve, as Little Birds has done so marvelously.

I love Olga's thrifty, homemade laptop protector sleeve that she made out of a felted turtleneck.

I also want to make some of Yarnmonster's drawstring bags to beautify my bag lunches and to carry my knitting projects around in.

I love this post, from La Vie En Rose, about starting to explore what sexy means and how one is or isn't, how one gets it or doesn't.

I love that I have found Dooce and am feeling sheepish that I didn't know about Dooce before now.

I was happy to see this exhibition mentioned in The New Yorker.

I love the breakthrough that Crazy Aunt Purl made with her relationship with food and wished that my mother could have made this breakthrough years ago. Or that she could make it now.

I love this idea for recycling paper into an address box by UglyKitty.

I love the new bedroom Twelve22 has created for herself: so pretty--!

I want, someday, to own my own UrbanChicks and, like Yarnstorm, have fresh eggs every day and some fine ladies to keep me company--

And I love the fact that 4 skeins of Cascade 220 are on their way (which I scored for $20 off of Ebay) so that I can hop onto the Forecast KAL bandwagon!

(Oh yeah, and how I wish this would become a reality, and would be, in fact, a true commitment made by our leaders, instead of being just another political ploy/desperate maneuver from an oh-so desperate man...)

** (The Anthropology of Turquoise, by Ellen Melloy, and Graeme Gibson's The Bedside Book of Birds are just two of the many books piled high beside my bed right now. The book I'm most into right now [halfway through] is this one.)

Looking Back. Looking Forward.

2007-01-18T14:47:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all who left comments of condolesences for my partner and me over the loss of our dog. I am going to respond to each of your individually over the weekend, because I'll have some free time to do so soon. But for now please know that each comment meant so much--

So it's 2007, is it? Like so many of you, I have big plans and small plans for the year, in the hopes of making 2007 a year marked by change and calm, goodnesss and beauty, progress and rest, friendship and love, creativity and trust, and in all that, taking big, mindful, deep breaths. Most of all, for this year, I want to concentrate on the idea of truth, kindness and honesty--in everything I do and am. But before I get into detailing those things--how I want to put those ideas concretely into action--I want to share with you first where the end of 2006 took me:

Here's the road leading to my family's farm, and thus, the road back to my Canadian home for the holiday break. It was good to find myself back in a place of peace, of calm, surrounded by loved ones, and by a country of citizens who (mainly) believe in human rights such as health care--

And so, we found ourselves doing "typical" Canadian activities: icefishing, for one thing, in the valley.

(Here's what that same valley looked like just six months earlier)

Sleigh-riding, for another. It was a good, restful time, for the most part, and we managed to do many things that helped us, as a family, reconnect--including celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Also, I managed to finish (nearly) the EZ sweater, which is good considering the new young girl, Sophia, has now been born.

I just need to cast off, block it, and sew on the buttons. For those of you who recall the start of this sweater, you'll notice how I choose to handle the shortage-of-yarn issue. I simply began all over again, with new yarn altogether (ssshhhh! it's just Caron's Simply Soft acryllic yarn--@1.50/skein!!!)

Waiting in the wings (as pictured at the start of this post) is the start of the fabulous (and ubiquitous) My So Called Scarf, because heck! it's damn cold down here on the Panhandle Plains of the USA as well! So to ward off the unusual coldness of this Southern Panhandle climate, I've decided to take matters into my own hands, and create for my partner and myself our own fireplace in the fake fireplace of our rental home:

Making the best of the situation--creating beauty and warmth where before there was only a cold draft: this is just a minor start to my plans for the New Year. Onward, towards beauty, kindness, and honesty. Onward, to a life lived fully, hopefully, in creativity and warmth.

And I wish for all of you, the same. Happy New Year.

"A Dog Has Died"

2007-01-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

10 December 1994 -- 23 December 2006

"A Dog Has Died"

--Pablo Neruda

My dog has died.

I buried him in the garden

next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I'll join him right there,

but now he's gone with his shaggy coat,

his bad manners and his cold nose,

and I, the materialist, who never believed

in any promised heaven in the sky

for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I'll never enter.

Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom

where my dog waits for my arrival

waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I'll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes

filling me full of his hair or his mange,

he never rubbed up against my knee

like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,

paying me the attention I need,

the attention required

to make a vain person like me understand

that, being a dog, he was wasting time,

but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,

he'd keep on gazing at me

with a look that reserved for me alone

all his sweet and shaggy life,

always near me, never troubling me,

and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail

as we walked together

on the shores of the sea

in the lonely winter of Isla Negra

where the wintering birds filled the sky

and my hairy dog was jumping about

full of the voltage of the sea's movement:

my wandering dog, sniffing away with his golden tail held high,

face to face with the ocean's spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,

as only dogs know how to be happy

with only the autonomy of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,

and we don't now and never did lie to each other.

So now he's gone and I buried him,

and that's all there is to it.

* *

Over the holiday break, we lost our lovely, loving, joyful, darling dog. We have been sad, sad, sad, and I've avoided posting because I knew this was the post that would have to come first. And I know that I'll have to update the profile on the side, and that I cannot bear to do yet. He was truly a legend, as evidenced by the many wonderful stories that everyone who met him has of him. Indeed, the thing he knew best to do--besides loving us and bringing us great joy--was how to leave an impression. It's so hard to comprehend: how a being that made your life so full and lively can suddenly be no more. Of course, he is with us always, but he isn't--the house is so still. I know that it will fill up again some day, with time, but for now, we softly say: "Rest in peace, dear M."

[My apologies on the terrible formatting of this post. I could not (despite much grappling with Blogger) get the line breaks in Neruda's poem to show up at the correct place because when I did, the photos then moved about crazily or were lost altogether.]

What I've Been Doing. Where I'll Be Going.

2006-12-11T15:57:00.000-06:00

Because our families live in different parts of Canada, my partner and I always spend the December holidays apart. He goes one way, with the dog. I go the other way, without the cat. This will be our sixth Christmas together but not together.

To make up for it, we've begun taking an early holiday, just for us. We choose a date, and then tell ourselves over and over again that it's Christmas. The night before we do Christmas Eve related activities: wrapping gifts, sipping egg nog, listening to carols. The next morning, we spring out of bed, singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" and rush to our stockings like little silly kids. Then, after a big breakfast, we head back to the tree for the presents.

This past weekend, fifteen days before the real deal, was "our Christmas" together and it was wonderful. We exchanged gifts, both whimsical ones and deeply meaningful ones. He always writes me a song (it helps when your guy is an impressive jazz musician!) and I make him something and copy out a new poem I've discovered that year for him to include in his journal. In years past, I've made him mittens, toques (ski hats), socks. This year, I sewed him a bag** for his pipe and his accessories, and even embroidered his initials on the outside, and left a secret message on the inside (I was going to embroider this as well but ran out of time given that this time of year for academics also means grading, grading, grading, and more grading).

Even more special about our Christmas this year is that the day fell on the same day as our dandy dog's 12th birthday.

He was showered with presents, taken for a long walk in the park and given roast chicken and roast beef for lunch and dinner.Good boy.

What isn't good is that I haven't even begun the ripping of the EZ sweater. The friend's baby shower has now passed, so I've promised to have this gift done first thing, in the New Year, upon my return. .... And where is it that I'm going? ....

I'm going home.

** For the sewing of the pipe bag, I relied heavily on this useful tutorial and only broke one needle but cursed several times.

Thank You

2006-12-01T17:14:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends:

I write to thank you for all of your good advice regarding the EZ February Baby Sweater crisis. You're all right, so, so right. I knew ripping back to the yoke was the only real solution, but there was a part of me that wanted an easier solution. I thought if enough people said, "Why yes, Kodak! Certainly boldly stripping green, fuscia, and lavender yarn throughout a delicate lace pattern will look FANTASTIC! Go for it! Stipe away in those loud contrasting colors!!"--then I might just believe it to be true.

But alas, dear knitters, you are all honest, strong, and assertive, and you told me exactly what I needed to hear. Besides, who would I be not to rip back to correct the EZ sweater after having witnessed Ashley's own recent, brave frogging of her mitten?

Indeed, big thanks to everyone for their helpful feedback. Now, a-ripping I will go. And to cheer me through this painful moment, I have this beautiful holder of tissues by my side, made and sent to me by Craftapalooza.

Because I won a contest (and not a pretty one, either: "I'll also give away a tissue holder to the most entertaining spew or overindulging story posted as a comment, yep, you have to publicy humiliate yourselves as well" (Craftapalooza, 22 September 2006), she sent me this cute holder all the way from down-under. Thanks, dear, for honouring my spewing story in such a kind and beautiful way. Who knew such beauty would come from such a gross story....

Oh Baby!

2006-11-29T18:36:00.000-06:00

More baby showers coming up, so here's the start to the EZ February Baby Sweater, found in the Knitter's Almanac. So far (and that "so far" is meant as foreshadowing....), the sweater has been knit with an acryllic yarn (SORRY EZ!) on US 6 circulars.

Here are the buttons I'm going to use. The choice of button colors is strategic. You see, like BrooklynTweed (now, if only I were just like BT!!), I've run out of yarn. Unlike BT, I don't have anyone to dye me up another batch of matching yarn. So I'm going to have to take drastic measures, which will be to switch to a bright green or lavender color (or both) to finish off the sweater. What do you color experts think I should do? Finish with the fuscia, then move to a lavender, and then edge it off with a bright and fun lime green (all in an attempt to match the buttons and thus save face by making it seem like I wanted that color scheme instead of the reality that I do not know any better than to start a project without enough yarn)? Or will this result in a hideous sweater whereby the beautiful, soft-spoken mother-to-be will exclaim, upon opening the shower gift, "WTF"? Please offer some suggestions, dear readers. Please advise me as to what I should do (keeping in mind that getting more of the same yarn is out given that I picked up this yarn a year ago at a yard sale in a different country....

Please help a girl out...even you lurkers!

"Shiver Me Timbers!" (And No, I'm Not Talking About Freaky Michael "Racist" Richards.)

2006-11-20T13:59:00.000-06:00

Just in time for the baby shower this past Sunday, I finished the baby version of Hello Yarn's : We Call Them Pirates hat.

Pattern: Hello Yarn's We Call Them Pirates Hat

Yarn: Kitchen 100% Cotton Yarn (yellow) & 50% Wool/50% Acrylic Norweigan Yarn (Blue): both yarns were sport weight.

Needles: Size US 3 dpns and Size US 1 dpns (for inside liner)

Mods: As you can see if you compare Hello Yarn's original version to this one, I modified the pattern here and there. Firstly, I cast on 84 stitches, instead of 128. The stripes at the bottom are much plainer, and I took out the four vertical stripes running upwards. I also incorporated 2 less skull patterns going across, and did only two rows of the skulls instead of three. I slightly modified the pattern at the top as well so it would just be some simple diamond shapes at the crown.

New techniques learned: THE HEM!

The hem was my favourite part of the entire project, and I can't wait to do the hems now on my beginning EZ hybrid sweater (which, really, has yet to be begun). But I also learned that I have much to learn with respect to finishing techniques. With the finishing, I always tend to rush these final details, and then it dissapoints. I need to stay patient right through to the final step, making sure the entire project is given proper time and care. For, as we are told, "God" is in the details--which, for me, means that true perfection and craftsmanship/handiwork is found there, in the details.

Project Woes and Concerns: I'm a bit worried that the cap will be too small for the wee one, who is due to arrive in a few weeks. It measures a little over 5 inches across, which gives it a circumference of about 15 inches. I think this means that it'll be too tight for the baby, or that the baby will get very little wear out of it. For one thing, the hat stretches very little. It's stiff, in fact. And much too late into the project, I discovered this site, which gives standards for the sizes of babies' heads. I wish I'd known about this site before, because I would have aimed more for the size of a toddler's head, so that the baby could have had much more wear out of the hat. In any case, the Dad at the shower let out a "cool" when he saw the hat. In fact, he proclaimed that this is what the baby would wear home from the hospital. So I guess, in the end, the hat was still somewhat of a success. And I certainly enjoyed making it.

ETA: Since writing this post, I've cast on already for another We Call Them Pirates hat for the same baby. I'm using Rowan Wool/Cotton this time, am making it a bit bigger, and am trying to aim for a more stretchy hat by using a ribbed hem this time, in lieu of the original version which has a provisional cast-on and a fold-over hem. Just so ya know! :)

You're Kidding Me...

2006-11-20T13:50:00.000-06:00

From Olga's blog, I decided to take the "Texas Quiz":

You are 71% REAL Texan!!

You're way more Texan than average. You're parents were probably from here too. We're glad to have you. You probably go to the border for Christmas shopping and are well versed in BBQ, Mexican Food and .. well thats pretty much it.

How Texan Are You?

I find my results a bit alarming. I've only lived in Texas for a little more than two years, and I'm already this Texan? An environmental liberal (actually, socialist) Canadian girl like me has become Texan so quickly? I'm not sure the results can be too accurate...

PS: Photos of the completed pirate hat to be posted very soon--

All Work and No Play. All Play and No Work.

2006-11-13T15:27:00.000-06:00

It's a hard thing--balancing work & play. Some days I play way too much, and suffer for it. For then the work piles so high that it seems an impossible, unbearable task--not to mention the sense of guilt that comes from all play and no work.

Other times I work too much, and suffer for that too. For the result is a lack of joy, calm, and satisfaction in my life, and this, of course, affects all other aspects & people in my life.

The answer, as we all know, is trying to balance them. Although right now it's so hard not to become absorbed in Hello Yarn's We Call Them Pirates hat.

The other real, but difficult, answer, of course, is making your play, your work, and your work, your play. But until I figure out how to do this, it seems that I must stick with my trusty egg-timer; set timer and now:

*Work/write for 45 minutes, knit for 15.
Work/write for 45 minutes, knit for 10. Go pee in 5.
Work/write for 45 minutes, knit for 15.
Work/write for 45 minutes, knit for 10. Eat in 5.
Work/write for 45 minutes, knit for 15.
Work/write for 45 minutes, blog for 15.*

*Repeat until you get both a finished baby hat/knee high socks/Kiri shawl/hybrid sweater/, and a paragraph/a chapter/a dissertation/a PhD.

Arrgghhh....Here's What I've Been Up To

2006-11-09T12:38:00.000-06:00

Arghh.....matey. This week, I've made my swatch for my baby version of Hello Yarn's We Call Them Pirates hat. It needs to be finished for the baby shower next weekend.

Secondly, as the Buddha can attest to here, I've started swatching for my EZ hybrid sweater. I thank you all for your thoughtful feedback from the last post, and because of that feedback, I decided to start with the hybrid sweater for my second-ever sweater project, then move on to either Raspy or Forecast.

For the EZ hybrid, I'm using some cone yarn--100% New Zealand Wool, DK weight--that I won (for cheap) on ebay a while ago. So far it seems like it'll be lovely wool to knit with.

Lastly, I finished the EZ Ganomy Hat. I used Ella Rae Classic Wool Yarn and knit it on 4 mm circular needles. It wasn't my favourite yarn to work with, but it wasn't terrible. The brown wasn't quite the brown I was looking for [it seems a bit dull, a bit flat in its color], but that's just me being too picky. The pattern, found in EZ's Knitter's Almanac, was crafty/smart and easy to follow, more so because of the guidance of others on the Zimmermaniac KAL.

The overall finished project? I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Pragmatically, this hat will do what it needs to do: keep my ears warm! And I do like how I can either wear it with the ear flaps pulled down, or easily roll them up if that strong West Texas wind isn't blowing down my neck.

See, Pap Hemmy is demonstrating its versatility here; his other modeling shots are posted on Flickr.

Decisions. Decisions.

2006-11-03T13:38:00.000-06:00

This past week, I finished both the clapotis and the EZ ganomy hat. FO photos and project details will be posted in the coming days, just as soon as the sun decides to shine again in these parts. This week of finishing means that I'm ready to cast on for a new project, and thus, tough(!) decisions must be made.

Firstly, I have much baby-knitting to do, as everyone, but me, seems to be pregnant these days. I want to make Hello Yarn's pirate hat in a wee size for a friend who is obsessed with Halloween. I also want to knit a soft, luxury (cashmere?) girly cap for a colleague who knows she is expecting a girl. Then there is the holiday knitting. I want to make a beret, a la Julia (see post of 22 September 06), for someone special. I want to make my father some warm EZ mittens like these because now that he's 70, his hands have poor circulation and so he finds his hands so so cold on his (Canadian) farm.

But.....
But what?

But there are also so many beautiful sweaters out there that I want to try, and given I've only ever made one sweater--which failed miserably but was the first thing I had ever knit [I was 25. Why did I start with a fair-isle sweater for pete's sake? What's wrong with starting with a hat or a scarf?? Well, it didn't exactly fail but it turned out to be of a gargantuan size. I actually gave up knitting then, and didn't pick it up again for about five years because I was so disappointed that all my time went into that thing that was essentially useless unless you wanted a sweater to cover your car at night)--Anyways, I'm simply trying to say that I want to cast on for a sweater.

For instance, I want to start knitting Forecast after seeing some beautiful versions show up on the blogs. Consider, for instance, those made by guavaseeds; pinku; moe; and fricknits, just to name a few.

I want to knit an Hourglass Sweater and a Lace Leaf Pullover because I've seen so many nice ones completed. I want to knit Raspy from Rowan Denim People, and an EZ hybrid sweater (one for me and one for my beau), a la BrooklynTweed.

And I want to start knitting this:

The "Aran Sweater" by Michael Kors.

Pattern found in Vogue Knitting, Holiday Issue 2005.

However, I'm not feeling too courageous about the Kors sweater, especially after reading Sandra's two posts about attempting it, who says this: "I am so done with Vogue Knitting International. Their patterns are so miserably written. I have given up on the Michael Kors Aran Top, it's official. In a way, it's almost a relief." Any one else have any problems with VK patterns? (....ah, there are just so many sweaters that I want to knit. How to decide, how to decide. Any suggestions, oh wise knitters?)

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T17:08:00.000-06:00

Can you guess what we went as for this year's costume party?

Happy Halloween from my household to yours. Boo!

Ganomy Hat: Take 1

2006-10-27T13:44:00.000-05:00

The two-colour Ganomy Hat (in Ella Rae Classic Wool Yarn)

inspired by Jessica's Ganomy.

This was my Elizabeth Zimmerman Ganomy Hat (from the Knitters Almanac) as of late last night (the photo taken this morning, though). This was how far I had gotten just before I tried it on...and tried it on...and tried it on.

No matter how much I pulled and stretched and cursed (not really), the Ganomy remained unwilling to slide itself down onto my noggin in any way resembling a comfortable fit. Perhaps, in getting tied up in the Tigers stressful fight against the Cardinals last night, perhaps because of the mojitos and the wine and the ice cream, perhaps because I simply wanted to hurry up and begin my participation in the EZ KAL, I failed to notice (or to take the time to notice) that this hat was just plain too small. Ergo--rip, rip, rip.

"And so we beat on, boats against the current..."*

Until take 2 of the Ganomy occurs, I wish everyone in the EZ KAL (and all other bloggers/knitters) a happy weekend.

(*How's that for literary melodrama? I think EZ, a talented writer with a flair for the dramatic, might have appreciated the insertion of Fitzgerald here.)

PS: Thanks Olga, Julia, Lazuli (and just now Moe! hi Moe!) for the "to-block-or-not-to-block" feedback; I'm going to hold off on blocking the Clapotis and just wear it for a while, enjoying its "raw silkiness."

Fascinating & Disturbing & Just What We Always Knew

2006-10-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

Clapotis, made with Cherry Tree Hill Rustic Silk,

will be soaking & blocking this weekend.*

Discovered over at mellowtrouble (in this earlier post) is a link to this evocative Dove advertisment on youtube. Have a look. If not surprising, it at least affirms everything we thought and believed about the images that constantly surround us, bombard us, provoke us. And it's just plain fascinating (and reassuring?disturbing?) to watch.

*Did/Do most knitters bathe/block their Clapotis/Clapotises/Clapoti [sp?] upon completion? Do you--"you" being that collective, whoever-might-be-out-there-reading-this "you"--wash & block every item you knit before you consider it to be completed? Inquiring minds want to know...

No More Nasty Here. I Promise.

2006-10-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

Because of the piles of essays I have to grade, because of family visiting, and because, most importantly, the World Series excitement is going on full-swing in our household these days (Go Tigers! We *heart* Kenny!), the Clapotis, though nearly finished for quite some time now, is languishing, waiting the final rows to be completed. This week will see it through to completion.

But to prepare for new things to come, one must also be replenishing one's stash. This is a ball of Ella Rae Classic Wool from lit#tle#kn#ts; it's intended for an EZ Ganomy hat, which also means that *at last* I might just start participating in Zimmermania.

Also intended for Zimmermania? This Rowanspun Chunky hopes to become an EZ hybrid sweater of some sort. However, I need to do much more research & reading of EZ before I begin (though I see I'm in highly esteemed company with the Rowanspun Chunky--)

A Few Good Things and Some Things That Just Look Nasty (Viewer Discretion Advised)

2006-10-19T17:27:00.000-05:00

I finished tissue holder number 2. Thanks to Craftapalooza, I think that these will become the lastest handmade stocking stuffers for the holidays this year.

Here's the inside, with a contrasting pinky-peach fabric.

So now, two down, and about eight to go--

Other good things: sitting on the front porch during a rain storm with a nice Merlot, a good book, and my Guido's smoking his pipe beside me. (I love the smell of the pipe; I don't love the pipe smoke.)

Also getting out of the rain, is Mr. Snail. Can you imagine, people (me, being people) eat these things???*** He just looks so nasty! (Sorry, snail-lovers, but it's true.)

Something not nasty? These beautiful mums starting to make their way into bloom, loving the recent rains.

Ooopsss, more nasty! So, speaking of "can-you-believe-people-eat-these-things?," can you believe some people eat these things? These things, being, of course, for those Ukrainians in the know, ***cabbage rolls. My partner's family was here this past weekend and to commemorate Canadian Thanksgiving (which we miss down here in the US), Guido's aunt had us made cabbage rolls. Lovely to eat. Not so lovely to look at. In fact, this photo seems so nasty to me that it's bordering on the pornographic--

Knitting content: tomorrow, the photos of Clapotis, and the yarn that I've acquired for (at last) my Zimmermania project.

Happy Tuesday: Happy Thrift Finds

2006-10-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

We had an aunt & uncle visit us for the first time this past weekend. The aunt told me how much she liked our place, and was surprised to learn that most everything--and I mean everything--in our house is from thrift stores, church sales, etc.

The painting above (sorry about the blurry photo) is one of the many good things my partner and I have discovered recently; we love to thrift shop, not just for the obvious $$ savings, but because it's about reusing, recyling, and reimagining (therefore creativity, not simply consumerism, is involved); it's about directing our money to charities instead of corporations; it's about giving new life & love to things that someone else has decided are no longer worthy or valuable.

Plus, we can afford to have really excellent quality clothes/goods/furniture (like this art deco lampshade, for instance) that we would otherwise not be able to afford. It's so win-win, through & through.

Monster

2006-10-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

Last night, a friend of mine tried to teach me how to sew a sock monster. She had given me "Roberta," pictured above posing on our guest bed (aside: we have family coming tomorrow!!! yay ... I get to get the guest room ready for them tonight!).

Sadly, I have no photos to show you of the sock monster I attempted to make last night. Let's just say that after a couple of glasses of wine (and a stiff margarita from dinner, previous to the wine), my sock monster was not happening. But I'll try again, and perhaps I too can make something as outstanding as Roberta here to share with y'all.

State of Waiting*; or ABA**

2006-10-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

**ABA: "All But Appendages"

Morph the Cat here (aka Kate from Knitty) has been "coming soon" for a long time now. Nearly finished for over six months, he sits patiently, awaiting the day I decide finally to sew on his arms, legs, and ears.

Much too often, I also feel like I'm "coming soon," but that I'm never quite there. More and more frequently, I find myself in a state of waiting, sensing that I'm in limbo somehow. Perhaps someday I'll awake and find my appendages finally stitched to the rest of me in a way that makes sense.

This "state of waiting," I know, I know, is what the state of living is all about. As the cliched sayings note (ad nauseum), we are works in progress, and nothing, as our craft of knitting has taught us, is ever really completely finished. I think, nevertheless, that being a graduate student in the *late* stages of the PhD promotes this feeling of stasis, of waiting, and of incompletion. For one thing, there's a sense that everyone around me has become a fully fledged grown-up already (whatever that is), and that I've been left behind in this liminal stage of neither a student nor a professor, neither a girlfriend nor a wife, neither in Canada nor in the US.

In short, I'm an ABD***, an all but something.

Now, truthfully, many days this is a good thing--this stage of liminality. When I first started to blog (about five months ago, over on Blogspirit), I wrote about how dangerous it is to insist that people are or become one thing. I noted that playing with identities is freeing and liberating and might just make for a more peaceful, beautiful, tolerant world. Indeed, most days I reject confining labels, roles, slots, predictablity, conventionality. Certainly, since my late adolescence, in trying to determine who I was or who I wanted to be, I have gloried in the possibilities and the range of experiences and identities that life has to offer; I have insisted on trying all sorts of things, and have vowed not to become one thing. I would be fluid & flexible.

But sometimes it can be scary, and off-putting, this fluidity, this rejection of labels and roles and conventions. Especially for a worrier, like me. And at some point, I wonder if there is a reason, after all, for those conventions, those ways-of-doing things, that I just didn't see before.

I think this is yet another thing that knitting might be teaching me...

*This somber post brought to you today by our proud sponsors: the rainy, cloudy, grey weather; the lack of sleep; the overabundance of worry about the dissertation; the fact that *all* of my highschool friends and *all* of my siblings are now married and if they have not had babies recently, are now about to have them; by the dismay of having 11 years of post-secondary education and being paid less than the undergraduate who serves me coffee or who sorts my mail; by the fact that the picture-taking of projects must wait until the sun pokes itself out again. I promise: somber blogger to leave then.

***ABD = "all but dissertation"

I Sew. I Knit. I Rock.

2006-10-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

I). I SEW. Or at least, I attempt to sew.

Last night, I uncovered the sewing machine in order to make my first-ever tissue holder, inspired (and instructed) by Craftapalooza (see her post of 28 September for a detailed tutorial, which has also been cross-posted at Whipup.

Here's the back of the tissue holder beside some rocks, to give an idea of size. (Okay, who am I kidding? I put the rocks in there simply because I like the rocks). Craftapalooza's instructions are dandy, but boy o' boy did I struggle to make this wee thing. I must must must practice my sewing--

II). I KNIT. So what do you suppose this is?

Here, I'll give more of a clue...

That's right. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm making my first-ever Clapotis (which I won't even bother linking given its ubiquity in the knitting-blog world [but I will link its fabulous designer]). I'm with An Abudance of Lisa, who, in the Zimmermania KAL, quotes EZ in stating that "she is the boss of her knitting" and therefore will knit whatever she damn well chooses despite the fact that people are probably poo-pooing the very late "jumping on the band wagon." (Philosophical query moment: Why do we assume if something becomes popular, or is made by many, many people, then it's not as good, or that it loses some of its value/prestige? This is partly what Olga is getting at in her post, I think. Craft doesn't (supposedly) attain the status of art because it's too inclusive, open or available to too many? The hierarchy of art/craft is clearly a result of sexism and racism, and must end! I'd go on but this post is getting too unwieldy as it is, and so this is a conversation, started by Olga, to which I will return...)

III). I ROCK.

Amanda Cathleen(ETA: oh my gosh! she too is having a baby! congratulations!) commented yesterday in my "Morning Glory" post about the vividness of the colours of the flowers in the photographs; she remarked that my camera takes such clear photos. Yes, I love my camera (Nikon [hey! I'm Kodachrome, after all] CoolPix 4300), and yes it takes (when I'm not screwing up) mostly clear photos, but I do sometimes hit "Autocorrect" in Microsoft Photo Editor which seems to add light to the photos. For example, the photo of the rocks above has not been edited by me at all, but the photo below has been "auto-corrected".

I did feel sorta guilty for doing this to many of my blog photos, but then Cara at January One, and Jane at Yarnstorm both mentioned that they edit their photos most of the time. Given I'm a writer/teacher of English and literature, I know the importance of editing--it's critical!--and so, I frequently edit my photos too.

However, that said, here below is a photo with no editing. It's what my work-area looked like this morning post-tissue holder experiment. I was so tired last night after trying to sew a tissue holder like those beauties over at Craftapalooza, I went straight to bed with no post-sewing tidying.

Guess what I have to look forward to for my Friday evening? .... I clean?

Glory in Stages: or, "The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower"*

2006-10-05T18:28:00.000-05:00

Soon, I'll have knitting to post. For now, I've been losing myself in the glory of the fall garden.

And, as mentioned in the previous post, along with discovering the garden glories is re-discovering some of my favourite poems of my undergraduate years (thanks to a bit of proding from the oh-so-talented Julia).

*Dylan Thomas.

One Tomato, Two Tomatoes, Three Tomatoes, Four...

2006-10-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

I promise I'll quit soon with the tomato photos, but I'm finding the markings on these tomatoes to be quite interesting, and quite simply, breathtaking.

Unfortunately, however, as you can see in this photo, the tomatoes are inedible. So despite Olga's fantastic recommendations for preparing the tomatoes with olive oil and pepper, these tomatoes have become nothing more than "still life". Curiously beautiful, yes, but not tasty at all...

Other things found within my garden these days? Our push lawnmower, about finished with its mowing tasks for yet another year. With leaves beginning to fall and green life about to fade away, it's (sadly) time to start putting away the garden tools, and to bid adieu to those joyous "greens of summer".

Or perhaps not quite. I keep forgetting that living in the Southwest USA, as opposed to Canada, means many more weeks of summer greens. Indeed, looking above me today, I'm shocked that, though the beginning of October is upon us, there's still plenty of green around us. For look at all those leaves still awaiting their fall from grace.

And for Julia, then, who has brought me back to poetry--

l(a

le
af
fa

ll

s)
one
l

iness
----------------e.e. cummings's (a leaf falls on loneliness)

PS: Regular scheduled knitting content to return soon to this station. Please stay tuned--

A Winner! And a Tutorial!

2006-09-27T13:14:00.000-05:00

Firstly, Olga is the winner of this week's contest, "Name that Bust." The bust was Hemingway who modeled the recent Debbie Bliss baby hat (tee hee, Papa must have been cringing up above!). Second prize goes to Julia for playing along with a good guess or two in my very first blog contest. If you two send me your mailing addresses to kodachromeknits AT yahoo DOT com, I will send out the wee prizes to you soon. Thanks for playing! (EDIT: I received your email, Olga. Gracie!)

Secondly, Olga mentioned on her blog recently the needleroll case I had made, and I, with much embarrassment, realized that I never really did explain how I made it (despite saying I would). So for the many (not really!) who would like to know how I made it, here is as good as a tutorial as I can muster...
The needleroll is essential two placemats, one folded inside the other. So, you'll need two placemats, of appropriate size and weight (you don't want anything too flimsy). Two dishtowels will stand in for models, here:

Place one placemat/teatowel within the other, folding it where you deem appropriate for the holding of your needles and knitting tools. You need to decide how deep you want the two sets of pockets (outside and inside pockets) that the outer placemat (the striped towel) will create.

Leave, if possible, enough material on the bottom placemat (the checkered towel) to make a top flap so that it will fold down to cover the needles once they are inside (my original doesn't have this and I wish it did):

Once you've measured (using your needles and tools) where you want the placemat on top (the striped one) to be positioned, leave it in place but unfold it (the stripped one in the photo--fold the flap down now). Now you want to stitch up the two outer sides of both placemats, thereby joining the two placemats together along the edges, and then stitch along the bottom edges (but the striped "flap" is still hanging down so you're actually sewing across the striped one now, creating a seam through it. You'll fold this flap of the striped towel back up later, when it's time to make the outer, wider pockets. But for now, we're making the back slots for your longer needles and so that flap [for the outer pockets] doesn't come into play for a bit).

A 'reminder' photo of what the roll looks like in completion...

Now, I marked the exact center of the sewed-together placemats, and then sewed a straight seam down it (so that when I roll/fold it together, each side is equal in width and so nicely folds into itself). Be sure to sew this center seam (and the other seams to come) from the bottom seam just until you reach the top of the striped placemat. (You don't want to sew beyond the striped placemat because then you'll be creating seams on the upper part of the checkered placemat (the one placed in the back) and remember that this part of the back, checkered placemat is going to be the flap that folds down to cover and hold in the needles once you're done. So no seams are wanted up there!)

After the center seam is made, measure how wide you want each "slot" to be, using your knitting needles to do so. Then sew a seam up each marked slot, again, starting at the bottom seam and sewing just to the top of the folded up placemat (the striped teatowel in the 'tutorial' version). I believe I made 6 seams (=7 slots) on each side of the center line. Here's a close-up of the seams that I'm speaking of that hold the back needles in:

Once you've done this and have made long narrow slots for your longer needles, you now want to make the larger (wider but shorter) outer pockets. Fold up the flap of the stripped towel (the outer placemat's flap that has been hanging down this entire time) , and stitch the outer seams of it so that it now is also attached to the back placemat (so you essentially are stitching over the same seam that you first made when first attaching the two placemats together).

Now, using the back center seam as a guide, stitch up the same center seam, making sure to stop at the top of the folded flap. Now, decide how many outer pockets you want, and then stitch up along the same seams as the back slots. For instance, I have four wider pockets on the outside (two on each side of the center seam) and so once I made the center seam for the outer pockets, I simply sewed one more seam up the left side, and one more seam up the right side. *Be sure to sew these seams on top of the back seams of the slots so that you don't mess up the back pockets' slots.* I simply counted three (back slot) seams to the right, and then sewed up that one, and did the same for the left side. [*Remember, you need to be able to slide your longer needles all the way down these back slots so any seams that you sew on the outer pockets have to match the back seams so as not to interfere with the 'original' slots].

Here's a picture of the backside once done:

I then simply folded both outer sides into the middle, and then folded it down the middle.

To keep it closed, I simply wrap it with a ribbon.

Ok, now that I've tried to explain this construction, I have a new-found appreciation for technical writers and those who carefully and in great detail document the process of their creative projects. In this shabby tutorial, I found myself needing more photos to show what I meant but unfortuantely the photography happens at home, and the blogging happens at work (and never the two shall meet). So, here at work doing the writing portion of this tutorial, I found myself incredibly frustated b/c I realized I should have taken different photos showing different things. If anyone is confused by this tutorial (I sure am!), please let me know and I'll try to be more specific or clearer in my instructions as to what I did.

A Contest Involving Busts

2006-09-25T17:09:00.000-05:00

Wow... a bit creepy, isn't it? I mean, the sculpted face here, not the baby hat, of course.

No, not those kind of busts.... Where are your minds? I mean the statue-thingey.

This is a baby hat, that just needs sewing up the back, and a gentle washing and blocking, before being sent off to my girlfriend who just had a wee baby boy. The pattern is from a Debblie Bliss book and the yarn is some 50% wool, 50% acrylic blend from Switzerland. (I'll look up all the necessary details when I present the actual finished product in a couple of days.)

And the head on which it rests? The first commenter to leave the correct "name that bust" answer in today's comments will win a prize--a wee prize, but a prize, nonetheless.

(Here's the pattern for the hat, on a much more suitable model than mine, from the DB book itself. )

And here's the Bosie-type dog, who makes a rare appearance on the blog from time to time. This is pretty much his routine everyday when I head out to water the tiny vegetable, flower & herb garden in the morning. First, "Bosie" takes stock of the yard, scoping out any doves or squirrels hanging about which might need chasing (or more likely, which might need barking at, given that as he nears 12 years old, he's much more of a barker than a chaser).

After the squirrels and birds have been scared off, it's down to business, chewing on one of the many sticks blown down over the course of the evening. (We live in a very windy place, and have a huge oak tree above us which is slowly dying, it seems, and so it loses many branches--some huge (!), some tiny. "Bosie" however doesn't discriminate, and chews whatever he finds--wherever the sticks may fall, as it were...)

And then, of course, with so much work completed, it's time for one of his ninety-two naps which he'll take over the course of the day.

More Homework

2006-09-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

Homework Assignment #4: Pick the tomatoes and find out what the heck happened to them. I assume that the splitting of the skins was caused by inconsistent watering (not enough water and then too much water). Is this correct? Does anyone know what went wrong here? I thought I had kept the water flow pretty steady this summer, but Guido and I were gone for a bit during those summer searing temperatures, and then just recently we had rain for forty days and forty nights.

Homework Assignment #3 (continued from previous post):

Added to the book meme [which Olga recently tagged me with] is Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. This is a book which also made me cry, and it's sure to be a book that I will read again and again.

Homework

2006-09-20T15:11:00.000-05:00

Homework Assignment #1: Finish all these WIPs *soon* so that I can get started, on 23 September, with Zimmermania!

WIPs include:

Toe-Up Knee High Socks (Lorna's Laces Shepherd)

Baby Hat from Debblie Bliss's Simple Knits (a 50% wool/50% acrylic yarn, unidentified)
Kiri Shawl (Elann's Peruvian Cashmere)

Kate the Cat and Bubby Bear (from Knitty) [not pictured]

Homework Assignment #2: Repot houseplants. The jades have stopped growing and have started to drop their succulent leaves. I assume this is because they have outgrown their pots. (Also, dust glass bottles and wipe off windowsills while I'm at it...)

Homework Assignment #3: complete the book meme that Olga tagged me with:

1. One book that changed your life: Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë.

This was the first book that really made me go, “Wow. That’s what literature is and this is what literature (and authors) can do.” I was moved—blown away—by so many aspects of this novel: the intensity and power of love between two beings--“I am Heathcliff!”—but then the darkness that such a passion can lead to (i.e. digging up your lover’s grave; or, bashing your head against a tree over and over again); the complexity of adult relationships; the wildness of the heath; and most importantly, the fact that a young woman living in a rural, somewhat isolated, environment, surrounded by an ensemble of loving siblings (but no real money), can live such an imaginative, and important, life.

2. One book that you've read more than once: Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson.

Robinson is a Haida/Haisla author from Kitimaat, British Columbia who writes a compelling coming- of-age novel of a young First Nations woman in Canada. It’s funny, it’s dark, it’s mysterious, it’s familiar.

The book that I’ve read more times than any other: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:

My first response is to write (sarcastically), How to Live/Survive on a Desert Island.

My real response is the Oxford English Dictionary (I'd learn every word in the language, including its history, and then write my own epic novel filled with such an expansive vocabulary. More importantly, let's remember that the OED comes with a tiny magnifying glass which I would use to get fires going and signal passing airplanes & ships!)

4. One book that made you laugh:

Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections (the opening, like no other book, had me laughing out loud right away).

Robert Sedlack’s The African Safari Papers also made me laugh in a similar way. There’s something so funny(and moving) about parental/familial dysfunction.

5. One book that made you cry:

Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen. I set down the novel at the end of it and sobbed.

Jose Saramago’s Blindness. (Not for the easily disturbed reader. An ugly, ugly dystopia: the horror of humanity, and of course, the beauty too.)

6. One book you wish had been written:

How George W. Bush Nearly Won the Presidency (Twice! *Gasp*) in America: Thank Goodness He Didn’t!

7. One book you wish had never been written:

Any of the numerous self-help (and self-righteous) books that someone very dear to me (who shall remain nameless) reads and then sends me preachy (not pithy), obnoxious, and obvious snippets of self-help “wisdom”.

8. One book you're currently reading: I’m in the midst of several—

Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex
David Mas Masumoto’s Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil
Ellen Meloy’s The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky
Michael Pollan’s A Botany of Desire (audible).

9. One book you've been meaning to read:

Zadie Smith’s White Teeth or On Beauty

10. People to tag:

Amanda Cathleen, and any one else who might want to do this meme--[Becky(Fluffa)]? Anna of My Fashionable Life? Julia of MindofWinter?]

The Urge To Create

2006-09-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

On the evening of 11 September, with my partner away for the night, I found myself suddenly calmed and quietened by the simple act of cutting up squares. You see, the day, already brimming with so much sadness, was made more sad for me by a passage from a book I was reading at breakfast; this book simply, but powerfully, made me so miss my father [3000 miles away] and the landscape I'll always call 'home'.

With the day passing, and me, alone, trying still to hold the cloud of melancholy and homesickness at bay, I found myself pulling out this thrift-suit quilt project* (after clicking on the link, you'll need to flip ahead a few pages before you get to it)* which I had begun months ago. As cutting progressed, and the simple act of placing the squares got underway, I felt my tension headache ease, and my sadness--if not dissipate--be something I now quietly understood and accepted. My mood, in fact, slowly turned into excitement as I realized I needed, in my next return home to my parents' place, to find a suitable old suit/coat/shirt of my dad's to incorporate into this blanket. And maybe, my mind raced, my partner could also find something of his father's--or his grandfathers'--that we could also incorporate into the quilt and it could then, each night, wrap and cover us in our fathers' and grandfathers' warmth.

I experienced that evening, as I have experienced many other times, the calm of creation, at work.

And still, people wonder why we do what we do? Why we are willing to make endless loops with string, why we are willing to cut out square after square, make stitch after stitch. If only they knew....

*The thriftstore suit-quilt idea comes from Martha Stewart's Good Things from Tag Sales and Flea Markets.

PS: A book meme to come next! [I've received my first-ever tag from Olga, and can't wait to share my favourite (and not-so-favourite) reads with you--]

September 11, 2001

2006-09-11T13:15:00.000-05:00

The only words that have really made sense to me of the madness,

and of the pursuing, unfortunate nonsense

of all that has come since:

"The Dead of September 11"

by Toni Morrison

Some have God's words;

others have songs of comfort for the bereaved.

If I can pluck courage here, I would like to speak directly to the dead--the September dead.

Those children of ancestors born in every continent on the planet:

Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas...; born of ancestors who wore kilts, obis, saris, geles, wide straw hats, yarmulkes, goatskin, wooden shoes, feathers and cloths to cover their hair.

But I would not say a word until I could set aside all I know or believe

about nations, wars, leaders, the governed and ungovernable;

all I suspect about armor and entrails.

First I would freshen my tongue, abandon sentences crafted to know evil---

wanton or studied; explosive or quietly sinister; whether born of a sated appetite or hunger; of vengeance or the simple compulsion to stand up before falling down.

I would purge my language of hypberbole; of its eagerness to analyze the levels of wickedness; ranking them; calculating their higher or lower status among others of its kind.

Speaking to the broken and the dead is too difficult for a mouth full of blood. Too holy an act for impure thoughts.

Because the dead are free, absolute; they cannot be seduced by blitz.

To speak to you, the dead of September 11,

I must not claim false intimacy or summon an overheated heart

glazed just in time for a camera.

I must be steady and I must be clear, knowing all the time that I have nothing to say--no words stronger than the steel that pressed you into itself; no scripture older or more elegant than the ancient atoms you have become.

And I have nothing to give either--

except this gesture, this thread thrown between your humanity and mine:

I want to hold you in my arms and as your soul got shot out of its box of flesh to understand, as you have done, the wit of eternity:

its gift of unhinged release tearing through the darkness of its knell.

***

Lastly, an excerpt from Morrison's Nobel Prize Acceptance speech which I reproduce here, aware of all the "plundering," "limiting" words that will surround this day...

"The systematic looting of language can be recognized by the tendency of its users to forgo its nuanced, complex, mid-wifery properties for menace and subjugation. Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge. Whether it is obscuring state language or the faux-language of mindless media; whether it is the proud but calcified language of the academy or the commodity driven language of science; whether it is the malign language of law-without-ethics, or language designed for the estrangement of minorities, hiding its racist plunder in its literary cheek - it must be rejected, altered and exposed. It is the language that drinks blood, laps vulnerabilities, tucks its fascist boots under crinolines of respectability and patriotism as it moves relentlessly toward the bottom line and the bottomed-out mind. Sexist language, racist language, theistic language - all are typical of the policing languages of mastery, and cannot, do not permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas."

--taken from The Legacy Project

The Destruction of Kiri

2006-09-08T17:57:00.000-05:00

Remember this guy? The black cat from HELL who Guido and I are not supposed to be having to care for but because he was dumped off on us, and we cannot find a single soul who will take him, we are forced to having to care for him despite his constant assaults and attacks on us and our dog (and not to mention those worms he had...*ugh*). We'll he's really playing with fire now because I caught him in the act of chewing up my new project. Look at this:

"Ah, Mr. Kurtz, the horror...the horror..."

As you can see, I have begun Kiri. Or should I say, I *had* begun Kiri. I found Kiri lying in a heap with the cat stalking about nearby, swishing his tail. As I tried to fix it, I just kept making it worse, as you might be able to see in these photos.

Guido stars here as a hand model.

At last, I gave up, cursed the cat, and have rebegun the shawl (which meant painfully having to once again figure out that freakin' confusing "invisible cast-on" nonsense which seems so so so easy and yet I find so difficult to execute for some silly reason).

Good Friends & Soon To Be Friends.

2006-08-28T16:51:00.001-05:00

Good friends are those who bring flowers for the "first-day-back-to-school" in order to make the end of summer and the beginnning of term a little less painful. (US colleges start back so early! Why not wait until *after* Labor Day, people?)

Soon-to-be-good friends are those like "Bubby" here, patiently awaiting some appendages, a face, some major finishing--

Not Much To Report

2006-08-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

EDITED 9/27/06: my attempt at a tutorial for making this needleroll is found here.

Given that writing is taking up *WAY* too much of my time these days, I haven't accomplished much knitting. I'm still working my way up (slowly) on the Lorna's Laces knee high sock. But I do have a photo of the needle roll case which I sewed a few months ago. I simply took two placemats, folded one up in the middle of the other, sewed numerous lines to create needle slots, and tied a ribbon around it.

I apologize for my lack of clear directions, and I would be more specific about how I did this, but I don't have a good photo to show you of the case opened. Therefore, given I'm such a visual learner/instructor, I'll take a clearer photo of the needle roll opened right up, and then I'll do my best to give clearer instructions on how to take two placemats, and make them into a handy roll for your precious needles.

Until then--EDITED 9/27/06: my attempt at a tutorial for making this needleroll is found here.

Found Object, Finished Object, Fetish Object

2006-08-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

First, the Found Object. This Sparkling Lemonade is the cat's meow.

Next, the Finished Object. The Friday Harbor Socks by Nancy Bush, which I call my Riverwalk Socks because, as explained in a previous post, I procured the yarn while in San Antonio for the first time, and it now reminds me of the lovely Riverwalk in San Antonio where Guido and I skipped out of a conference in the afternoon in order to have a lovely lunch in the blazing sun (and hence, the very strong Margaritas which were gulped down), followed by a slumbering walk about in the tree-lined, meandering pathways of the city's river system. (That sentence, rambling on and about, is very much like the socks and the Riverwalk itself--)

Pattern: "Friday Harbor Socks" by Nancy Bush, and published in Knitting on the Road.

Yarn: Fortissima Sockotta (75% cotton; 25% nylon), US 2 dpns.

Final Thoughts: I really loved this pattern, and found the lace chart to be easily memorized, thereby making a speedy process to this sock. I also really like the yarn. It's sorta squishy, and I think that I might like this cotton yarn more than I do most wool-sock yarns.*

Finally, the Fetish Object. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.

*So when I say above that I might enjoy cotton sock yarn more than wool sock yarn, I believe that my first experience with what is the joy of Lorna's Laces is obviously going to rule out the judgment pretty quickly. For so far, I luv luv luv the feel of Lorna's Laces.

And as you can see, I'm doing these the toe-up way, a new method for me. I'm basing these socks off of Streets and YOs *fabulous* stripped knee-high socks. She gives excellent instructions. I found Misocrafty's excellent description and helpful links for the Magic Loop Turkish Cast-On which, as I was using it, blew my (small) mind! "Who thinks of these things?" I kept exclaiming to Guido all night. I'm not kidding. I was *so* amazed by the 80cm circular needle doing its "magical" thing...

Those are all my objects for the day. Later--eh?**

**Please excuse the Canadianism. Feeling a bit homesick today for Canada...

A Found Object and an FO Teaser and an "UGH"

2006-08-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

I planned to write a long blog post today, showing my Lorna's Laces knee-high socks in progress, and giving all of the details of my finished "Riverwalk" (aka Friday Harbor) Socks. Instead, I leave you with a found object on my way to campus today, and a teaser of the completed socks. I'll give all the specs soon when I am feeling better. Now I'm just going to go home to bed, for "UGH" is how I am feeling right now.

This Is What Love Feels Like...

2006-08-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

"Guido" was in NY for 10 days for a research trip, and look what he brought back for me*-- :)

Indeed, unbeknownst to me, he wandered over to Purl SoHo just to get me this: 3 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn. I've never splurged on this stuff for myself before, though I heard over and over again just how lovely it is. It is certainly lovely; I've already started a toe-up knee high sock with it. (I finished my Friday Harbor Socks that very night just so I could immediately cast on with my new yarn.** Now if only I could find a similar motivation for the dreaded-D-thing.)

So I say, "thanks Guido" for loving me and for supporting my new addiction to all things knitterly...

Speaking of love...we've recently sort of been made to adopt this guy.

We're trying our best to learn to love him, but he sure is making it hard on us (for reasons which I won't mention as they are much too gross to be included in a blog entry under the title of "This is What Love Feels Like..." Indeed, I don't want to attract any real pervs by their googling of 'love,' & 'worms,' & 'butt.' 'Nuf said!)

*Guido also brought me home the NY T-shirt in the photo as well as many wonderful books: The Anthropology of Turquoise; a novel by Jose Saramago; and a book all about birdsong. What a guy, that Guido is...

** FO photo of the Harbor Socks with details to follow in the next few days; I really like the way they turned out and can't wait to "photo-shoot" them-- :)

A Small FO and Some Yarn For Sale

2006-08-01T14:50:00.000-05:00

Just a small bath mitten, made with kitchen cotton. The soap is handmade by my partner's uncle and is the nicest soap I've ever used. One bar is Oatmeal. The other is Lavender. I've been trying to get him to teach me his trade but he never seems to have time and I'm rarely in the same place as he is. (I'm thinking that this mitten and soap would make a nice gift to a dear friend.)

BTW: check out some of my YARN FOR SALE at the new "Destash" Fickr group, instigated by FigandPlum.

Thanks!

2006-07-27T18:20:00.000-05:00

Knitting this...

earned me this...

Just wanted to thank Theresa and Rachel for organizing the Amazing Lace.

It's been a fun event.

"Wear-Your-FOs-to-Work Day"--And Dammit, Be Proud!

2006-07-24T18:34:00.000-05:00

The other day, KnitandTonic wrote about how she never (or rarely) wears any of her finished items. When I read that, I felt really quite sad and disappointed. If her FOs aren't worthy of hitting the street, then whose are? Then many of you wrote into her comments section, noting that you too don't feel that you can wear your knitted garments out in public. Again, I felt that this was really too bad. Thankfully, many others wrote just the opposite--that you wear yours with pride. Certainly, I feel a real joy, for instance, when I notice that Carrieoke is wearing one of her FOs to work, and that she even takes the time to photograph herself in her office washroom. Or that she even wears them out in the evening. This is the type of moxie I like to see in the knitting community; not shame, but pride in what we do and what we create.

Pattern: Orangina, by Glampyre, XS

Yarn: Rowan 4-Ply Cotton (Ripple), 3 skeins

Needles: US 3 24' circular

Modifications: I cast on for the XS size, minus 18 stitches, so I could make an XSS. I'm not an XSS but as many have pointed out, this pattern knits up a bit loose otherwise. I took much of my modification advice from Domesticat, whose version of Orangina really inspired me to make this top.

So today, I broke out Orangina and wore her to work. All Day! And not one person looked at me in horror, or as though I were poor, or as though I were a "sad, old woman," or as though I were some freakish, bag lady. In fact, I thought I looked pretty good.

But I have to admit, had someone said, "Did you make that top?", I probably would have felt a mixture of embarrassment and pride, trying to figure out whether or not the question was a compliment or an insult. But just for a second would I care. And then I would get on with feeling good and enjoying what I can make with my own hands, a bit of string, and two good sticks (or in this case, a circ.). Oh, and of course, let's not forget Glampyre's great pattern, as well!

And for those of you who feel your knitted items just aren't beautiful enough to wear out of the house, I leave you with this little beauty, found outside my door today. I once thought portulaca plants were ugly, and despaired when my mother would plant them in mass quantities about the yard. Guess what? I now love them and think they're just so pretty.

Just like I've come to feel about my FOs.

So hey, when should we declare the International "Wear-Your-FOs-To-Work" Day?

Hot Town, Summer in the City

2006-07-22T19:18:00.000-05:00

Sadly, on a Saturday, I'm in my office, trying to write; instead of focusing on the task at hand, I find my mind constantly wandering towards memories of my recent vacation, of times spent just lying about here:
A beach, a lake, a full moon, a family barbeque, all back near my hometown in Canada. Instead of being there, I'm back in the Southwest, sweltering, trying to get work done. But how can a girl--especially a Northern girl, like me--work in these conditions. Look at what my office thermometer is currently reading:

For those who, like me, prefer a much saner system of measurement, I present you with the metric version of this Hades of an office:

What's a girl to do but to pause, periodically, to wipe the sweat from her brow, to dream myself back to Canada and that evening at the lake, to knit on the second sock of the Friday Harbour Socks just for a wee break, pretending that the lake, the family, the love ain't so far away after all.
For surely, within me, I hold forever this frozen landscape, carry it with me where ever I go, much like I now find myself doing with my knitting and my Nikon camera.

And just to make sure I can make it through until the evening, when my partner swings by to rescue me from this hellish ivory tower of heat, I'll also dream of the mojitos that will follow this evening, using our garden's mint picked fresh.

Enjoy--and stay cool, my friends.

Amazing Lace: Crossing the Finish Line!

2006-07-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

I present my version of Eunny Lang's Print O' The Wave Stole, which was my team-partner in this summer's Amazing Lace KAL.

My Amazing Lace teammate and I lost no time in getting right to our travel-race plans. On June 11th, my yarn arrived from Elann (colour: SeaShell Pink). On June 12th, my partner and I hopped in the car and headed east, travelling through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, to northern Indiana. The stole itself began on the morning of June 16th, on the lovely porch of my partner's aunt and uncle's home in Indiana.

That same day, from Indiana, the stole and I then travelled on through Detroit, MI on route to Southern Ontario. I knit while my partner drove on a scenic, winding, road alongside the interstate. It was quiet and scenic until we hit the NASCAR road traffic with fanatics in RVs everywhere. Despite the increase in traffic (and weirdness, for lack of a better word), we had a good day. My partner (Guido) cheered on his favourite baseball team thanks to our beloved XM Satellite Radio while I continued to YO and SSK.

It was in Southern Ontario where the Stole and I found ourselves in turmoil: trying to finish it before a friend's wedding while trying to write a disseration while trying to visit with my partner's family and many childhood friends. Something had to give, but what? Well, the border of the stole for one. And the grafting for another. (As you can see, my waves roll only one way but really who can be bothered to make sure waves are rolling down each arm in two different directions? Well, besides the perfectionist, the intelligent, the diligent, the delightful Eunny Lang, herself? Not me, that's for sure!)

So Print O' the Wave, with minutes to spare, made her debut at the wedding on June 26. Seriously, minutes to spare. I cast off while my partner drove us to the wedding, and then while sitting in the parking lot, I sewed in the loose ends. Though not blocked (to my great disappointment), she kept me warm in the frigid (air-conditioned) hall while we boogied all night to bad, but fun and necessary, wedding songs. The blocking came the next day.

Specs:

Pattern: Eunny Lang's Print O' the Wave Stole (modified: see narrative above, and comments below)

Yarn: Peruvian Collection Baby Silk from Elann (3 skeins and a bit)

Needles: US 5 circulars

Modifications: I left off the border because I was pressed for time, and did 3 repeats of the wave pattern instead of 4. Also, I didn't do the pattern wave motif in two sections (which you are to graft together). Instead, I simply cast on, knit until I ran out of time, and then did the eyelet border pattern to complete it.

Views: I loved this pattern and the yarn (though I do find the Alpaca a bit scratchy on my bare skin). My only wish is that I would have had more time so that I could have made the stole longer and wider. I would, if doing this again, do 4 wave repeats so that the stole is wider, and I would make it at least another 12" in length. I'm not sure I would do the border, and I don't think I would bother with the grafting because the waves going in one direction do not bother me at all. I don't think it makes much difference, and in fact, I wouldn't want a graft line, no matter how invisible, going down my backside!)

FO...Partially Revealed

2006-07-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

Here's my version of Eunny Lang's Print O' the Wave Stole, from WIP to blocking to....
...an FO photo to be published with all of the key details tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Still Cross-Posting

2006-07-17T15:12:00.000-05:00

Until things settle down here a bit (i.e. dissertation is done), I'm going to keep cross-posting between blogspot and blogspirit: kodachrome.blogspirit.com.

I intend, in the end, to use blogger and keep this one blog here; however, I just don't have the time right now to do the necessary housekeeping and transfering of files/photos, and so, it is easier, for now, to go back and forth between the two blogs.

And, of course, simply one photo of Zebra Jaywalker will not do so here's another-- :)

PS: The River Stole has been completed. FO photos to come!

Jaywalker Number 400??

2006-07-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

Dear Grumperina,

I've been away on vacation for a long, long time; upon returning home late last night, I immediately checked in on all of my favourite blogs. Much to my surprise (followed by delight), I discovered that I have been missing out on quite an event going on at "Chez Grumperina".

So, without further ado, here's my version of Jaywalker, which I permit you to publish in your readers' gallery.

I like to think of this photo shoot as: "Zebra Jaywalker goes awalkin' in the garden..."

And because this is the first time I've ever contacted you (yes, yet another lurker in the weeds...), I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for the savy pattern, for the insightful, intelligent blog, and for bringing "pleasurable grumpiness" into the knitting-blog community.

Warm regards,
Kodachrome

Orangina's Blocking Photo Shoot...

2006-06-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

Lots of blocking photos here...Too many, but I found myself getting carried away with my growing excitement for this top!

Just Because...

2006-06-09T14:15:00.000-05:00

...I like this photo.

Orangina will be seamed today, blocked tomorrow, and blogged the next day.

That's right! An FO on Monday, baaayy-beeeee!

Until then, enjoy your weekend.

EDIT: This photo is a baby blanket in progress. The blanket was inspired by The Brown Sheep's Knitting Olympics project, and you can find the pattern and details for her blanket on her website: http://droppedstitches.blogspot.com/.

Coming Along...

2006-06-07T16:33:00.000-05:00

Orangina is coming along nicely.... An FO will be here any day now.

Amazing Lace Challenge #1: Meet The Team

2006-06-05T00:19:00.000-05:00

Meet Kodachrome Knits!

Camera Shots: As you can see pictured here on the right (Camera Shot #2), Kodachrome has been in training for a couple of months now, and is looking to be in fine form. She started with some handpainted yarn for an Ene's Shawl, and then moved on to the Nancy Bush Friday Harbor Socks. Things were going swimmingly with this lace stuff, so heroically (or crazily?) she quickly moved onto Glampyre's famous lace top, Orangina. When seeing the announcement for the Amazing Lace, Kodachrome quite candidily said, "No sweat..., I dig this lace gig."

So feeling fine and confident with so much training, Kodachrome announced that her project would be the Eunny Lang's Print O' The Wave Stole with Rowan Kidsilk Haze. By the time the starting gun would be fired, announcing the beginning of the race, she was sure to have that Ene Shawl completed, both Friday Harbor Socks gracing her feet, all while strutting around in her newly completed Orangina. Indeed, with all this training, Kodachrome felt that nothing would get in her way--nothing at all.

But wait a minute: why is Kodachrome wearing only one sock? And Ene's shawl--there's barely any of it there! And Orangina-what's up with the top? The needles are dangling off of the ribbing and clearly the seams have yet to be sewn. Obviously, in the training months, there's been some problems and obstacles. Maybe Kodachrome isn't as ready for the Print O' The Wave Stole as she thought. Oh no! What's that? She hasn't even ordered the yarn?? What's going on??

To read more of this harrowing start to the Amazing Lace, please see my former blog, "kodachrome.blogspirit.com".

Thanks--

Oh, Kodachrome--there seemed to be so much promise there....

From Green to Blue...

2006-06-03T16:54:00.000-05:00

...and soon to being no longer 32...

As we enter a new month of Project Spectrum, I'll give you a wee peek into something becoming blue. Can anyone guess what I'm in the process of making?

And in the meantime, I'm going to ponder what tomorrow's post will be: a gathering of reflections on what 32 was to me, and what I hope 33 to be...Until then, I wish that everyone enjoys the Blues of June...

(...and if you so desire, please check out May's "Greens of Summer," posted on my "main" blog at the moment: kodachrome.blogspirit.com. Again, not to sound like a broken record or anything, but I have two blogs right now because I'm in the process of switching from blogspirit to blogspot.)

A Short Introduction to Kodachrome

2006-06-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

Until time can be found to make the switch over from kodachrome.blogspirit.com, I thought that I would briefly introduce myself in the interim.

So, a few things about Kodachrome:

I am thirty-two. I share my life with a handsome Hemingway-type man and a dandy Bosie-type golden retriever. I recently had to lay to rest our beautiful, intrepid cat--"PussPuss" (b. June 2004; d. April 2006).

I am a PhD Candidate and a lecturer of English literature. I am a Canadian Prairie girl a la Joni Mitchell stranded (momentarily?!) on the Plains of the American Southwest. And so I run now. And I also blog now.

I'm using this blog, along with my Nikon camera, to document my attempts at living a creative, responsible, healthy, handmade life in defiance of corporations and multinationals that push us into thoughtless mass consumerism and destructive consumption. Therefore, I knit, I craft, I thrift, I run, I bike, I garden, I read, I walk, I write, I bird, I sew, I recycle, I reuse, I give, I receive, I create and sustain... .

In short, I believe in a well-crafted, creative, thoughtful, responsible, and sustainable life. I don't believe in lifestyles.

2006-05-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

Actually, until I can get the time to move things, I'm still at:

kodachrome.blogspirit.com

Please visit me there until I make the final move to blogspot.

Thanks-- :)