Any Minute Now
The nice men from the lawn place will be here any minute (hence my unusual state of being awake, upright, clean, and dressed at such an early hour). They came a week or so ago and killed off all the stuff that was destined to go away. Today they rip out the corpses, put in shiny new plants, and spray weird proto-grass paste (which we must dutifully water). They think they can do it all in one day. Should be fun. It will likely also be noisy, but I think it will be worth it. Of course the last time [...]
You See, What Happened Was
So, um, I accidentally sort of wrote another book. Well most of another book. I don't mean Book the Third. Book the Third is (or rather will be) a full on proper book. The big kind. The kind that takes a year to put together and involves enlisting the help of photographers and stylists and models and editors and print coordinators and distributors and yarn companies and librarians and likely a competent bartender towards the end there. This is more of a mini book. Something quite a bit heftier than an individual pattern, but not nearly the all-consuming undertaking of [...]
Today’s Lesson
You know how all the instructions in every knitting book ever strongly encourage you to block your swatches? Yeah. I'm here to remind you of the same thing. This time with a demonstration. You see, I'm working on a little cowl. It's a lovely fabric, open without being lacy, structured without being stiff. I'm rather taken with it. The yarn was new to me (Handmaiden's Silk Twist), so of course I swatched. And because I'm lazy and only want to knit it once, I blocked my swatch. It's a good thing I did, because the swatch grew by about 50% [...]
Why Knitters Have Kittens
It may, at first, seem an unlikely pairing. Kittens are not known for their restraint. They have been found to have an unholy love for yarn, which doesn't end well for either of the parties involved. They are often convinced that laps are meant for them, not for pesky bits of knitting. But they do have some advantages. If you come up the stairs and see this: You can be pretty sure there's some sort of flying critter somewhere up there. Kittens are excellent moth detection systems. Vigilant, diligent, and very very dedicated. The moth has now been snuffed out [...]
Gentlemen
As part of my ongoing efforts to increase knitting awareness in my community, I took the knitting on a little excursion Sunday evening. The Boy, the knitting (a new project, I'll show it to you later this week), and I went to one of our local musical establishments, The Beachland Ballroom. Sunday evening's performance was provided by The Two Man Gentlemen Band. I'd first heard about them on our local NPR station and was immediately smitten. When we learned they were playing here, we made plans to attend. It was an absolutely delightful show. Difficult to describe mind you, but [...]
After the Rip
The rip fest mentioned the other day has been accomplished and the yarn put to much better use. See? It's ever so much happier now. Of course there is the small issue of Rosamund's wrist being slimmer than mine (freaky man hands, that's me). When it's on me, it opens up a bit more and shows off the fancy stitch work. I've got the second one on the needles and should have it banged out with a few more hours of knitting. The yarn is Nichole by Schaefer in Dian Fossey. There's a lovely gray bit hidden in among all [...]
Chatter
Did you guys want to hear me natter on at length about Book the Second? I'll warn you, I talk fast. But if you're not put off by the speed of my prattle, there's a wee interview over on this week's Knit Pick's podcast. And, in totally unrelated news, I seem to have beaten InDesign into submission. I feel like I'm actually making progress. Of course there's still plenty to learn, but at least I feel like I'm getting the hang of it instead of simply flailing and swearing. There's hope for me yet.
Loser
I am currently engaged in an epic battle of wills. I am losing. This is somewhat disappointing, as my opponent is InDesign. InDesign, being a (more or less) inanimate object, should not be able to win out against me, a real live thinking breathing human being with more or less reasonable levels of clue and perseverance. And yet, I am still definitely losing this battle. You'll have to pardon my partial absence for a day or two while I decide whether to keep trying or to burn my whole house down to teach the computer who's boss. At this particular [...]
Rip-rippity-rip-rip-rip
Every now and then someone asks me how it is that all my knitting comes out so well. After I've stopped laughing, I assure them that it doesn't. Not really at all. An amazing percentage of my knitting comes out exceptionally badly. Probably a higher percentage than of your knitting. Every pattern that gets to the point where you see it has had lots and lots (and lots) of failed prototypes. So, just to reassure those of you who might be feeling that you're the only one whose knitting occasionally looks like a pile of limp spaghetti, allow me to [...]
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