dear blog,
September 22, 2012
i have some sad news.
it’s been more than a month since i’ve knit a stitch.
all hope of a rhinebeck sweater went out the winder after my first week.
even my as yet unmentioned handspun shawl sits untouched.
my wheel is gathering dust,
my loom lays loosely warped on the table.
unforeseen additions to an already inhuman workload means i have absolutely no time to ‘write for myself’ let alone create any actual content for the blog. in my desperation, i even thought about how i could turn the gift of a bath bomb from lush into a post. but once i’d finally deluded myself into thinking i could spin it in such a way that you all would actually care, i found i didn’t even have the time to write the post.
and so i’ve finally come to admit something i’ve been trying to avoid:
the blog must go on an indefinite hiatus.
it’s not that you’ll never hear from my again on here. i hope i’ll be able to pop in every now and then, and i am going to rhinebeck, which i plan to document thoroughly. it just means i can no longer be a ‘blogger’ and must content myself with being ‘a person with a blog’.
i realize this means i’m going to lose most of my precious readership that i’ve spent three years building up, but i see no other option. if you want to make sure you’re aware of those rare times when i may be able to post this semester, make sure to sign up for email notifications for my posts.
i hope to return in earnest next semester;
i’m working hard now so there will be a lot less work then.
fingers crossed, eh?
so this isn’t goodbye,
it’s see you later, bitches!
love,
steven a.
project ten: take eight
September 7, 2012
unless you’ve been sitting under a rock for the past few years,
then you’ve probably heard of my next guest.
even if you’re not familiar with her name,
if you frequent a local yarn store,
chances are
you’ve seen her shit.
“if knitting were a drug i’d be checking into rehab”
“i’ll show you my stash if you show me yours”
and
“yes, i did make it and no you can’t return it”
are but of few of the irreverent phrases
gracing the front of her products.
today bitches and bitchettes,
i give you,
knitterella!
photo by alisa deshano, divine images photography – ©knitterella®
hello knitterella. may i call you knitterella?
Of course! I like it that way.
this is actually a project ten first in that we’ve actually met.
as with many knitters, it was the yarn harlot that brought us together,
isn’t that right?
Yes, she did. I’m so glad I got to meet you! It was so much fun to have you as a ‘table mate’ at the colorwork class with the Yarn Harlot. You were cracking me up!
i’ve been know to do that on occasion.
so are you ready to get started?
Yes
alright let’s spin the wheel.
ten questions for knitterella
1. i begin with the question i ask all my guests: english or continental?
English – I’d like to think I’m a pretty fast thrower too.
2. you began your professional foray into the land of knitting in 2003 when you first created notecards for knitters. can you describe how and why you decided to start your stationery business? did you see a gap in the market, a need not being filled? or was it more organic? did the idea just come to you?
It’s kind of a long story but if you really want to know how it happen this is it… after graduating WMU with a BFA in Graphic Design I landed a not-so-glamorous job at a stationery company in Grand Rapids, MI (the company shall remain nameless). I thought I was hired to do more design work but in reality it was all boring production work. Although I learned a ton, what I really wanted to do was design. I voiced my desires to want to be the one designing the cards and not prepping them for print. Still, I was shot down. It really frustrated me that they didn’t believe in me and so out of frustration I developed Knitterella. I wanted to prove I could and would be a stationery designer, if not for them I would do it for me! I decided to take my two passions, graphic design and knitting, and develop my own line of stationery product. So came Knitterella!
Now that I think of it, this is a real Cinderella story – be it a stationery world version. Makes my name Knitterella a perfect fit, don’t you think?!
3. and how soon would you say that your business took off?
when did you know that this was the way to go?
Really, since 2003, this was only a fun thing I did on the side and never really gave it the full attention it needed until 2010. I know that seems like a real long time and it is. The reason for this is because for all those years I was working full-time as a graphic designer (rest assured I left the card company in Grand Rapids pretty quickly!), but in 2010 I was laid off due to the crappy economy. That was when I thought, now is my chance to give all I have to Knitterella (and Jill Zielinski Designs) and see if I could ‘Make It Work’!
4. was there ever a time when you considered giving up?
For sure! Especially when I wasn’t giving it my full attention before 2010. Since putting it as a main focus I’m so glad I didn’t. I have two wholesale distributors now and am really enjoying getting into pattern design as well. Plus, just all the wonderful people I’ve been able to meet through Knitterella (like YOU) has made it so worthwhile.
5. while i’m always interested in where people get their artistic inspiration, i’m also equally interested in the business side of things. was there a learning curve for you when it came to ‘the business stuff’?
I have no problem coming up with the ‘ideas’ and since I’m a graphic designer it’s easy to execute them. However, I do hate the business side of things. I still could use a class or two in that department. Maybe one day!
6. as you mentioned, you’ve got distribution through not one, but two of the industries biggest distributors. can you walk us through that process and what it was like?
Yes, I’m thankful to have my Knitterella products are distributed through Bryson Distributing and Deep South Fibers. Bryson distributes my stationery and Deep South distributes both my stationery and my pattern line.
First I got into Bryson. A friend actually recommended me to Bryson. I sent in my samples, had a few phone calls and the rest is history. Shortly after that I was contacted by Deep South Fibers. I really wanted to get into Deep South as I totally love all the designers they carry. It was really good company and I wanted to be a part of it!
In case you are wondering, yes, you normally are exclusive to only one distributor. Sometimes though, when you have a product you can work it a different way – I was able to work it out with Bryson and DSF that I distributed my stationery through both of them. My knitting patterns, however, are exclusive to DSF.
7. what’s interesting about your particular work, is that it has as much to do with copy as with design. which aspect is more difficult to tackle and why?
Hmmm, not real sure how to answer this one. They both are their own monsters but I don’t see one more difficult then the other. It really is all about what I’m inspired to create. The process is the same for both.
8. your stationery made the name knitterella what it is, but you’ve branched into knitting pattern design as well. how is your design process for patterns a different experience? or is it?
Recently I’ve really fallen in love with taking my original graphics and turning them into colorwork knitting. It’s like if the graphic designer and knitter in me had a baby ☺ It feels totally natural and I just love the results! My Mojavé cowl is a perfect example of this. I have numerous new colorwork designs in the works. You’ll be seeing a lot more of this from me this year and next.
9. of which design are you most proud and why?
If you are talking about my stationery, my humor gift tags are for sure it. The sayings on the gift tags were things I always thought but of course would never had the nerve to say (like, “Just because it’s handmade doesn’t mean it was cheap”) – these tags were able to say it for me in a cute and useful way. They are still my top sellers so it’s very refreshing to know that others have the same thoughts!
In the pattern design department, my first love is my Smocked Slouch. This is because it was a big goal of mine to start designing knitting patterns and in 2011 I came out with my first one and the Smocked Slouch was it! I’m happy that it was a hit too – at least in my eyes it is – I still sell a lot of them and that makes me so proud ☺
My Mojavé pattern is also very important to me as I feel that this really ‘birthed’ a new passion for me – the whole turning my graphics into colorwork knitting thing.
i love that, for your humor stationery, those were your actual thoughts. personally, i think that’s why they’re so successful; they’re real rather than contrived. and i love that it’s a tangible example of how design allowed you to express yourself.
as for your knitting, the mojavé cowl is by far my favorite of your designs to date.
now on to the final question:
10. if you could interview anyone for project ten, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Gosh, there are so many inspiring knitwear designers it’s hard to pick. Right now I’d pick Kate Oates of Tot Toppers. I designed her Math For Hats Booklet last year and we became fast friends. We even shared a booth at TNNA this past June. She’s pretty much a knitting super hero to me. I want to know how she got into knitting – especially since she actually has a PhD in Political Science. Also, how can she produce her adorable knitting patterns so fast – all while taking care of her 3 young boys. I could use some tips!
You know, I met Stephanie
thanks knitterella. i hope we can hang and catch up over a burrito.
I do too! You know I feel about burritos *wink*wink*
jill zielinski, 34, runs the kniterella empire as well as her design company, jill zielinski designs, from her home studio in rural michigan where she lives with her husband and two young boys. between cookie-breaks and kissing skinned knees, jill finds a way to incorporate knitting and design into her daily life. you can find her on ravelry, read her blog, and buy all of her stationery and knitting patterns here.
microblog 15 – the best search terms ever
September 2, 2012
as any real blogger would,
i pay attention to my stats:
which websites linked to mine
how many people visited that day
from which countries people read
that kind of thing.
the most entertaining, however,
are definitely the ‘search engine terms’.
‘these are the terms people used to find your site’, says wordpress.
today (yesterday technically),
one search in particular took the cake:
how to have sex at the fairgrounds without making a big show lesbian
i doubt anything can ever top that.
somehow, i now feel obligated to investigate,
to find the best way to have sex at the fairgrounds without making a big show lesbian.
i wouldn’t want to disappoint her.
souvenir
August 31, 2012
when i worked at natural stitches,
an old, sickly woman would come in a knit.
her name was mattie.
mattie was wheelchair bound
blind in (at least) one eye,
and on dialysis 3 times a week.
she would save up her transportation tickets from her senior center
so she could come, hang out with us,
and we could help her with her projects.
she was always happy
and slightly outrageous.
i always had to help fix her ribbing.
now and then, i’d get roped into running to mcdonalds
to buy her a small fry. (with her coupon, of course)
she always made sure her nails were done, her makeup was on,
and always wore her “good wig” when she came to the shop.
sometimes her leg would pop off as she wheeled across the store to her table and we’d have to hand it back to her. sometimes she’d put it back on. other times, she’d simply plop it on the table and keep on stitching.
i recently found out that she passed away;
they blogged about it on the shop blog.
in honor of mattie i am going to reveal a photo.
it is not the most flattering photo;
the outfit i’m wearing is . . .
special.
it was given as a thank you to my friend yvonne.
when we opened, i couldn’t resist modeling it.
for the most part,
the photo has been suppressed
that is, until now.
(post continued after the jump)
mattie,
i’ll never forget you.
wherever you are, i’m sure you’ve finally mastered k2p2 ribbing.
photo courtesy of natural stitches
love,
steven
p.s. yvonne, if you read this, do post the details surrounding the outfit in the comments!
cauchy complete does it again, using quilting to get us really thinking and hopefully talking. somehow, this phrase is all the more eerie on a quilt.
westward ho!
August 23, 2012
i’m kind of sick.
i’m that kind of sick where spending the day in bed isn’t a choice.
i’m that kind of sick where my body feels the need to be entirely empty.
i’m that kind of sick where i hope mo will just pee on the floor so i won’t have to get out of bed to take him outside.
but for you, blog,
i’ll crawl all the way to the next room
to get my power cord out of my bag
to recall a happier time
just last sunday.
though i’ve been enjoy my summer hermitage,
i discovered lynae and adrienne,
dear friends of the knot hysteria variety,
were coming to my state for the michigan fiber festival.
lynae undertook quite a twitter campaign to ensure my presence.
and if she and drin could come from chicago,
i could make the trip from lansing.
i’m thoroughly unfamiliar with this side of the state
and my initial impressions reminded me a lot of my childhood;
allegan is similar to the small towns i used to frequent as a michigosling:
almont
armada
berville
capac
imaly city
though allegan seems to have held up better.
it felt like time passed a little bit slower there
and has been a lot kinder than in towns of my youth.
once i got over the initial uncanny nostalgia,
i felt right at home at a country fairgrounds
especially at a fiber festival.
the michigan fiber festival is what i’d call a diamond in the rough.
the fairgrounds are perfect for a really large festival,
something comparable in size to rhinebeck, honestly,
but it’s much, much smaller and lower key.
add that to the fact that i arrived at church time
and i got to enjoy the fairgrounds without the stress of the crowds.
perhaps that’s what’s reflected in these photos.
i didn’t feel the need to ‘just document everything’
and sort it all out later as i normally do.
instead, i took a more leisurely approach.
this is what i saw.
wait!
before i continue,
i have to preface this by saying most of these photos were illegally obtained. the man on the loud speaker announced that everything in the booths was proprietary and photography was forbidden. that little admonishment came right before the one telling parents not to let children maul the yarn with their sticky hands. (needless to say, being put in the same category as a child with chocolate-covered digits miffed me to no end) so this is just to warn you that, if you enjoy these photos, you may be aiding (and abetting?) in a crime after the fact. i just feel it’s my responsibility to warn you. and if any vendor sees a photo of her booth and takes issue with it, i’ll be happy to remove your free publicity.
first up
i need this sweater in my life.
it’s sticks and stones by ann hanson knit with briar rose glory days
(as the tag clearly indicates)
briar rose definitely has one of the best booths, aesthetically.
it has a great mix of organization and planned carelessness
(read overflowing baskets of yarn here and there)
i’ve never had the chance to actually look at her stuff
since normally there’s a mob in the booth at rhinebeck.
overall i was drawn to her color aesthetic,
and she has some really nice bases,
but nothing needed to come home with me.
still, it wouldn’t have hurt to throw a ‘hello’ my way
as one of only two people in the booth at the time.
just sayin’. can’t hurt to be friendly.
(don’t worry. you weren’t alone. i wasn’t greeted at most of the booths)
then i saw this old familiar sign
this bitch is at every festival.
i swear she must live for these shows. honestly, i loved that she was there. she’s like 10 feet tall and looks exactly like storybook spinner. i totally observe her every time i see her. she has this potent energy that just exudes ‘fiber festival’. someday, i’ll work up the courage to kinnear her, not just her sign. though part of me believes she’s a witch. i’m not sure camera’s will work on her. (her name’s even morgaine for christ’s sake! i’m just sayin’. don’t spill water on her, just in case)
then i yearned for boat shuttles.
the weaving goddess lisa kobeck told me using a boat shuttle will improve my selvedges, so i’ve been in the market for one for a bit.
(she also says buying a floor loom will help, but i need to be realistic)
i knew i wanted something handmade and fancy looking like these guys,
but they were just a bit too pricey for me.
i often forget my taste far exceeds my budget.
i think this display was part of the kessinich loom booth,
but i might be wrong.
i strolled the ‘midway’
(just noticed that little dude in the corner popping his hip. work!)
listened to some real country tunes as i passed the carousel corral
stopped in on miss babs
(if you like that shawl drin’s wearing, go here. she designed it)
miss babs is another one of those booths that’s generally mobbed
so it was nice to be able to take my time and really see her yarn.
again, i left without buying any yarn
(a testament to either my will or my poverty)
but did return for some fiber i just couldn’t pass up.
funny how the only thing i bought was from the place where someone actually said hi to me. it wasn’t the most enthusiastic welcome, but it was nice to have my presence acknowledged.
(these are presents so it doesn’t really count as buying anything right?)
there was this dress
about which i have no information because i was unprepared and had no notebook. i vaguely recall overhearing the pattern is forthcoming in knitty, but that could be total lies. i did give her my card so if she sees this, hopefully she’ll leave a comment and i’ll update the info.
(outtake: i even accidentally kinneared the dress. it needs to be seen!)
there was also this sweater
about which i also have no information
(so i was off my game a little)
again, i gave her my card.
hopefully she sees this.
i saw this coyote
(he looks like he knows, ya know?)
and these foxes
(zing!) i took their photo for my fiber festival friend in absentia, andrea,
who has ‘a thing’ for the farm boys at these fiber events.
thus far, she hasn’t gone home with one.
(that i know of)
then i suddenly found myself right in front of the parade of sheep
in costumes no less.
this girl and her sheep are obviously the best in show.
diy sun costume + diy solar system on your black sheep (space!) = ?
genius.
but i’ve forgotten the best part!
a giant fucking rooster at the entrance!
i take this as a sign tina will one day come with me.
the chicken/rooster is, after all, her totem.
(we visited your yarn at the fold booth, tina!)
all in all a lovely day.
p.s. thanks for being my sugar momma, lynae,
when there was no atm to be found.
p.p.s while i began this post last night, at one point, i just couldn’t go on. i finished it this afternoon. i’m feeling better, but i’m still afraid to eat.
blog love, german style.
August 20, 2012
my dear friend, deb, over at first we read, then we write
nominated me for a liebster blog award.
as i read her post,
about how it wasn’t a real award
and how it was basically a chain letter
wrapped in an ‘i like your blog’ love note,
i prayed that, when i reached the bottom,
my name wouldn’t be on there.
of course it was the first.
i’ve spent three years building this blog from the ground up.
i don’t design, or sell anything, so all of my traffic
comes from people who like to read what i write.
how could i possibly taint the blog
with this drivel?!
then. . . . i got a grip
and decided there were two very good reasons to ‘accept’ the award:
1. the opening of deborah’s post echoed my own childhood too much to ignore the bizarre connection. whereas she dreaded getting a chain letter because she,
“didn’t have ten friends to pass a letter on to.”
and
“There is nothing more frightening than hocus-pocus to a girl than the embarrassment of not having ten friends to forward a chain letter on to.”
i was the exact opposite.
i prayed for a chain letter to arrive in the mail.
it’s presence would act as proof that i did, indeed, have friends.
life as an only child growing up in the country a solid 30 minutes from the closest of any of my classmates meant i didn’t really do the whole ‘sleepover birthday party play date’ thing. add to that the fact that i was, well, ‘different’, and i think i desired any affirmation that i was liked.
2. this may be the only blog award i will ever receive. i don’t know how people get nominated for those things, but i do see them occasionally on other blogs (usually ones i feel don’t deserve to be read let alone awarded). i also don’t know if people even care about that kind of thing. but just in case, i won’t turn down what might be the only ‘official’ validation that my blog is liked.
and so,
i present
my liebster award post!
parameters:
1. each person must post eleven things about themselves
2. answer the 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you
3. create eleven questions for the people you will be giving the award to
4. choose eleven people to award and send them a link to your post
5. go to their page and tell them
6. no tag backs
i tried to think of ways to make this more creative,
but i think the great thing about parameters is
you don’t really have to think.
so here goes.
eleven things about me:
i ripped off my style of cursive in the fifth grade from amanda niedszwiecki (sp?), which required switching from holding my pencil on my middle finger to my ring.
one of my biggest childhood traumas is when i was at a farm and was chasing a duckling because i wanted to hold it. i accidentally stepped on it. it did not die quickly. the image haunts me to this day.
when i was about three or four, this boy (paul?) and i used to make a pillow fort and make out. when we got caught i was interrogated. i cried.
i’ve been romantically attracted to exactly one female in my life. her name was sally.
i kinda want to have a kid of my own one day (i think), but doubt it will ever happen.
my (friendly) prejudice against continental knitters makes me think of the doctor seuss story, the sneetches.
aging is one of my greatest fears.
mo’s official akc name is henri’s molière the antimisanthrope.
i bruise easily, and my skin takes color like you wouldn’t believe.
i remember that, as a child, i hated how adults would never listen to me or take anything i had to say seriously. i was determined that, when i was an adult, i would treat children with the respect they deserve. as an adult, i can’t stand children.
i often blog in the nude.
answers to deb’s eleven questions:
Who? – miss scarlet
What? – murdered mr. boddy
When? – last night
Where? – in the hall
How? – using yvette the call girl to do her dirty work (candlestick)
Why? – to protect her business of ‘secrets’
And your favourite word is? – cooooooock! (inside joke)
And your favourite sentence is? – ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’
Do sheeps shrink in the rain? – nope!
If a taxi goes backwards, does the driver owe you money? – when you enter a taxi, you give up any and all freedoms. you can only pray he’ll let you leave his domain alive and unharmed.
Really? – really.
my eleven questions to the bloggers i will soon nominate:
how was your first sexual experience?
what is your greatest prejudice?
who’s your favorite knitting blogger that isn’t me?
what is the achievement about which you are most proud?
what is your biggest grammatical pet peeve?
what is your most prized possession?
do you enjoy lying?
do prefer men, women, or other?
what is your drink of choice?
what is the best place in the world?
do you think, like i do, that continental knitters are like the sneetches without stars?
my nominations (in no particular order):]
completely cauchy
hizknits
makes the things
martinimade
the daily purl
the panopticon
the yarn harlot
craftivore
blue moon blog
yarn over matter
un joyeux foullis
done!
i’m going to skip the last couple rules.
i’ve frankly done enough work already on this post.
besides, i doubt i would be able to get them all to ‘accept’.
but it would be cool if a couple of them played along.
it wasn’t so bad.
aCute angle
August 17, 2012
i have a confession to make about my last post.
it was what you might call, not entirely honest.
true, that photo was takes in the nest i’d made on the floor,
but i didn’t actually stay there.
it wasn’t for lack fo trying, mind.
it’s just that,
apparently,
27 is the age at which
one is no longer able to sleep on the floor.
it’s frankly quite sad since my childhood was filled with instances of my curling up in unlikely spaces to rest. my favorite was the floor of the passenger side of my dad’s red chevey pickup.
adulthood is filled with sad milestones.
so where did i end up sleeping you ask?
well, while i couldn’t sleep on the hardwood,
i was able to channel my childhood talent for contortion,
and curled myself around the item on the bed,
covering the ends of the blocking wires
to avoid being impaled in the night.
which i suppose would be more impressive
if the item in question were bigger.
it was still, nonetheless,
a challenge.
mo upped the level of difficulty
by finding the one spot to curl up
that made any movement in the night impossible.
so here it is, the first knit i’ve ever slept with:
pattern – aCute angle yarn – luscious silk in the ‘ghillie dhu’ colorway
frankly, this item has been nothing but trouble from the start.
before i went to the knot hysteria gourmet retreat,
i suggested to my fellow retreaters
that we all do a knitalong.
i chose the aCute angle
because it had just been released
and seemed easy enough for us to complete in a weekend.
several people finished theirs in the blink of an eye,
but mine refused to even get started.
the first time, i twisted the join,
and didn’t notice for at least an inch.
the second time i cast on a number of stitches
that had absolutely nothing to do with the pattern.
(i think it was off by something like 12 stitches?)
once i’d finally got myself together,
it was the end of the second day
and my modifications* meant
i’d never finish that weekend.
i know i finished knitting it at some point,
but it sat for ages waiting to have its ends woven in.
then i let it have a nice soak and promptly forgot about it.
i don’t think silk is meant to soak for three days.
there’s something about the texture that feels . . . different now.
even this post has been needlessly delayed.
it’s been written for at least three days;
all it wanted was a final edit.
regardless, it came out beautifully,
and i thoroughly recommend this pattern.
it really is a snap for anyone whose mojo isn’t on the fritz,
(though blocking lace in the round presents its own unique challenge)
and this is one pattern where i think the yarn is perfectly matched.
(just note that, on ravelry, it’s currently misspelled as ‘a cute angle‘
losing all the fun wordplay in the title!)
now i just need to figure out who it’s for.
though, it might be perfect for mo.
tomorrow, the most irrelvant post i’ve ever written.
>glares at certain portland-based blogger<
à demain, bitches!
*aCute angle modifications: i added one pattern repeat and did seed stitch for the border rather than garter stitch.
mircoblog 14 – 4:07am
August 11, 2012
i’m blocking something on my bed.
it’s still completely soaked,
so i’m going to sleep
on the floor.
ironically,
this isn’t the first time i’ve done this.
114
August 10, 2012
though the random number generator refuses to embed today, it did pick the winner for the bitches get stitches third blogiversary giveaway.
it chose number 114, so medora is the winner!
(you can all hate her now)
congratulations, medora!
you should have an email from blue moon with your $100 gift certificate.
(do contact me if you haven’t gotten it)
to everyone else,
thanks so much for entering.
here’s to another eventful year of blogging!
(i hope)
Bitches Get Stitches 