dry creek
August 3, 2020
after the…we’ll call it…dissatisfaction with my last shawl,
my plans to join romi’s summer shawl knit along stalled.
still. something in my decided to download the pattern
yesterday, and watch the introductory video.
naturally,
since today is
my first day off in
what is it? a week, maybe?
a day when i “get” to catch up on
all the house work that needs to be done
and, of course, plan the next semester that
will be taught face to face during a pandemic,
i decided that knitting was a much more pressing
endeavor to undertake.
but rather than a tendency toward’s procrastination,
which would be the easier, one could even say cliché scapegoat,
let’s instead lay today’s failure to be productive at the feet of romi,
whose intro video was…to say thorough would be an understatement.
it included a demonstration for the unusual cast on; a deep dive into the fiber of the sample and how wool would behave differently, giving a very different look (negative connotations); the importance of, not only knitting but blocking, a gauge swatch (see also thefiber content deep dive); there was an explanation of the charts, which was needed since, even as an experienced lace knitter, her charts are unlike ones i’ve encountered before; and of course the live chat allowed people to ask questions.
i was thoroughly impressed.
and considering there are weekly
weekly livestreams accompanying this knitalong,
i felt the $15 price tag was considerably too low
and immediately offered to venmo romi.
and so today,
after painstakingly winding
the perfect center-pull ball on my nostepinne, (kill me)
i took all of romi’s video inspiration and information
and promptly threw it all out the window,
casting on immediately
with the wrong fiber.*
fuck you! i thought
to some imagined,
unknit swatch.
i want to knit this shawl
i want to knit it now,
and i want to knit with
this yarn in this color, got it?
thus
a tiny triangle was born.
(do excuse the shit lighting;
i was too hot to go outside today).
i also completely forgot the instructions for the charts
which has resulted in many mistakes and much tinking.
but i love my purple triangle
and i even have an idea
for who i might
give it to.
maybe.
what are you knitting?
*i have strong feelings about so-called “bamboo” yarn.
mostly that it…is shit. and a gimmick. it’s just rayon!
it’s toxic to manufacture and while it may seem
pretty in some applications,i’m just
not here for synthetic fibers.
but you can knit with it.
people love it!
everything is terrible
August 2, 2020
and yet,
here we are.
i finished the through the loops mastery shawl 2020 ages ago
and, immediately, i hated it.
it was hideous in my eyes, though
blocking it helped quite a bit.
i don’t know what it is, exactly:
the colors
the asymmetry
the fact that it was difficult to block
and nearly impossible to photograph (damn shawl photography!)
after a couple of weeks, stewing,
this is my takeaway:
i absolutely loved knitting it, and for a process knitter, maybe that’s all that matters. but looking at it in its current iteration, it lacks cohesion. the very thing that made it fun to knit—the varying techniques, the interplay of color, not knowing what it would look like—are what make me not like it now. i think it’s the repetition and symmetry i enjoy in lace shawl knitting that’s missing for me. even a subtler contrast would be more appealing for me.
let me be clear.
it’s not the shawls fault.
it’s exactly as advertized:
a high contrast asymmetrical shawl.
it’s simply a question of taste, and i, apparently,
like symmetry, regularity, a subtle contrast.
who knew‽
and yet!
giving away my last shawl
made me sadder than expected.
so i’ve lovingly tucked away my ugly duckling
because, after all, i did knit it.
in other knitting news,
i’ve been working on a boneyard 2.0.
i fell in love with the yarn
and this patten’s simple regularity has always been deeply soothing.
i was also excited by the 2.0 part, boasting
longer wings for a more wearable,
isosceles shape.
cependent, i remember remembering that
yarn over increases at the edges
on both right and wrong sides
created a very tight edge,
one that curves, rather
than lying straight.
i ignored what i knew,
and more than 400 yards in,
after beginning the single row striping—
at the mathematically perfect part of the shawl, i’ll add—
the problem has only gotten worse. and, as much as i’d like to,
i cannot delude myself into thinking that shit will block right out.
ripping it will happen.
just not yet.
but the heat and general shawl failure
makes the idea of hand-winding 900 yards of wool
untenable.
my only other option, my
last spark of knitting joy,
is this
because obviously the rational response
to being unable to knit a basic shawl
is some bohus stickning,
how’re you?????
$1075*
July 10, 2020
that’s how much you all raised for the ruth ellis center of detroit.
what with
the pandemic,
donation burn out,
& upheaval in the knitting world,
i really thought raising $500 would be tough.
you blew my expectation out of the water.
i had my friend choose a number at random;
congratulations to the winner, rachelle!
the shetland tea shawl is yours!
may you love it well,
wear it at least once,
and send pics of it out in the wild!
*technically, the total may be more than that, but a couple of knitters didn’t respond to my email asking how much they donated.
free to a good home (almost)
June 28, 2020
*edit: contest over. the winner will be announced soon!
i’ve given it some thought,
and i’ve decided that, though
i’m very attached, i’m going to give away
my newly-completed shetland tea shawl.
but because it is so special to me—
what with beginning it when i was twenty four
and completing it in my thirties (ugh)—
i don’t want it to go to just anyone.
i want it to live with a knitter,
artist, aesthete, etc. who has
a good soul.
as such,
i’ll be using my shawl to raise funds
for a place i believe in,
the ruth ellis center.
the rules
1. make a donation to the ruth ellis center; to be as inclusive as possible, any amount you can afford will count. i’d like to raise $500, so if you’re a person who can afford more, please donate accordingly.
2. after making a donation, leave a comment on this post.
as a bonus, if you share this post on twitter or instagram and tag me (@faiche_stiabhna on both), i’ll enter you a second time.
that’s it! just make a donation, leave a comment, and you’re entered to win! you can increase your chances by letting other people know about this giveaway and helping me raise more money for the ruth ellis center.
a winner will be announced on July 10
which i’m hoping is enough time
to reach my goal of $500.
fingers crossed!
shetland tea shawl
June 27, 2020
the satisfaction of finishing this shawl
is difficult to articulate. and as with
so very many things in my life—
degrees, jobs, opening an ira—
it also feels somewhat like
an anticlimax.
still, here she is
blocking this thing was a nightmare;
i would not have been able to do it
without the stellarly generous aid
of one ms. stacie d.
(by which i of course mean she did 90% of the work
and i tried to not fuck it up, after which
i was fed amazing hot dogs)
that said, i’m not going to do another circular shawl
until i can bribe a large group of people to do it together.
pinning on the floor is the way to do it, trust.
the only question remains is, as always,
who is going to get this shawl?
i’m thinking using it
to raise money
for the ruth ellis center.
would you make a small donation to enter to win this shawl?
i’m beginning to worry
June 24, 2020
behind on my normal goal of finishing a clue
within 24 hours of its release,
today, i completed clue 4.
that said, i’m having some concerns.
having now complete four of the six clues,
i wonder: what will the finished dimensions be?
because it’s looking very….short?
and, as always, who will wear this when i’m done?
would anyone want it if i were to give it away?
because, while it’s incredibly fun to knit,
it is…a lot. in terms of color and design,
it looks like something an art teacher
might wear à la advanced style.
it’s definitely a process knit,
stimulating with just the right amount
of challenge and variety to keep one enthralled.
but what of the product? what will it be post-blocking?
i guess we’ll know in a few weeks!
are you making one?
in life news,
i recently escaped the city
(and, unknowingly, the specter of father’s day)
and got out into nature, evoking my ever-present
desire to abandon capitalism, grow my own food,
and read braiding sweetgrass on repeat.
how are you escaping?
can you, even?
road tripping
June 21, 2020
iii’m dooone!
June 18, 2020
my first lace project.
started june 21, 2009
finished june 18, 2020,
just shy of it’s 11th birthday.
so many years in hibernation.
so many mistakes:
twisted cast on
wrong yarn
wrong gauge
some quirky design decisions that made it difficult to knit.
*shakes fist at dale long in purgatory*
but the knitting,
she is done.
now what the fuck am i gonna do?
the mystery continues
June 15, 2020
writing about knitting right now seems…
extra frivolous? or irrelevant?
so i’ll leave my progress photos here for you
and encourage you to donate, as i just did,
to the ruth ellis center,
a detroit org for queer youth of color.
obsession, by kirsten kapur
June 8, 2020
i’m 100% obsessed with the ttl mystery shawl 2020.
i received a notification around 11pm last night
that the new clue was available.
exhaustion after a very long day
and a happily full evening at home with bae
meant that, of course, i stayed up
until around 4 a.m. determined
to finish the second clue.
i came pretty close,
but stopped
just ten rows shy.
this morning,
i awoke to coffee and
leftover cake for breakfast,
the exact fuel necessary for knitting.
my brain is, what can only be described as,
starved for the kind of calm knitting brings.
working on this neck accessory
felt akin to taking
a xanax;
the focus required, the repetition,
the interplay of highly contrasting colors
(shout-out to tina for picking them!)
were a perfect storm of
chemically-induced
tranquility.
some thoughts on the pattern:
i would characterize the difficulty level as intermediate; i definitely needed to clear away some cobwebs to remember how to effectively execute less-than-standard knitting techniques. though i’m arrogant enough to feel like, even out of practice, i didn’t need them, i appreciate the very obvious effort put into this pattern to anticipate common pitfalls knitters will encounter. the overall thoroughness of the pattern is impressive, including:
1. charts and written instruction
(though, come on people; learn to read charts already)
2. helpful notes for the section you’re working on the page, itself
3. stitch counts for every row (this is really above and beyond, imo)
there’s enough variation to keep one (me) stimulated,
while being simple enough to get into the groove
of the pattern rather easily. memorizing
a pattern repeat is a distinct pleasure,
one of the reasons i love knitting
lace shawls so much.
also: shout-out the ravelry KAL forum.
people have been so nice and legit helpful;
i mentioned i’d trouble cabling sans cable needle and boom:
two complete strangers linked to helpful videos, refreshing my memory.
i think that’s just about enough rambling for today.
here are the money shots of clue two, completed:
thanks, kirsten!
but what the fuck
am i supposed to knit, now?
Bitches Get Stitches 