am i just a creepo?
February 17, 2011
as a rule,
i don’t really believe in knitting prayer shawls.
i’m not sure why, exactly. perhaps it’s simply my inner cynic.
but, with all the many tragedies occurring in my periphery,
none has ever compelled me to knit a damn thing.
for me, knitting is about happiness,
the joy of beautiful yarn,
the mediation of repetitive motion,
the focus required to execute a high degree of difficulty.
simply put,
knitting is a selfish act.
at least for me.
and while i do give most of what i knit away to other people,
i’m only looking for that smile on their face.
it’s the best drug.
recently, though, i read a blog post that literally brought tears to my eyes. and, for whatever reason, i finally felt that need to comfort through knitting. three days later, a boneyard was born.
i decided to use the handspun tina gave me for my birthday.
she made me promise i wouldn’t treasure it;
i had to knit something with it.
this felt appropriate.
we all know that, with handspun, you have to be extremely careful.
if i ran out, i couldn’t just call tina and be like,
“whip up some more of this yarn please!
i’m making a shawl and need to bind off.”
believe me when i say i cut it close.
i was weighing that ball after repeat.
and following a sewn bind off that took me three hours to finish,
i had this much yarn left:
it’s roughly a yard and a half.
not bad, right?
the shawl went out in today’s mail,
and should arrive by saturday.
but now i’m all worried.
we’re not exactly real friends.
yes we tweet back and forth,
and occasionally comment on each other’s blog.
it’s . . . . a ravelry friendship i guess you’d say.
two people brought together in cyberspace because of our mutual love of all things knitterly.
but there’s a fine line between doing something touching, and plain old-fashioned stalking. and that line is always drawn by the other person.
is it weird to just send a knitter i’ve never met a prayer shawl?
am i just a creepo?
bitches,
i’m feeling a bit under the weather.
my iron stomach has apparently rusted,
and i’ve spent much of my “weekend” in bed.*
this means the knitting has not been getting done,
and i’m not able to blog what i was hoping to this week.
luckily,
adrian saved my ass.
after surviving a new england blizzard,
and a wicked case of post-harloting server seizure,
she put my clockwork on her sexy irish man,
shoved him outdoors, and took his photo.
photo by hello yarn
though i think most things would, no?
once pippa finds their mailbox,
clockwork will be off to its next destination.
rumor has it,
that adrienne martini stalked hello yarn to get it next,
but i have it on good authority that it’s headed to the southern hemisphere. just sayin’.
*tuesday/wednesday is my weekend, and normally, i’m happy to spend it in bed. but that’s a different blog entirely.
bon voyage!
January 13, 2011
well my bitches, when i get an idea in my head,
i tend to go after it full throttle. (thanks shara!)
so even before the comments came rolling in,
i got my clockwork packaged up and ready to go.
it’s off to massachusetts to visit a friend.
any guesses who it might be?
thanks to everyone who volunteered to help me out.
clearly, this blog has some amazing readers.
however, it’s no longer within my power.
she’s been cast to the winds of fate.
if and when (hopefully when) it returns home,
and it hasn’t yet reached my goal of all fifty states,
ten canadian provinces, and three of its territories,
i know i’ve got a mini army ready to keep it going.
an international one to boot!
my clockwork apparently has the chance to visit not only canada,
but israel and australia as well! and even though they’ve never commented, i happen to know that there’s at least one person in denmark who reads my blog.
(hej danmark!)
so my friends, the adventure has begun!
i only wish i could put myself in the mail and go with it.
fifty nifty
January 12, 2011
per usual, i’m writing from my favorite place in pittsburgh,
drinking coffee and waiting for some yummy kale.
(who ever thought i’d like kale?)
and as requested,
here is my model shot of the clockwork:
anyone else see it?
the thing that is slightly not me?
even after blocking, it’s still a bit short for me.
and maybe it’s a touch too . . . grellow? (sorry kim).
your comments were helpful, if a bit contradictory:
lee:
Personally, if you don’t like it now…you never will. Just part with it immediately is what I say. (Perhaps to your favorite quilter???) Give ya a quarter…
that’s what my gut says.
and i like your semi-selfish undertone.
quarter indeed.
but nancy said:
A really good principal I worked for told me to always wait 5 hours before sending a response to a negative parent email. I think the same advice could be adapted here. Wait 5 days. Lay it on your bed, on a chair and just let it soak in. Once it is gone, it is gone.
sound advice.
i put a lot of effort into it
and i should wait to be sure i don’t like it before i send it away.
but i think i found shara’s comment to be the most intriguing:
Send it on a trip around the world? Flat Stanley style….only more like “warm, traveling knitting” style.
this idea sounds amazing; i kinda love it.
i like the idea of my clockwork visiting, say,
all fifty states? and maybe all the canadian provinces?
(how many are there again? isn’t there a new one now?)
i think that’s what i’m going to do;
send it to someone in another state who will then pass it on,
helping it to see america, and gain some experience points.
that way, i’m giving myself plenty of time to think it over,
and even though other people get to “have” it for a bit,
it’s still mine!
it’s putting a lot of faith in the knitting community, i know
but i trust ya, bitches!
what do we think?
p.s. here are some outtakes of me trying to do a stephen west style shot of the clockwork. i need longer arms!
i think tyra would be proud.
can’t win them all
January 11, 2011
but i’d like to win one every now and then.
i finished my never-ending sleeve and it’s quite lovely.
to reward myself, i decided to finish my clockwork today.
in a classic harlot-esk snowy bush photo.
i love this yarn and this pattern.
i was beyond excited to cast off and try it on.
finally! i would have a stephen west stripy neck accessory,
something i’ve desired for so long now.
the thing is . . .
i don’t like it.
not on me anyway.
something just isn’t right.
right yarn, right colors, right pattern
apparently ≠ the perfect neck accessory for me.
i can’t tell what it is exactly,
other than it being a touch smaller than i would like.
there is just . . . . . . . something wrong!
i’m blocking it now, hoping the magic of water will change my mind.
otherwise, i guess i’m giving it away.
what do you think?
what should i do?
on the eve of my new york adventure
December 15, 2010
it occurred to me that i haven’t done an actual knitting post in a while.
i feel like i haven’t been as prolific as i was over the summer,
but i think i really burned out on the rhinebeck sweater.
so this is what’s been going on;
for the longest time, i’ve wanted a stephen west stripy neck accessory.
i specifically bought some yarn in rhinebeck for one,
but i couldn’t choose which i most needed in my life.
i finally decided on clockwork and i am in love with it.
the rows have gotten epicly long so i doubt it will be done for nyc.
oh well.
tina’s juneberry triangle is still on the needles,
mostly because i misplaced the pattern for a time.
i had apparently decided it belonged with all of my phd application paperwork. makes total sense.
i’ve turned the corner on the edging,
so i still have hope it’ll be done before 2011.
and of course, there’s the sample i’m knitting for blue moon.
anyone recognize what it is?
i was a little daunted when i saw which pattern i was supposed to knit.
i’ve never done a brioche stitch before,
and every other row is knit with laceweight.
that is some serious pressure.
but i’m a knitter. i can knit anything.
so after some practice, i got the body started.
yes that is the body of the sweater,
and before you say that i am in some crazy place of denial,
here are some important facts you need to consider.
this it the small size, with only 136 stitches cast on.
and it’s a brioche rib so it’s all sucked in.
when stretched, i’m getting gauge.
the fabric is slightly looser than i would normally like,
if i were knitting it for someone, i’d go down a needle size
and knit the next size up to have a denser material.
but i’m already working on 5’s.
there’s no freakin’ way i’m moving down to a 4.
it’s already taken a few days to get 5″ of sweater in.
still, sometimes when i look at it,
i get the fear.
feel free to jump in and validate me at any moment.
in other news, i’m may have something exciting to share in a couple days. hopefully. if things go well. if they don’t forget i ever said this.
in fact go ahead and forget i said anything.
i don’t want to jinx it.
obliviate!
an open letter to stephen west
October 26, 2010
dear stephen,
i love you.
not in that way since we obviously haven’t met,
but i love your designs, your aesthetic,
that carefree attitude that nearly
drips from your photographs.
the speed with which you churn out patterns is astonishing.
and there are several i’ve been meaning to start.
ask any of my coworkers of my struggle
to find the perfect colors for daybreak,
or my new crush on chadwick.
i’m also très grateful that i get to test knit for you.
even if i can’t show the world what i’ve been knitting,
it still makes me feel special.
that being said,
i have to ask one question about your new pattern,
the one you’ve named knothole.
don’t you think that it may be a tad . . . .
. . . vaginal?
i’m just saying.
sincerely yours,
steven
Bitches Get Stitches 