progress
November 18, 2010
tuesdays and wednesdays compose my “weekend.”
naturally, i tend to take care of business on those days.
this past “weekend,” i spent the majority of that time on my couch;
writing,
knitting,
fielding emails,
filling in applications,
obsessing over twitter,
and generally worrying about my future.
with the vest blocking on my bed,
i even spent a night on the couch.
it’s the best $15 i ever spent really.
suddenly, i found i had nothing to knit.
i mean, i’ve got a couple things hibernating,
but nothing i’m ready to face again just yet.
so i wound up a ball of luscious silk
by hand of course. (see ms. mcphee, i did learn my lesson.)
the next day, a shawl is born.
unfortunately,
my model wasn’t feeling very cooperative.
i know i’ve complained thoroughly about the juneberry triangle in the past,but with two under my belt, i’m kinda having fun this time around.
so thanks to you random grocery store checkout lady!
enjoy that first silver shawl,
but this one’s tina’s.
step off bitch.
time suck or i’m cranky today.
November 16, 2010
i have no idea where the past eight days have gone.
oh yeah!
that’s right.
i’ve been lost in a sea of cables.
finally, i’ve worked my way through most of the knitting.
i mean, i love the way cables look,
but jesus god they take forever!
right now, the pieces are soaking
and i’m stressing over how the hell i’m supposed to block them
when the many t-pins i’ve . . . collected from my friends
are missing. assuming i do find them,
i still have to figure out how to seam the bitch.
when did knitting get so stressful!?!?
in the mean time,
i wait at the window with mo
hoping the mailman has a package i’ve been waiting for.
i feel like a sixteen year old girl waiting by the phone on friday night.
*sigh*
stash karma
November 8, 2010
so i drew a winner for my contest on friday,
and i know you’ll join me in congratulating miss. jen
who has selected this lovely skein of socks that rock.
mo approves.
to those of you who didn’t win, thanks for playing.
i hope you’ll still keep me on your blogrolls.
if there was a particular skein that you were hoping for,
drop me a line. we’ll work something out.
however,
stash just doesn’t seem to want to leave!
in fact, as one skein of blue moon leaves my house,
three more have arrived.
does this yarn look familiar?
it should.
it’s luscious silk in the “manly yes, but i like it too” colorway.
a few months ago, i knit a shawl out of this very yarn
for the lovely tina newton
so why the hell do i have three more skeins of it?
here’s the scoop:
even though we’re both pretty busy,
(tina obviously more than i)
every now and then,
she drops me a line.
or i drop her a line.
sometimes,
i drop her a stack of post-it notes.
in our most recent exchange,
it turns out that she lost the shawl.
she was sick about it, and wasn’t sure if she should tell me.
being a knitter, i immediately offered to reknit it.
i mean, she loved it so much. how could i let her feel bad?
i said my finger was poised above “purchase” button on the BMFA website, and i was ready to dig up the pattern.
she wouldn’t hear of it.
she insisted she give me the yarn.
of course her generosity floweth over
since there is no way i’ll need three skeins.
apparently, the only real way to get rid of stash is to knit it.
any idea what i should do with the third one?
the story doesn’t end there though.
after i got the yarn tina wrote:
“I traced my steps that day over and over and realized that it probably dropped off my shoulders when I headed this toddler off at the pass because her mum was too far behind and not gaining the speed her little girl was.
So I went back to the grocery store that this had happened at a couple of days ago and was about to ask after it when I saw that one of the cashiers had it on.
She was showing it to a customer and was obviously in love and well I couldn’t, I just couldn’t.
I thought you’d understand.
You do right?”
can you believe that?
tina is a bigger knitter than i!
i would’ve snatched that shawl off that cashier
faster than a pissed off queen snatching a wig off.
still,
my answer was obvious.
of course i understand!
tina let the cashier keep the shawl
for the same reason i immediately offered to reknit it.
we knit, at least in part, because we love when people love hand knits.
clearly, the knitting gods work in mysterious ways
and that cashier was meant to have shawl number one.
this time around i’m making sure to say all the right prayers,
lighting extra incense, candles, and such
to make sure this one stays on the intended shoulders.
maybe i’ll send a shawl pin to be safe.
oh yeah,
she also hired me to be a test knitter.
can you say, “yarn support”?
can you say, “paid to knit”?!
i’m a lucky lucky man.
stephen houghton of hizKNITS may be the first man on the (blue) moon,
but there were 17 apollo missions, bitches!
you know you’re a *real* knitter. . .
November 5, 2010
when you send a knitted gift to an old friend,
and they send you a photo for your ravelry page
without you even asking.
thanks kevin!
an open letter to my knitting
November 3, 2010
dear knitting,
i know i haven’t spent as much time with you today as i said i would.
but you have to admit i’ve stayed pretty true to you over the years.
i appreciate your tolerance,
and that you recognize that monogamy isn’t my style.
my fooling around with that shiny new spinning wheel at work,
that’s for you. . . for us!
i love you, but today,
you may think i crossed a line.
today, on this beautiful november afternoon,
i took my first steps toward quilting.
my friend lee practically begged me to try it.
and before i knew what was happening,
she was showing me the basics.
yes the fact that i was sitting on a curb
with sewer fumes periodically wafting up
makes it look like i wanted to quilt like a crackhead wants. . . well. . . crack.
and yes,
lee gave me this awesome quilting kit to get me started,
but it’s not what it looks like.
sure i’m sentimental.
i love making things with my hands,
things that are connected to tradition,
things that stand the test of time because i put the effort in.
but honestly,
i’m only doing this so that someday
i can replace the threadbare quilt my grandma made.
one quilt. just one.
two, two at the most!
it’s a temporary thing.
what we have? my love for you?
that’s forever.
i hope you understand.
love,
steven
ps (to the readers). what? like you don’t talk to your knitting. sheesh.
go enter my contest already
(this post unconsciously inspired by the yarn harlot *sigh*)
i may have a stroke.
October 7, 2010
or at the very least a nosebleed.
today was a terrible day, blog readers.
most of it isn’t really worth writing about,
but there is a knitting related disaster that is.
the rhinebeck sweater may not happen.
where to begin.
the pattern i chose doesn’t go up to my size.
and i was getting a tighter gauge in the yarn i wanted.
this means, much math was needed to make the sweater fit.
i’m a good knitter. i can do math.
hell, i completed calc 4 in undergrad with a 3.5!
i swatched.
i washed my swatch.
i did the math.
i did it again.
i did it again!
and completed two beautiful sleeves
whose gauge matched my swatch.
i measured my body.
i measured again.
i had my coworkers measure me.
i cast on the number of stitches that would fit me
and the pattern repeat for the colorwork yoke.
all was well.
today, after traversing the knitting black hole for two weeks,
the body of my sweater is finally long enough to join the arms
and enter icelandic colorwork yoketown.
i’ve been measuring for days,
but today i noticed something.
the body seemed a little big.
i am not skinny by any stretch
but still. it seemed pretty big.
so i decided to put half my stitches on another needle and try it on.
well as soon as i did that,
it looked really big.
i asked yvonne to come back with me in the office,
told the thursday night knitters not to steal anything,
and tried it on.
it’s huge.
very huge.
i asked yvonne to check my gauge to see if i’ve been hallucinating this whole time.
i wasn’t.
i was being lazy.
there is a good reason patterns list gauge over 4 inches/10cm
i was only checking over 1 inch.
so while i was getting 5 stitches/inch (perfect swatch gauge)
yvonne was getting 18.75-19 stitches/4 inches.
these gauges do not match.
this is a huge difference when we are talking about a sweater.
the short of it is, instead of the 1 inch of ease i was going for,
i have 6. 6 inches of ease.
it is a tent.
i want to die.
i know i know, you think it can’t be that bad.
let me give you a visual:
i told you.
huge.
now, i’m not looking for sympathy.
i’m looking for advice on how to proceed.
this is my first trip to rhinebeck
so the sweater was/is really important to me.
but i have a week and need to be realistic.
so i’m asking the knitting blogosphere for advice.
what should i do?
1 – rip it! you can knit this in a week!
2 – steek it. cut the fat and pick up for the yoke.
3 – fuck it! wear the hotpants.
4 – drink until you don’t care and pick up a man.
5 – other
please people.
i need advice.
stat!
just keep knitting
October 1, 2010
before i get to the meat of this post,
i must confess to being a bad friend.
in my last entry
i only thanked my friend annette for my new bag.
but it she wasn’t the only one involved.
my friend zelda also had a hand in my ballsack.
so thanks zelda.
i owe you one.
now for the knitting stuff:
rhinebeck is two weeks away,
and i’m a little behind on my sweater.
i’ve got the sleeves done,
and about ten inches of body.
i have seven more before i join the sleeves
and do the yoke.
when i say it out loud,
it feels impossible.
but keep citing the knitting olympics:
17 days
1 sweater.
i can do this.
right?
someone please validate me.
i also want to talk about shelter,
brooklyn tweed’s new line of yarn.
about the yarn, he writes:
As the summer ended last year, I began researching answers to very specific questions I had been asking myself for some time: With such a rich textile history and an abundance of wool and other resources, why does it sometimes seem so difficult to obtain American yarns in our booming US knitting community? Would it be possible to develop a 100% American sourced, spun, and designed yarn that could be presented in a compelling way to knitters? What would a yarn look like that was developed from Stage One by a single person with no one to answer to but his own personal wool obsession?
The desire to answer these questions sparked the beginning of a year-long journey – one that begins a new chapter today, as SHELTER takes its first steps into the real world.
SHELTER is a woolen-spun 2-ply yarn made from American Targhee-Columbia fleece, grown in Wyoming. The yarn is spun in historic Harrisville, New Hampshire in the heart of New England, in a mill town that has been producing woolen yarns and fabrics since 1794. I have developed a palette of 17 shades including both rich, autumnal colors as well as natural sheep-colors (you didn’t think I’d forget the greys, did you?) The yarn is a very lightly-spun lofty material that, as a result of it’s woolen-spun process, knits at a variety of gauges comfortably without losing fabric integrity.
[…].
Globally speaking, I think that knitters should be able to procure wools of high-quality that support designers, farmers and mills in our own back yard. I think there is now becoming an opportunity for yarns to tell us a story, and offer us a connection to something deeper than just the experience we’re having on our needles.
Consider this my contribution to that cause. I very much hope that you enjoy it.
i think it’s a great idea,
and the yarn is very very yummy looking,
but i just can’t stop myself from naming some worries:
1 – the price. at $12.50 for 140yds/128m,
it’ll cost a small woman about $125 to make a sweater,
and a guy my size like $163.
yikes!
just for a comparison,
i’m making my rhinebeck sweater out of a yarn from a small mill in michigan, the stonehedge fiber mill.
it’s a 3 ply worsted,
and costs $10 for 250 yds.
that’s about $80 for a sweater for me.
it’s spun worsted
(rather than woolen)
which should cost more right?
(spinners weigh in on this.)
i’m more than willing to spend money on yarn.
but if i’m gonna pay that much,
i want a sweater for life.
which brings me to
2 – a lightly-spun 2 ply (i also need some spinners help on this one)
as i understand it,
being lightly spun
and a 2 ply yarn,
means it will be extra soft.
we in america are obsessed with softness.
(never mind that for thousands of years,
babies have been wrapped in cloth made from wool so scratchy
it would make noro seem like malabrigo)
but lightly spun yarn won’t wear as well, right?
it’s more prone to pilling and felting?
am i wrong?
similarly,
i believe i remember judith mackenzie saying
that you should always use at least a 3 ply for garments
because it wears better.
more plys equals better durability.
am i wrong?
i think the yarn is lovely.
i’ll probably buy some (for a hat).
but i’m worried.
i’m worried that,
like so many american-made products,
it’s going to be amazing at first,
but isn’t made to last.
i know in the knitting world,
criticizing anyone is taboo.
much less a knitter as beloved as brooklyn tweed.
but i think these are important questions to ask.
the recession has scared the shit out of me,
(and has anyone been watching what’s been going on in europe?).
i feel strongly that, in the world of hobby in which knitting resides,
i feel the need to be extra critical of how i spend my money.
please please please
someone, anyone,
tell me i’m wrong!
so that i can buy a sweater lot of shelter.
*sigh*
September 10, 2010
i love fall.
i love the chilly air,
the sweaters,
the jeans,
snuggling under down comforters, my dog as the only source of heat.
i love that i get to leave lace behind,
pick some seriously wooly wool,
and let cables hurt my hands.
and while this weather may be a bit unseasonable,
let’s pretend it’s going to last shall we?
and no that’s not my rhinebeck sweater;
i haven’t cast that on yet.
why?
so my procrastination-induced stress can amuse you all later,
obviously.
a hat
September 8, 2010
i don’t get the appeal of knitting for babies.
besides that fact that it’s cheaper and faster.
i have done it since,
being a knitter,
it’s just one of those things we do.
but i don’t desire it.
i don’t fawn over baby patterns,
cooing at the über cuteness.
most of the time i think people make babies look silly
and i just feel embarrassed for both baby and parent.
but then there’s this:
once again the knitting gods have made me their bitch
because i knit that. i knit a silly hat and kinda forgot that i did.
now the little shit finally fits into it . . .
. . .and it’s fucking adorable.
*sigh*
anyone know a good baby sweater pattern?
i may have a problem, but i’m ok with that.
September 6, 2010
this entry is dedicated to my good friend in yarn, anna.
i couldn’t have done it without you babe.
today is labor day.
today i rest.
i will not knit.
i need not knit,
not today.
for yesterday,
i tasted victory.
the summer has been a battle.
a knitting battle of wit and stamina.
the battle known as socks and lace.
toward the end it became clear
that my only competition was anna;
my friend,
my coworker,
my sworn enemy.
the competition was fierce.
some might even say we lost our minds.
to them i say, you didn’t want it bad enough.
we did.
the speed with which anna finished projects was staggering, even scary.
she churned out socks and shawls like the yarn harlot on crack.
never before had i met an opponent as worthy as she,
one who forced me to be a better competitor,
someone who craved victory as much as i.
but i had something that she did not,
something that intensified my already sick need for glory.
it was a certain sweater,
a supreme public mocking,
and the thousands of calls to “man up and knit real lace.”
i admit that i asked for it. i invited scrutiny,
and was taught the lesson of post midnight emails.
the people of the knitting world spoke,
and commanded me to follow the rules,
to stay inside the box.
so i did.
i made the rules my own.
i owned those rules.
i followed the letter of the law, and in doing so,
eviscerated its spirit.
so today i rest,
allow my fingers to recover,
and i wear my stole of victory*.
for in knitting it,
i secured my win.
(i recognize that i may have a problem. i’m at peace with it.)
*the “stole of victory” was my ace in the hole. i held cascade 220 quadrupled knit on size 15’s (10mm) lengthwise. i bought the yarn at natural stitches so it then counted double, and threw in a lace chevron that i messed up somehow. but it doesn’t have to be good lace to count.
Bitches Get Stitches 