the adventures of girasole
June 13, 2010
this just in:
girasole, last spotted in trafalgar square,
has recently be sighted on the west side england.
the following photo, obtained from a reliable source,
clearly shows the girasole at the castlerigg stone circle
we’ll keep you updated on any developments as they become available.
the postman always rings twice
June 12, 2010
i’ve been pretty cranky this week.
most likely because i haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a while.
but if anything can cheer me up,
it’s a nice package.
and this week,
i got two.
the first was great surprise:
ms. sally of rivendale farms,
(a professional commenter here at bitchesgetstiches)
sent me a lovely skein of hand painted alpaca and silk.
the fleece is from her very own alpaca, tianna.
the skein is seriously lovely.
it’s a perfect addition to my recent silk obsession.
thanks sally!
the second was less of a surprise,
since technically, i knew it was coming.
but it still gave me a happy:
my (most recent) diploma.
those of you who’ve been paying attention
may remember that i missed my graduation.
it was a little bittersweet, but the decision was easy;
my family needed me so i headed home.
but the joy of the day was only delayed.
because when i saw that giant envelope,
i felt a tension release in my chest.
it was one of those experiences of real happiness that seem to get rarer and rarer now that i’m a full fledged grown up. i literally had to show someone, and ran to veronica’s room with a stupid grin on my face like a kid bringing home an “a” to mom.
too bad we don’t have a magnet big enough to hold this bitch to the fridge.
whips and chains
June 10, 2010
i’m in an s&m relationship with jared flood.
or, to be more precise, his juneberry triangle.
initially, it destroyed my self esteem,
and seemed impossible to conquer.
i dried my eyes, dug down deep,
and countered with my own instruments of pain:
a mechanical pencil, graph paper, and a calculator.
and beat that mother into submission.
(the yarn is madelinetosh “pashmina” in copper penney)
the reason it was so difficult (at first) was because of the second chart.
if you look at people’s notes on ravelry,
all their trouble was chart 2 related.
the reason?
chart 2 doesn’t display a repeat per se.
rather, as the shawl grows
(from the yo’s at the sides and center spine)
one works the pattern into the new stitches if there are enough to do so.
remember, if you have enough stitches to do a decrease, you must do it’s corresponding increase. and vice versa. and you never do a double yo. that tip is key.
when you have completed the eight offending rows,
and are ready to work them all over again, there’s a twist:
the first stitch of the chart doesn’t correspond to the the first stitch on the shawl. instead, you continue working in the established pattern (and death death to all designers who use the phrase “work in patt”), stacking the diamonds on top of each other, and “growing” that pattern outward as more and more stitches are created. this coupled with the fact that there is patterning on both sides made me want to die a little.
here’s a closer look:
see how the diamonds “stack”?
that concept really helped me get over the hump.
i soon got into the grove of it.
since, actually, it’s a fairly easy pattern.
and banged out the second chart in an evening.
go me right?
not so much.
as i was finishing the second to last row of the section,
i saw a little “4” flashing in front of my eyes.
a closer look revealed it to read 4mm.
that would be a u.s. size 6 needle.
not the 7 the pattern calls far.
fuck.
i am fairly sure that i started with a 7.
but must have needed them for a second.
(i use addi clicks so i probably clicked them off)
and then replaced them with 6’s for who knows why.
once again, the juneberry made me it’s bottom bitch.
*sigh*
my main point is this;
contrary to my original feeling,
this pattern is definitely doable.
it was just written in a way that isn’t standard,
at least when it comes to lace/charts i’ve encountered.
in my mind, it’s another example of a of a blight in our community: designers writing patterns, but not writing them for the dumbest possible knitter. if you’re good enough to design something like this, and then have one of your friends test knit it, of course they’ll get it. they’re probably good knitters, and they have you there to ask little questions. you need to have strangers test knit things, people who aren’t as comfortable with their knitting skills so that their problems will aid you in clarifying patterns.
and please, pay the extra money and write out a complete chart!
they’re already tiny so why not nix one photo of the shawl,
and put a chart there?
ok.
i’m done ranting.
something happy?
how about a couple of fo’s:
that’s anna’s february lady sweater,
and plain green socks for mitch,
a.k.a. lisa b.
(isn’t she a great foot model?)
it’s the fo’s that keep me going.
and photos like these remind me why i knit;
i knit because i love the feeling of making something beautiful with my own two hands.
so keep ’em coming jared.
i’ll knit whatever you can throw at me!.
i’m alive. i promise.
June 8, 2010
i’ve been a both a busy bee and a lazy bum.
i feel like i’ve been working (in various forms) constantly;
then i look around me,
and i’ve gotten so little done.
since i’ve been away from the blog for almost a week,
let’s play catch up, shall we?
there have also been some minor plagues upon my house,
like an e-mail coup,
and bicycle theft.
but then came a ray of sunshine in the form of yarn:
a few months ago,
my dear friend nancy went to a sheep shearing event.
we decided that if it wasn’t to expensive,
we’d go in on a fleece together.
(she’s thrifty and i tend toward the broke side of the financial spectrum depending on how far i am from pay day)
nancy picked out the fine coat of isis,
a particularly handsome shetland sheep.
she’s no expert on fleeces,
but since her quick purchase garnered many jealous looks from her fellow shearers and pickers, she knew she hit the jackpot.
since, at the time, neither of could spin,
we sent it off to a mill in michigan (my beloved homeland),
stone hedge fiber mill
i love their shepherd’s wool, (so should all of you)
and when i found out they will process a fleece not only into roving,
but into yarn, i knew where i was sending our beloved isis wool.
a few months later, and here it is,
1250 yards of a beautiful aran yarn.
i don’t know how they managed it,
but they made a shetland fleece feel like merino.
seriously, it’s softer than cascade 220.
since splitting the yarn meant neither of us would have enough,
we made a deal: i get to knit the yarn, she gets the garment.
come fall, this will become a lovely cabled vest for nancy.
and suggestions for a pattern?
in other news,
i have begun working on the juneberry triangle.
it is by far the most difficult thing i have ever knit,
and i am not ashamed to say that it brought me as close to crying i have ever come over knitting. i’ll have more details about it later, but suffice it say, my love/hate of jared flood burns ever stronger.
speaking of providing further details, here’s an update on project 10.
my first “interview” is with melynda of french press knits
and i’m totally stoked that my first participant will be a fellow michigander. we’re both working hard on this one bitches.
since i want this to be as much about the community as it is about me,
i’d love it if at least one of the 10 questions came from you all.
if there’s anything you’re dying to know about melynda,
leave your question in the comments.
and keep an eye on the blog folks,
i’m hoping to get it out before the end of june.
à bientôt mes petites chiennes.
p.s. lately, i’ve been doing most of my writing at the quiet storm
it’s an independently (queer/women?) owned vegetarian diner,
and my favorite place in pittsburgh.
i thought i’d give them a shout out since they take such good care of me and my insatiable need for cheese, broccoli, tofu, and iced coffee:
if you’re passing through the burgh,
you need to try the home fries.
if you live here already,
why aren’t you sitting across from me right now?
writing at the quiet storm
June 2, 2010
newton’s third law states that for every action,
there is an equal an opposite reaction.
for me that has meant that everything good i have done today,
has been met with something not so good.
for instance,
i have much administrative stuff to do.
working two weeks straight at the shop has impeded my progress.
so i set the alarm on my phone so i would get up bright and early;
go me right?
of course turning the ringer on would have helped.
needless to say, i woke up late.
i then decided to go to my favorite spot in pittsburgh, the quiet storm,
to catch up on some correspondence, and knock out a blog post.
luckily, i charged my camera battery last night, and remembered to grab my camera on my way out so i could take a photo of second sock:
of course i never put the battery in the camera,
thus the low quality computer cam pic.
(margaret cho looks pissed at the low quality photo of second sock, no?)
you’ll also notice how little progress has been made on second sock.
that would be because i am practicing my spinning,
which means i’m not knitting,
which means i’m probably going to lose the summer of socks and lace and my small life of fiber artistry will have no meaning!
ok.
i’ve regained my grip.
which brings me to the real topic of this post:
i’ve had this idea to do a series of short interviews with what could be called the up and coming/newly famous/should be famous people in the fiber arts world. i’m calling the project 10 questions for the ravelry generation. or just project 10. i haven’t decided.
the gist is that i pose ten random questions to knitters/crocheters/spinners/bloggers/designers that inspire me, and the rest of us. i have a short list of people i’m pretty sure will take my call so to speak, and a dream list of people who are probably too important to get back to me.
now, i’m no journalist.
i have no idea what i’m doing really.
i just thought it would be cool to create a record of this moment while it’s still going on.
i feel like we’ve all had ideas, creative ideas, and for whatever reason we haven’t followed through. a year later we find ourselves saying, “i thought of that!” or “i could do that!” and my friend lisa will promptly say,
“but you didn’t.”
the truth of the statement can be devastating.
and i figure if i say i’m going to do this thing on the blog,
i’ll be accountable to some one.
so after this,
i’m sending out my first request for an interview.
keep your fingers crossed bitches!!
(what the #$&@* am i getting myself into)
better late than never
May 31, 2010
so i had an explicit deadline.
this post was supposed to go out by 11:59 pm yesterday.
what can i say, i fell asleep.
i was tired.
just think of it as added suspense to see who won the cashmere.
and now,
why don’t we keep the suspense going a little longer?
let me tell you about how my summer of socks and lace is going.
my very first fan, juliet, left me this comment:
Thank you for the great lace debate! So tell us about the socks.
fair enough juliet;
this is the summer of socks and lace.
so here’s my first sock of the summer:
i used stephanie pearl-mcphee’s sock recipe: a good, plain sock from knitting rules, (quelle suprise) and i won’t tell you what the yarn is since there’s some controversy surrounding the person who makes it. but i will say, it’s very nice yarn that i got from my good friend lisa’s epic destash.
i’m also making this sweater;
a sweater that no one can deny is lace:
it a february lady sweater
yarn is peru by blue moon fiber arts
in the “cloudy with a chance” colorway.
i am on my way to victory bitches!
and now the moment of truth.
the winner of the cashmere.
there were some really great entrants.
for instance yvonne wrote:
o m g. […]. that pashmina? 170 yards of delicious. i’m imagining it as knit pasties. not for me, of course.
you were so close to winning!
if only they’d been for you.
then there was linda who wrote:
I would crochet a dishcloth with it. But I would’t use it to wash dishes, I would use it to dust. OR a can coolie. I would knit this though. Then I would needle felt some sort of witty beer drinkers phrase on it. I still have some time to think of the witty beer drinkers phrase. Hey! Who ever thinks of the wittiest beer drinkers phrase can win a way cool Pashmina can coolie with a witty beer drinkers phrase on it!!!!
i nearly peed when i read this!
i was all set to send her the skein.
but i know linda.
and she’s just crazy enough to do it.
i couldn’t risk it.
so we come to the winning comment,
and this win might cause some controversy:
Totally off topic, but in case you’re not reading all of the comments on the Harlot blog, here’s mine: Steven, I’m going with whatever answer gets me that skein of cashmere. (Otherwise I’d have to go with C leaning towards A) But I really, really want that yarn, so if you like I will write a Treatise on Lace Options if need it and send it to your Store Ruler. Yup, I’m on your side.
here are the reason’s this comment shouldn’t win:
1 – it wasn’t posted on the correct blog entry.
2 – it’s actually a comment on the yarn harlot’s blog.
3 – there is no pattern idea, the one requirement for all entrants.
4 – and she already left a comment on the correct blog post with a pattern that didn’t really cut it for me.
the reason she gets the skein?
in order to win, ms. sally at rivendale farms took her one vote in the great lace debate of 2010, and voted for me
against her conscience.
this bitch wants some cashmere.
bad.
so sally,
the skein is yours.
after the week i’ve had,
i say screw any semblance of the rules.
(i told ya this giveaway wasn’t going to be fair)
my name is steven ambrose . . .
May 28, 2010
and i’m here to recruit you.
(ten points to whoever recognizes that reference)
so by now, many of you have seen the “poll” on stephanie’s blog.
i have to say i am blown away by the shear volume of replies.
i never thought my late night appeal for help would cause all this,
nor did i realize how testy some knitters can get.
but i suppose if you poke the wasp nest,
you’re gonna get stung some.
so just to add another dimension to things,
here’s the prologue to the story:
i am a worker bee at natural stitches,
and it’s got to be the best job in the world.
this means that for our summer of socks and lace,
i compete against the rest of the staff, as opposed to the customers,
we get to knit at work,
which gives us an unfair advantage over people who can’t.
i personally entered the “double threat” category
meaning i’ll have to knit both socks and lace.
so obviously, i was keeping my eye out for patterns to knit in addition to the february lady, shetland tea shawl, stora dimun, and plain sock i’ve already started. (we knit as many items as we can)
when i came upon the whisper cables pull over
totally scammed the photo from veronik's flickr. all rights are hers.
i immediately said to myself, “that’ll do!”
and took the pattern into work to select yarn etc.
when i showed my coworker the pattern,
she looked at me like i was an idiot and said,
“you can’t do that. it’s not lace.”
(identities are being concealed to prevent possible teary phone calls)
the problem lies merely in the fact that we have two different viewpoints on how to judge what constitutes lace. i took in the whole image and said, “that’s lace.” she looked at the pattern and determined the necessary techniques that currently define lace in the knitting world are absent from the pattern.
i think that’s kinda dumb and exclusionary.
but i suppose definitions are meant to be.
she comes from the old school, steeped in tradition and love for st. elizabeth zimmerman. i’m from the new generation of knitters who’ve learned the craft online or in the new lys’s instead of from their grandmothers or mothers. hell, i learned to knit on aluminum boye needles and fun fur in the wee hours of the morning at meijer from a crazy knitter lady.
you can’t get much further from tradition than that.
the debate then spread to the rest of the staff:
what counts?
what doesn’t?
what about scribble lace?
what about things with yo’s but no corresponding decreases?
(like the simple yet effective)
if one technically follows the ez rules,
wouldn’t one have to count yo k2tog button holes?
what about hairpin lace?
which brought us to crochet and . . .
don’t even get me started on the crochet contestants.
i’m just gonna take their word on it;
if they tell me their project is lace,
i’ll believe them.
(honor system hookers!)
basically,
even though i see the deliberate instruction in the pattern to knit on a larger needle in comparison to the yarn in order to create regular patterned openwork, openwork stretched and held in place by the regular patterning of the cables, as a way of creating lace . . .
no one else did.
what did i do when everyone was against me?
(please note the comical melodrama, not sincere despair)
i appealed to a higher power.
the highest power to which one as lowly as i could appeal:
the knitting celebrity.
in this case, stephanie pearl-mcphee.
i filled her in on the basics and she suggested we put it to a vote.
i said what the hell!
what have i to lose?
and now you’re all caught up, selecting your a, b, c, or d
casting your vote to let the world know what you think about lace.
if i’m honest,
and i tend to be,
i knew going in that i wasn’t going to “win” the argument.
my only hope was that a few voters would see things the way i did,
so i wouldn’t feel like some crazy face knitter.
so last night,
i decided to start reading through the comments
me and my little friend pouilly-fuissé:
(please note my great grandmother’s crocheted lace doily. irony?)
the harlot said i needed a beer for this,
i was out.
let’s look at some of my favorites from that initial peekaboo:
anna wrote:
A. He can’t be serious… Since when is cable knitting with fine gauge yarn and big needles lace?
i am serious and maybe since now?
gretchen wrote:
Put me in the A camp. When Steven finishes a real lace shawl, let’s see what he thinks of his theory then!! Sorry, buddy. A
i have actually. and i gave it away. it now lives in london. my theory still feels pretty good.
sally wrote:
Steven, I’m going with whatever answer gets me that skein of cashmere. (Otherwise I’d have to go with C leaning towards A) But I really, really want that yarn, so if you like I will write a Treatise on Lace Options if needed and send it to your Store Ruler. Yup, I’m on your side.
that’s an awesome answer, a true harlot at heart.
(and a good way to win some cashmere)
willowcaroline wrote:
Well, I see it differently. When I looked at the pic of the sweater, I saw “lace” between the cables.. no matter how it got there. So B or D, which seems to be the minority opinion. I am not saying this is Shetland lace.. but that openwork look sure looks lacey to me.
yay! i am not alone.
rodger wrote:
I vote B.
And not just because Steven is cute.
um . . . what’s your number rodger?
there were some not so nice ones,
throwing around things like
“be a man”
“get over yourself”
“put on your big boy pants”
“man up”
how did my manhood get caught up in this?
when did cabling become easier than lace?
when did people start taking knitting so seriously?
ultimately, i’m going to bed with a smile on my face.
because little ol’ me,
born in detroit, and raised in the sticks of michigan
caused an international debate.
the great lace debate of 2010.
and queer as my perspective might be
(no wise cracks megan)
i found out some people saw things my way,
and that the definition of lace is debatable.
besides,
whether or not this sweater is eligible for the contest,
i’m still gonna kick their butts.
thursdays are for answers
May 27, 2010
i recently received this question from pattylatty:
Steven,
I’ve written to you before about your three Malabrigo blankets and finally bought a bag of Mal and have started one of the blankets. But recently I’ve been hearing about how much Mal worsted pills. So I thought I’d write to you and see if you have had any problems with that.
And why haven’t I seen you on the Malabrigo Junkies group? It’s a fun place to talk with people who are as crazy about Mal as we are.
Happy knitting.
Pat
well pat, there’s a few things i have to say on the subject of malabrigo.
if you make it into a sweater, it will pill.
but so will any other natural fiber.
the friction of body movements it just gonna do that.
malabrigo just pills more easily because it is a single ply.
now in terms of my blankets,
i can only speak for the zig zag.
(the other two of were gifts)
veronica and i used it pretty heavily this winter,
and while it hasn’t pilled,
it has a little halo going.
a nice soft halo.
you can’t see the spaces between the fabric anymore,
and the yarn has relaxed nicely.
i say go for it.
hell, you’ve already bought the yarn.
but if you’re really worried about it,
and can return the yarn you have,
get malabrigo twist.
just as soft but plied for durability.
if you can’t,
just add a pattern repeat,
and knit on a smaller needle (us 7/4.5mm)
hope to see the finished product!
wednesdays are for spinning.
May 26, 2010
or at least for the next few weeks they are.
in preparation for the knot hysteria silk retreat,
i need to get my spinning skills up to snuff.
spindling has come pretty naturally to me,
and i’m moving past the “park and draft stage.”
however,
i’ll need to be fairly comfortable with a wheel to do all the spinning required for judith macKenzie mccuin’s silk class. (random: any other people with knowledge of irish names find it funny that she has both an “mac” name and “mc” name? just me? ok.)
so today i had my first wheel lesson with carol mcfadden.
before we got down to business,
carol gave me an amazing gifty:
you are reading that label on the ziploc correctly;
a little tuft of pure mongolian cashmere!
she remembered that months ago i said i liked cashmere, (though i ask you, who doesn’t?) and decided to give me some to spin on my spindle.
this is the kind of woman we’re dealing with people;
razor whit and heart of gold.
then we got down to it.
let me just say,
wheel spinning did not come as naturally as the spindle did.
getting my right foot involved seemed to cross some wires in the brain.
but carol assures me that i did very well for my first time,
and i came away with this skein:
as a knitter, i would never purchase this yarn.
i’m not that into thick and thin.
but i have to say
i’m pretty proud of the ugly bastard.
and since i already know i can spin fairly consistent singles on a spindle,
i’m confident that it’s only a matter of time until i can do so on a wheel.
here’s to not looking like a fool in july!
edit: also, i wrote my first article for the shop’s newsletter.
you should check it out!
a week in three acts.
May 23, 2010
i’m exhausted.
i worked a full week at the shop,
and helped a friend organize her stash.
you’d think with all that yarny goodness,
i’d have some really great blog material.
let me tell you, it’s been a struggle.
so, instead of one cohesive post,
i give three short ones,
and an epilogue.
act one: hotpants lives
as you may recall,
i became semi-infamous for the gams i knitted for this past maryland sheep and wool festival.
(they were pretty cool)
well this past week, our favorite yarn rep informed me that clara parkes had mentioned my shorts on the knitter’s review:
“I saw men in kilts, lambs in halters, women in giant floppy hats, and countless kids being led around in high-tech strollers. I spotted colorful tattoos and brightly colored knitted shorts, grilled lamb burgers and deep-fried corn dogs, kids playing catch on the grass, and nervous sheep being groomed to perfection. It was a weekend to end all weekends.”
i immediately sent an email informing her that it was in fact me in those hotpants, realizing that she might be too busy to respond herself. imagine my surprise when i received this:
“Hi Steven,
The gorgeous orange shorts? That was you? I LOVED THEM!! I was at the Spirit Trail booth when you came by, and I really wanted to ask you for a picture but I feared you’d take it the wrong way. I loved that you paired them with a turquoise shirt. And you looked so much more comfortable than everybody else combined. So I say bravo, and once again I tip my hat to you. Please oh please, keep the inspiration coming.
Take care,
Clara
Knitter’s Review”
the legend of the hotpants lives on.
act two: the international
what’s that?
what’s that i see?
that would be shara,
winner of the bitches get stitches girasole giveaway.
she graciously showed it around london
(if memory serves me this lion lives in trafalgar square)
this was certainly worth every penny of the international shipping to see my knitting on another continent.
i wonder where she’ll take it next.
finale: do not go gentle
in regards to my recent post about my grandma,
i just want to say thank you to all the people who were so supportive in their comments both on the blog and in person.
my dear friend nancy left a particularly beautiful comment,
braving her nemesis the internet to do so:
“3am in the ‘Burgh, reading about musk ox in the arctic tundra, memories of ice and the sound of birds flying guiding a migrating people, memories of your grandma knitting themselves into your heart, the sound of my Swedish mor mor’s voice, the sweater she knit me in junior high…We are connected by these threads; we wrap ourselves in their love. It is always the right thing to do, and you have the heart to tell it. You are a writer!”
thanks nancy.
as an update,
my grandma is out of the hospital
and back in the rehab center of the nursing home.
her appetite has returned, and they hope to get her up and walking again.
if i’m very lucky, she’ll be here to see me turn 26.
epilogue: i am, in fact, a crazy face
if you’ve made it this far, you have the opportunity to get a reward.
in the spirit of de-stashing, i’m announcing the second bitches get stitches giveaway!
the prize:
50g/170yds of pure, french, cashmere deliciousness.
the reason:
it’s been in my stash for a while,
and i still don’t know what the heck to make with it.
the rules:
leave a comment telling me what you will do with the skein,
and whichever idea i love best, wins.
(a rav link might help you)
the winner will be announced in may 30, 2010
fairness factor:
zero.
the last giveaway was completely fair.
this time, it’s completely arbitrary.
hey it’s my blog.
do you want cashmere or not?
Bitches Get Stitches 