Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
A-List
10 Things I Love About Yarn
1. Range of texture and size. I can't believe the talent in design and spinning out there, from Kureyon to Nashua solids to Araucania hand-dyed. The versatility of wool alone is enough to boggle the mind.
2. Heaters. I don't care what weight or project we're talking about, if I need something solid I want heaters before anything else because of the added depth and visual interest of minute color variation.
3. Sock yarn. Could there be anything cooler than a hand-knit pair of socks?
4. Renewability. Sheep can be raised humanely, fed organically, their fleece can be cleaned and then processed into yarn, and the sheep go right back to growing more hair. Try getting cotton to do that. And don't get me started on petroleum-based anything.
5. Infinite design capability. You imagine it, it can be done. No matter how cool or not cool, no matter what shapes, styles and colors are in vogue, there will always be yarn to knit and people coming up with new ways to knit it.
6. Stashing. I can buy it, hoarde it, buy more and forget what I've already purchased, and still come home to something fun and creatively inspiring. Heady retail therapy, that is.
7. It makes people want to communicate. Look at all of us, talking about a sheep (or other animal or plant) by-product with no end in sight. We're community-building, which I think is brilliant. For me, one of the most satisfying parts of knitting is having other people to share it with.
8. Sharing the love. I can knit up gifts for holidays and birthdays, or just because, and then I get to give it to whomever I intended. They may not "get it", but I know how much time and energy I put into whatever "it" is, which means a lot to me.
9. Yarn stores. The fumes alone are enough to make a person buy cashmere and then roll in it.
10. FO's. I am becoming much more interested in the process of knitting, or "the path", but I will always have a special place in my heart for a freshly sewn and/or blocked item. That feeling of accomplishment is really lovely.
PS I'm only 450 other knitters away from my Ravelry invite. Eek!
1. Range of texture and size. I can't believe the talent in design and spinning out there, from Kureyon to Nashua solids to Araucania hand-dyed. The versatility of wool alone is enough to boggle the mind.
2. Heaters. I don't care what weight or project we're talking about, if I need something solid I want heaters before anything else because of the added depth and visual interest of minute color variation.
3. Sock yarn. Could there be anything cooler than a hand-knit pair of socks?
4. Renewability. Sheep can be raised humanely, fed organically, their fleece can be cleaned and then processed into yarn, and the sheep go right back to growing more hair. Try getting cotton to do that. And don't get me started on petroleum-based anything.
5. Infinite design capability. You imagine it, it can be done. No matter how cool or not cool, no matter what shapes, styles and colors are in vogue, there will always be yarn to knit and people coming up with new ways to knit it.
6. Stashing. I can buy it, hoarde it, buy more and forget what I've already purchased, and still come home to something fun and creatively inspiring. Heady retail therapy, that is.
7. It makes people want to communicate. Look at all of us, talking about a sheep (or other animal or plant) by-product with no end in sight. We're community-building, which I think is brilliant. For me, one of the most satisfying parts of knitting is having other people to share it with.
8. Sharing the love. I can knit up gifts for holidays and birthdays, or just because, and then I get to give it to whomever I intended. They may not "get it", but I know how much time and energy I put into whatever "it" is, which means a lot to me.
9. Yarn stores. The fumes alone are enough to make a person buy cashmere and then roll in it.
10. FO's. I am becoming much more interested in the process of knitting, or "the path", but I will always have a special place in my heart for a freshly sewn and/or blocked item. That feeling of accomplishment is really lovely.
PS I'm only 450 other knitters away from my Ravelry invite. Eek!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Getting My Zen On
A Heavy Load
Two traveling monks reaced a town where there was a young woman waiting to step out of her sedan chair. The rains had made deep puddles and she couldn't step across without spoiling her silken robes. She stood there, looking very cross and impatient. She was scolding her attendants. They had nowhere to place the packages they held for her, so they couldn't help her across the puddle.
The younger monk noticed the woman, said nothing, and walked by. The older monk quickly picked her up and put her on his back, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other side. She didn't thank the older monk, she just shoved him out of the way and departed.
As they continued on their way, the young monk was brooding and preoccupied. After several hours, uable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "That woman back there was very selfish and rude, but you picked her up on your back and carried her! Then she didn't even thank you!"
"I set the woman down hours ago," the older monk replied. "Why are you still carrying her?"
- excerpted from Zen Shorts by Jon Muth
As I drove to work today, I was verbally assaulted by a non-knitter that obviously didn't realize the sock in my right hand was only being worked on at long red lights. I was furious, mostly because I had to go through that whole adrenaline reaction thing one does when threatened. I didn't think about it at all while I was at work for three hours, but as I headed back to my car I began to contemplate how to handle the incident. I went through a series of steps:
1. Totally flaming pissed. Who did he think he was!? Darn hypocrite probably drives intoxicated, talks on his cell phone and drives, or picks his nose and scratches his balls instead of paying attention to the road. He certainly didn't have the traffic in front of him on his mind while he was screaming at me. I'm gonna rip out this guy's innards and post them on my blog.
2. Reflective. Maybe this man just had a really shit day and lost control of his filters. Maybe he forgot his meds this morning. Regardless, he's a muggle with no clue that it takes two hands to knit, and I don't exactly have a spare 3rd to drive with.
3. Not my job. This one took me a while to get to. The excerpt from above finally came back to me from a book I've been reading the little guy. No matter what this guy's issue, it isn't up to me to react, fix it, or get revenge. I plain old don't have to carry his anger.
There's a reason why zen is a life-long learning process.
* * *
For a while band-aids were a favorite of the little guy. Remember the three musketeers and their yellow forehead decos? Well, we've run out of them and so Little J has moved on to my panyliners. He has no idea where they actually belong, since I virtually never use them. Which means to him that they belong above the eyebrows as well.
* * *
Today was a yarn spree at Twisted! Loot:
Tofutsies in "Foot in the Door" colorway.
Kureyon in #40 for a Lizard Ridge-like scarf for a gift.
More Kureyon (#182) for Lizard Ridge blanket.
More sock yarn. Strawberry Fields Forever indeed.
While I was shopping and winding, I chatted with Shannon about various other things they were thinking of carrying and sock yarns we both liked knitting up. She's spoken with Claudia of Wollmeise and has found out that there may not be any more wholesaling of that yarn. Boohoo! I led her to Fly Designs Lacewing and Monarch, which I'm hoping they'll consider carrying. It was a great afternoon.
Two traveling monks reaced a town where there was a young woman waiting to step out of her sedan chair. The rains had made deep puddles and she couldn't step across without spoiling her silken robes. She stood there, looking very cross and impatient. She was scolding her attendants. They had nowhere to place the packages they held for her, so they couldn't help her across the puddle.
The younger monk noticed the woman, said nothing, and walked by. The older monk quickly picked her up and put her on his back, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other side. She didn't thank the older monk, she just shoved him out of the way and departed.
As they continued on their way, the young monk was brooding and preoccupied. After several hours, uable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "That woman back there was very selfish and rude, but you picked her up on your back and carried her! Then she didn't even thank you!"
"I set the woman down hours ago," the older monk replied. "Why are you still carrying her?"
- excerpted from Zen Shorts by Jon Muth
As I drove to work today, I was verbally assaulted by a non-knitter that obviously didn't realize the sock in my right hand was only being worked on at long red lights. I was furious, mostly because I had to go through that whole adrenaline reaction thing one does when threatened. I didn't think about it at all while I was at work for three hours, but as I headed back to my car I began to contemplate how to handle the incident. I went through a series of steps:
1. Totally flaming pissed. Who did he think he was!? Darn hypocrite probably drives intoxicated, talks on his cell phone and drives, or picks his nose and scratches his balls instead of paying attention to the road. He certainly didn't have the traffic in front of him on his mind while he was screaming at me. I'm gonna rip out this guy's innards and post them on my blog.
2. Reflective. Maybe this man just had a really shit day and lost control of his filters. Maybe he forgot his meds this morning. Regardless, he's a muggle with no clue that it takes two hands to knit, and I don't exactly have a spare 3rd to drive with.
3. Not my job. This one took me a while to get to. The excerpt from above finally came back to me from a book I've been reading the little guy. No matter what this guy's issue, it isn't up to me to react, fix it, or get revenge. I plain old don't have to carry his anger.
There's a reason why zen is a life-long learning process.
* * *
For a while band-aids were a favorite of the little guy. Remember the three musketeers and their yellow forehead decos? Well, we've run out of them and so Little J has moved on to my panyliners. He has no idea where they actually belong, since I virtually never use them. Which means to him that they belong above the eyebrows as well.
* * *
Today was a yarn spree at Twisted! Loot:
Tofutsies in "Foot in the Door" colorway.
Kureyon in #40 for a Lizard Ridge-like scarf for a gift.
More Kureyon (#182) for Lizard Ridge blanket.
More sock yarn. Strawberry Fields Forever indeed.
While I was shopping and winding, I chatted with Shannon about various other things they were thinking of carrying and sock yarns we both liked knitting up. She's spoken with Claudia of Wollmeise and has found out that there may not be any more wholesaling of that yarn. Boohoo! I led her to Fly Designs Lacewing and Monarch, which I'm hoping they'll consider carrying. It was a great afternoon.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Number 100
The only reference to that title in this post will be this: Aspire To Knit has reached 100 posts. Amazing. I must be doing something right, because I still like it here.
I know this is sick, but I checked my Ravelry place-in-the-queue again, and now it's down to 1244. Oo, oo, oo. Sweet.
Knit night was really great tonight (yes, I know, but my husband said it was okay to go on our anniversary.) because there was a huge group, about half of which were new faces. We did a great little round of intros, so I finally got to learn a bunch of names. You don't get that when you're the only new face and everyone else knows each other. I also learned a bit about the shop and some of the folks that have been around since the beginning, and the more I know the better I feel about this little knitting community.
I also learned tonight that Blue Moon is going to have a booth at OFFF this year. I think that means I am required to go. As if elann.com weren't giving me enough budgetary problems already.
Today was also the day I learned what it means to be utterly bored with all the projects on needles. HIAH (say hee-ah) socks are driving me nuts because the yarn is not enjoyable to knit with. I started the second of a plain purple pair, made a few more rows on the laceweight Pie R Square shawl, tore out and redid the heel of the felted slippers. I think what I'd really like is to get a few more skeins of the new Kureyon colors from KB and work a few more Lizard Ridge squares. By now you're all as bored as I am.
Really, I should just nip off and get some sleep.
I know this is sick, but I checked my Ravelry place-in-the-queue again, and now it's down to 1244. Oo, oo, oo. Sweet.
Knit night was really great tonight (yes, I know, but my husband said it was okay to go on our anniversary.) because there was a huge group, about half of which were new faces. We did a great little round of intros, so I finally got to learn a bunch of names. You don't get that when you're the only new face and everyone else knows each other. I also learned a bit about the shop and some of the folks that have been around since the beginning, and the more I know the better I feel about this little knitting community.
I also learned tonight that Blue Moon is going to have a booth at OFFF this year. I think that means I am required to go. As if elann.com weren't giving me enough budgetary problems already.
Today was also the day I learned what it means to be utterly bored with all the projects on needles. HIAH (say hee-ah) socks are driving me nuts because the yarn is not enjoyable to knit with. I started the second of a plain purple pair, made a few more rows on the laceweight Pie R Square shawl, tore out and redid the heel of the felted slippers. I think what I'd really like is to get a few more skeins of the new Kureyon colors from KB and work a few more Lizard Ridge squares. By now you're all as bored as I am.
Really, I should just nip off and get some sleep.
This Is Me Totally Crapping Out On A Title
Because I can. (And often do. I have Title-block.)
Casting on has never been so much fun. I happened on Knit One, Felt Too when we were at the library for the first time in a few months. There it was, just sitting on the shelf instead of some other knitter's hot little hand. This book, which has been on my wishlist for...a long time...has a fab little pattern for knitted slippers. The whole thing knits up like a huge, stripy sock, heel flap and all. I'm even going to do paired decreases and kitchener the toe.
I checked my place in the Ravelry queue - only 1300 to go!!!! That's down from about 4K when I first signed up. I'm getting very excited to see what all the fuss is about.
I discovered elann.com last night because one of the Knitsmiths posted about a pattern she was going to do for her baby girl. Eeek! First off, I'm going to do the Pinwheel sweater for myself. And if you scroll through their yarn you'll find they have a Denim yarn like Rowan's, but at half the cost. I could go on and on, but...I'm just curious, was I the only one who didn't know about that site?
I wonder if there's a place for yarn addicts to get rehab.
BTW, happy 3rd anniversary, honey!!!
Casting on has never been so much fun. I happened on Knit One, Felt Too when we were at the library for the first time in a few months. There it was, just sitting on the shelf instead of some other knitter's hot little hand. This book, which has been on my wishlist for...a long time...has a fab little pattern for knitted slippers. The whole thing knits up like a huge, stripy sock, heel flap and all. I'm even going to do paired decreases and kitchener the toe.
I checked my place in the Ravelry queue - only 1300 to go!!!! That's down from about 4K when I first signed up. I'm getting very excited to see what all the fuss is about.
I discovered elann.com last night because one of the Knitsmiths posted about a pattern she was going to do for her baby girl. Eeek! First off, I'm going to do the Pinwheel sweater for myself. And if you scroll through their yarn you'll find they have a Denim yarn like Rowan's, but at half the cost. I could go on and on, but...I'm just curious, was I the only one who didn't know about that site?
I wonder if there's a place for yarn addicts to get rehab.
BTW, happy 3rd anniversary, honey!!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
PDX LYS Map!!!
Bit By Bit
Somewhere in the dim recesses of memory is the day I learned to knit. There are impressions of scratchy wool, some of it deep ruby red and some of it dark emerald green. I can remember sitting in our dark garage because it was cool there, and looking over at my younger brother's scarf. I was shocked at finding it much longer than mine. At first I was annoyed, but as he progressed I began to inwardly cheer him on because I was excited to see how his scarf turned out. I'm not sure what happened to our projects, though I know I never finished mine.
In all the time since that day about twenty-some-odd years ago it hadn't occurred to me until I was stuck at home pregnant and had nothing else to do that knitting could be productive. The idea that it could be fun didn't occur to me until still more recently. As I blog, and try new patterns, and attempt new techniques, I find more and more to be excited about.
Why the navel-gazing?
Yesterday, in order to make Lizard Ridge an easier pattern, I taught myself to knit backwards. I just reasoned it out, and viola, I didn't have to bother with the linked tutorial from the pattern page.
Today, it finally occurred to me that I have 2.25 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2.75 mm needles. Why not have projects on them all at the same time instead of finishing one sock at a time?
In the process of learning to knit (english), then learning to knit another way (continental), and then another (backwards!), I've reinforced my own supposition that knitting is really a skill we aspire to and acquire knowledge about over time. If we organized knitting into a series of classes and called it a Knitting Degree (BA or BS?), it could take lifetimes to attain a mastery of the craft. Some of us do it casually, and some of us do it professionally, but all of us share in a craft with a beautifully rich history and a huge knowledge base.
That first blanket I made for Little J while he was still a tadpole (bless it's little acrylic soul) was all about getting a job done. As my desire to just knit, as opposed to finish something, has grown, so has my stash and my yearning for good fiber. Now I find I stockpile good sock yarn as if I were knitting for the Fourth Infantry Division. Can you imagine some stout soldier wearing turquoise, rose and brown self-striping socks? At the same time, I don't care how many socks are on needles along with shawls, sweaters, hats and blankets in progress, as long as I can knit a few rows on one of them each day.
This is my little ode to my own growth as a knitter. I'm still aspiring, but that has grown too. Who knows, maybe I'll test drive a spinning wheel before the snow flies, or order some undyed Louet and give hand-painting a try. I do know that for as long as I'm having fun and learing something new, you'll be hearing about it.
In all the time since that day about twenty-some-odd years ago it hadn't occurred to me until I was stuck at home pregnant and had nothing else to do that knitting could be productive. The idea that it could be fun didn't occur to me until still more recently. As I blog, and try new patterns, and attempt new techniques, I find more and more to be excited about.
Why the navel-gazing?
Yesterday, in order to make Lizard Ridge an easier pattern, I taught myself to knit backwards. I just reasoned it out, and viola, I didn't have to bother with the linked tutorial from the pattern page.
Today, it finally occurred to me that I have 2.25 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2.75 mm needles. Why not have projects on them all at the same time instead of finishing one sock at a time?
In the process of learning to knit (english), then learning to knit another way (continental), and then another (backwards!), I've reinforced my own supposition that knitting is really a skill we aspire to and acquire knowledge about over time. If we organized knitting into a series of classes and called it a Knitting Degree (BA or BS?), it could take lifetimes to attain a mastery of the craft. Some of us do it casually, and some of us do it professionally, but all of us share in a craft with a beautifully rich history and a huge knowledge base.
That first blanket I made for Little J while he was still a tadpole (bless it's little acrylic soul) was all about getting a job done. As my desire to just knit, as opposed to finish something, has grown, so has my stash and my yearning for good fiber. Now I find I stockpile good sock yarn as if I were knitting for the Fourth Infantry Division. Can you imagine some stout soldier wearing turquoise, rose and brown self-striping socks? At the same time, I don't care how many socks are on needles along with shawls, sweaters, hats and blankets in progress, as long as I can knit a few rows on one of them each day.
This is my little ode to my own growth as a knitter. I'm still aspiring, but that has grown too. Who knows, maybe I'll test drive a spinning wheel before the snow flies, or order some undyed Louet and give hand-painting a try. I do know that for as long as I'm having fun and learing something new, you'll be hearing about it.
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