Skrilla Knits

Moving!

2007-11-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hi--I'm making the switch to Wordpress! You can visit me here and update any bookmarks you might have. I'm working on setting up some sort of automatic re-direct, but I'm not sure that's possible with a free blog.

Have a great Thanksgiving and see you over at Wordpress!

CR

In theory...

2007-11-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

After I emerged from my paper on language theory, I took a class at Webs on color theory. I'm sorry to say it was pretty elementary stuff. Building a color wheel, learning some basic terms (primary, secondary--didn't get to tertiary--, tint, hue, shade). I would have liked a little more practice designing unique palettes or analyzing color use in Fair Isle. The instructor touched on the Bezold Effect and simultaneous contrast, which are both kinds of optical illusions that occur when specific colors are placed beside each other...this was the sort of thing I wanted to explore, but oh well. Coolest lesson: use hexagonal bits of cardstock to make little interlocking swatches that are easy to rearrange:

I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and pick up a little something something, but Dena and I couldn't find the non-floor model. Sigh. Probably for the best, I think I might prefer a Kromski Sonata for its foldability. I got a Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning book, the new Interweave and some hot pink tweed, Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in Treasure.

The wheel urge is just worse and worse, I've been practicing on the drop spindle and have realized that a lot of my favorite yarns have a slubby, handspun quality (Terra by the Fibre Company, Noro Cash Iroha, Tahki Donegal Tweed, Kureyon...). After reading that Gandhi was a big proponent, I was kind of sold. There are a lot of amazing quotes here under Charkha.

I have some random deliciousness to show you. When I bake bread I usually use a recipe from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (do click, you get the whole recipe!) that calls for a 'mix' which is a potion comprised of melted butter, honey and activated yeast. This was a souped up mix, an attempt to imitate a Ploughman's Loaf from Northampton's Woodstar Cafe.

It contains Kate's salted butter, chunks of English cheddar, caramelized onion, and some Coleman's mustard powder, sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. It was tasty but the heat in the apartment wasn't on (I didn't notice, I was bundled up) and the poor bread barely rose. I'll try it again, probably with some Cotswold. I am OBSESSED with Cotswold these days. I almost choked on a piece when it was mentioned in this week's episode of 'ER', #298 Coming Home.

Okay, that's it for now. Next post will be yarn heavy, I have some new lovelies to show off (see my Flickr page if you're curious), and I hope to have this plied up and knittable:

I am knitting by the way, but I don't want to reveal anything before the contest ends! I have made two dog sweaters for my friend Shara's pomapoo, I'm hoping for photos soon!

CR

Undoing, thy name is:

2007-11-14T23:31:00.001-08:00

And it had to arrive the week I have a major, must get an A paper in which I have to "engage" readings from the following big guns: Antonio Gramsci, Kenneth Burke, J.L. Austin, Jurgen Habermas, Erving Goffman, Raymond Willimas and John Searle. No biggie, right? Ain't nothing but a 20th century language theorist's paaaaaaartaaaay...all I have to say is, where my ladies at?

Speaking of modeling, I did some hand modeling last week, for Edie Eckman's next book. I kind of have man-hands, so I found this amusing. They aren't going to get any prettier if I keep beating up on them with this crazy game. Eric has already requested a knitted wristband for padding! Oof. I can't help the addiction, they're the songs of my youth--from the 80s (Guns and Roses, Foghat, Dead Kennedy's) to the mid 90s (Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine)...I'm such a Nintendo sucker, and I'm already coveting a DS Lite with the brain-builder vocabulary/memory/hand-eye coordination improving games! Wow. I'm a geek.

CR

NoSoNaFiSweMo

2007-11-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

So you've heard of NaNoWriMo and it's knit twin NaNoSweMo. Meet NoSoNaFiSweMo.

It's my very own Not-So-National Finish a Sweater Month...contest!

You see, the cold has finally arrived. My closet is pretty slim in the sweater department. The ones I wear the most are Salvation Army rescues. I've stupidly felted a few sweaters recently. My go-to black cardigan is full of holes.

L.L. Bean is offering free shipping at the moment so I went over to score some wool cardigans. I was happily creating a cart (tempting items: a red plaid coat a la Little Pete from "Pete and Pete," a union suit and red plaid duct tape). Then it hit me--I have one kojillion unfinished sweaters all over the apartment. Well, I'm rounding up, but let's take a head count of all the sweaters I have just...stopped mentioning (lots of Ravelry links, sorry):

1. Tilted Duster

2. Blood Orange Cardigan

3. Enid Cardigan

4. Hudson Hoodie

5. Treeline Cardigan

6. Thermal

7. Forecast

8. Spray/T-Storms

SO--I've decided to finish these. In November. Pretty sure I can't do all of them, but I'm going to see how many I can pull off. Here is the contest: guess how many sweaters (and which ones) I'll finish by December 1st! There will be a blog runway show to show off the finished objects.

The info about these sweaters is on the blog, on Ravelry and on some knit-along pages. Some of it isn't up to date and starting now, I will not edit or update ANYTHING related to these sweaters until December 1st. No new info!! This month is a busy one for me but there is Thanksgiving break and residual energy from all the caffeine I'll be chugging to get through the schoolwork. You can ask me ONE question in the comments before making your guess.

Winners will receive a custom prize package, most likely a combination of some stash items, books or Lexie Barnes bags I'd like to pass along and new items purchased especially for the winner. If no one guesses exactly correctly, I will choose randomly from whoever guessed the correct NUMBER of sweaters. Unclear? Please ask away.

The gauntlet has been thrown down!

CR

P.S. My statcounter tells me that I had a random jump in readership on Monday...but I can't figure out why. The Visitor Paths are only reported for the most recent 100 visitors. Does anyone know who linked to me?

Post monster!

2007-11-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know what has gotten into me, posting three times in one week. Maybe I'm inspired by the NaBloPoMo participants? Or maybe it's that there are some exciting things happening. First one: Lexie is looking for ladies (actually, I'm sure dudes are welcome too, I just like alliteration!). She really means it when she says "All ages, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes are encouraged to submit an entry," this is the woman who lets/loves for me come to photo shoots with chipped black nail polish and whatever Van's slip-ons I'm wearing that day. You can probably tell from her bags but Lexie's aesthetic is one of kind, and now you can be a part of it!

When I mentioned Norah Gaughan's exclusive to Webs (for the next two weeks at least) Lotus Cardigan, I did NOT give it it's due. Here is a better picture (still pretty bad though, photographing catalog paper is difficult and I struggle with digital photography in general):

It was knit by Andra Asars, a woman I'm proud to call my adopted yarn mentor. She is brilliant at what she does, including whipping out perfect, custom-sized garments like this one in about two weeks. Here is us at Stitches watching the Red Sox, fanciest fans ever! We look like a demure Betty and Veronica, no?

A sample garment of hers went missing at Stitches...if anyone has a friend who "whips up" a size 42" red Chantal in a record amount of time...please let me know. It is sad to lose garments this way, and it happens way more than it should. You'd think fellow knitters would understand how many hours go into sample garments.

CR

P.S. If you're watching the Office and you squeal at the amazingness of the Finer Things Club and your boyfriend immediately suggests "You should make a Ravelry group for it!" you MIGHT be addicted to Ravelry.

Grey area.

2007-11-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned Fashion Plates in my last post and I've had a few questions about long sleeves on the Gallery Jacket. It was absolutely meant to be long-sleeved! I was basically trying to recreate a favorite sweater (seen here in all it's ribby wrappy glory) and ran out of time. Luckily, the time constraint forced me to cut corners (in a good way, IMHO) by picking up stitches around the armsyce and knitting down until they yelled "CUT! Put it on. Look pretty!" I plan to make mine long-sleeved and it will be easy for all of you to do so--just keep knitting! It might make sense to work some decrease rows past the elbow. I'll cast on for my version soon and share those numbers with you (and Webs, so they can put it on the pattern) soon.

About "re-interpreting" sweaters...a Ravelry thread about design/pattern theft got pretty heated recently. It's always an interesting discussion and I've even taught a colloquium about the contested nature of originality. We explored the possibility that it might not be possible anymore, and looked at it from a number of angles (planned communities like Celebration, FL, media mash-ups, iconography and semiotics, mimicry and homage, etc.). You can read my thoughts on this here. For non-Ravelers, I will just say that letting go of a fetishized notion of "originality" was the first step I had to take before engaging design and setting my creative output loose into the world.

The store-bought sweater uses a different rib pattern and of course, a different sleeve. Mine is practically seamless, which the store version isn't. It also incorporates some clunky, very visible decreases that I nixed. I would never claim to have dreamed up this sweater out of thin air--it's more like a jazz standard. Fun fact about me--I used to work at the Acton Jazz Cafe and have heard approximately 312 versions of "Stella by Starlight." Ooh, another--I still don't know the words! My mother used to sing professionally and my father is a jazz drummer but I am notoriously bad at learning lyrics.

The STR Sock Club accepts enrollments today. Hate to say, it was easy to resist signing up. I've signed up for two, yes TWO seasons of the Sundara Season's club and I have billion skeins of STR in my stash anyway. Working as a Stitches vendor is it's own little sock club...you get to shop the amazing booth before the attendees! Heck, Deb and Kaci will tell you that I shop the booth while they're UNPACKING. Yes, I am annoying. I can't help it, look at this!!

Anyhow, I'm saving my BMFA $$ for the Raven series. I'm oh-so-curious to see the BMFA non-brights, and Kaci tells me that the patterns are fantastic.

It's deliciously grey today. Does anyone else love these damp, foggy fall days? They get no love!

CR

P.S. Whoa. I just searched my blog to see if I've mentioned the colloquium before. I have--look at the title. SEE-nothing is original!

OMG, ya'll!

2007-10-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

The first Gallery Jacket! Is it vain if I say that I think it's freaking adorable? Julie is right, you can style it a million ways...it was difficult to pick one way to show it in the catalog to be honest.

I haven't been the best blogger lately...I've been consumed with school stuff but somehow, after chatting with Lisa Shroyer at Stitches East, I thought it'd be a good idea to submit a few designs to Knitscene. I was all flattered and big headed for a few minutes but then I saw that it was more of an open call...heh...oh well, it was wicked fun to play designer for a week, it was just like playing with Fashion Plates! I suck at sketching so I did a little collage work. I'm in love with some of the swatches, here is a peek:

Speaking of secret designs, I can reveal the secret from an old post. Norah Gaughan designed a pattern, Lotus that was knit to fit my exact measurements (acoustic guitar-like: long neck, long torso, flared bottom/hip region, also monkey arms)! It was knit in Jasper, velvety soft Jasper in a deep wine red colorway that had stripes of charcoal of beige. I love it!!

What else...I'm knitting some simple winter accessories, the cold has finally arrived and they're very much needed, I play the same game the Harlot mentions here. The most exciting is the shawl I've started with Jenna's handspun:

I'm calling this the Girl Power shawl because Spunky Eclectic dyed the fiber, Jenna spun the yarn and I'm knitting it up, using a Spunky Eclectic pattern. The cirrrrrrrcle of yaarrrrn...

Poor Jenna was at my house for the final Red Sox World Series game...she is a Yankees fan and...we...may have bickered. The lovable underdog days are officially over, so I was kind of at a disadvantage, but I refuse to believe that Yankee fans outnumber the citizenry of Red Sox nation, which is much larger than just Massachusetts! Jenna ate some of my overcooked and bitter broccoli rabe and I felt slightly vindicated.

This song is currently stuck in my head and I don't mind at all...

CR

I suppose I should blog...

2007-10-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yeesh, October is crazy! I have let a backlog of events, purchases, etc. pile up and now I'm a little overwhelmed by it all. Here are a few highlights from Rhinebeck, I'll tackle Stitches East in the next post. Sorry for the links to pictures, I sized them incorrectly and they looked really bad here. I'll figure it out =/

This was my first visit, and it was lovely! Jenna and I used the buddy system and had an excellent, relaxing time. Maybe we were a little antisocial, we skipped meet-ups, the Ravelry party and Blogger Bingo but we're both having insane semesters, we're running on empty.

We feasted on the famous artichokes, as well as apple pie a la mode, milkshakes, and many tiny bits of cheese. Jenna's old BF Max showed us around Rhinebeck and we caught a snippet of the Darjeeling Limited from the projection room at his family's theater, Upstate Films. Met Jessica, that was awesome. I love meeting bloggers I've read for a number of years, it's really bizarre--we were both like, "haven't we already met?"

Minor purchases were made (Jenna was hyper-restrained/disciplined!). I picked up only one skein of yarn, tie-dyed angora from...I'm not sure where. I think it's the same booth and same yarn that Jenna and Huelo purchased from at Cummington Sheep and Wool in May, Acker Acres Angoras? I asked the woman what it looked like knit up and she said "I dunno, I just dyed it and haven't knit it!" I'm thinking it might end up looking like the sky in my favorite Van Gogh.

Some insane roving that looks like intestines from Foxhill Farm Fibers and Sheep. I'm regretting not picking up a bag that was really beachy, as well as two tiny ones that were yellow and bubble gum pink. I also grabbed some very cool wool fabric--tweeds and herringbones in amazing colors. It's actually pretty hard to find small amounts of soft wool in interesting colors, so I was excited to learn where they're hiding (rug hookers hoard them!). I'm hoping to try a Denyse Schmidt style scarf.

I'm starting to feel the pull for a spinning wheel! It's a big purchase but I've been really good this year. It might seem like I spend a lot on yarn, bags and shoes (and I do) but I'm really good at budgeting everything else. Clothing, food, books etc. are all done on the cheap. I really like this blogger's thoughtful approach to buying/shopping for a wheel. I have some offers to try some different wheels. The smaller/more compact the better so I'm thinking castle or folding. I know double treadle is supposed to be easier but I have an ankle problem that makes it hard to do things evenly with both feet...I might be better off with a single treadle. Aesthetically I'm drawn to the Kromski Sonata and Minstrel, the Ashford Kiwi, the Louet S75 and the adorable Schacht Ladybug.

One of the shopping considerations is what sort of yarn you'd like to spin. I love Jacey's yarn and I lust after Spincycle Yarns. What has really sent me over the edge is all the handspun garter stitch stuff that Adrian and Jared are churning out. Remember the Spunky Eclectic roving I bought at Cummington? Well, Jenna spun it up for me on her Louet S75:

It came out BEAUTIFULLY, and it's highly inspiring. It's South African Fine from Spunky Eclectic, colorway Rocky Mountain High. I originally thought I'd make a hat and mittens (Jenna reserved some of the roving so I could thrum with it) but it's so pretty I might do a really simple shawl instead, a Spunky pattern in fact! Full circle, nice.

More later,

CR

Venti!

2007-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

The other day I finally had a tattoo touched up that I'd been meaning to fix for...oh...12 years now. Yes, that means I was 13 when I got this tattoo, my first. I was living in Germany and went with my mother to get it (long, sordid story). This is really the only picture I could find, it's a tiny lavender rose (barely visible):

Anyhow, it's better now! I love the three yellow pistils...stamen? Plant sex organs. I pretty much let the artist do his thing. It's slightly more open now (appropriate, I'm older, more in bloom) and has more thorns (also appropriate!). I asked for what I thought was an impossible color (light burgundy) but he pulled it off very well and updated the green, which was a very dated shade of jade. I was very impressed with the work (Timmy at Holeshot in Amherst).

In case you think I haven't been knitting...you're wrong. I'm still ignoring my Blood Orange cardigan (the yarn really resembles the flesh of a deliciously strange blood orange) but I've been churning out small projects here and there. I have three baby sweaters on the needles and a half finished Tilted Duster (all it needs is the skirt, a collar and buttons). BTW, Norah Gaughan is about to unveil a pretty bitchin' FO/WIP, keep your eyes peeled!

The color isn't anywhere online (a seller on eBay calls it "Abusar" but that isn't it's given name) and it reminds me of the main color of Reynolds Whiskey in Enid...my poor, ignored Enid. Maybe I can take that to Baltimore and finish the yoke in my hotel room? Working at Stitches always gives me a knit fit (like a nic fit...). It's puckering ever so slightly, some of the floats span 5+ stitches so I've been 'catching' them as I go in using directions from Montse Stanley's Handbook. I think it will block flat.

I finished Foliage, my first top-down hat. I'm blocking it on a dinner plate so it'll be more snood-ish. I love snoods! I double stranded Malabrigo Worsted in Bobby Blue. It reminds me of a vintage bathing cap and was a fun knit. I used twisted ribbing and bound-off purlwise, other than that no mods. Clearer pictures at Ravelry.

I made a few adorable and goofy coffee cardigans. These are wicked fun and I actually have been using it, it makes baristas smile. This is knit with Valley Yarns Superwash (LOVE how it looks knit at this tight gauge) and features three corozo nut buttons from the Creative Needle in Amherst, which happens to be owned by the mother-in-law of a professor in my department. I love corozo nut buttons almost as much as I love shell buttons. And Moving Mud buttons. And horn buttons. And...oh, I'm a button whore, are you surprised??

I just purchased a kit to make this Greek Deli version by Jennifer Reichert, it's hysterical! This embroidered grocery purse of hers is 2 parts hysterical, 8 parts amazing.

Brain food, mmmm....I don't eat much fruit but I loves my vegetables (this site makes me drool). I have many ways of preparing them so that they taste very, very decadent. This was today's lunch, an old favorite (recipe here):

My next treat is butternut squash roasted with maple syrup and cracked peppercorn (something about the hot/sweet combination is very soothing). I do a mashed cauliflower with cream and asiago that would make you disown potatoes forever.

Meet Irma the Owl, a friend who is staring sternly down from her perch. I met her at Starbucks where she was deeply discounted and deeply adorable. She looks like an Irma, and when I looked up that name I learned that it is an Old High German/Hoch Deutsch word for...word! Perfect patron (stuffed) saint for a communication scholar, no?

Speaking of that. I have a 12-page paper to write. Probably why I suddenly felt the urge to blog. I'm going to try to link the practice of blogging to early 20th-century language theories (using some key works from Saussure, Nietzsche, Boas, Sapir, Malinowski, Jakobson, and Bakhtin...among others).

WUNSCH MIR GLUCK, BITTE!

P.S. FYI, funniest Fug I've seen in awhile.

UGH.

2007-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

FIRST of all, thank you so much for the lovely comments on the Gallery Jacket! Sheffield has arrived and it is quite beautiful. I can't wait to see how the pattern works out for people. The garment has been cat-nap tested and approved:

Unfortunately my next sweater project wasn't as successful. In fact, I have a sweater disaster on my hands. The squeamish should avert their eyes, and maybe not read any further.

This is my Minimalist Cardigan, knit with the ridiculously hard to photograph Terra in Madder. This sweater should have been done weeks ago. I loved knitting the easy pieces, I didn't even mind the moss stitch since I knit Continental. After all that twisted ribbing for the Gallery Jacket, allover moss stitch was like a vacation! I'd heard that moss stitch is a pain to seam so I'd decided to back stitch a lot of them. It's bulky, yes, but it's quick and I just wanted to wear this thing. I made a small mistake sewing the sleeve in and while I was undoing my seams I...may have used scissors. I know, I know, I should have slowly unpicked it but come on! I was already rushing...and drinking...and tired.

Can you guess what happens next? I snipped my knitting. And this isn't yarn you would want to steek. It is partially alpaca, partially silk, very slippery. I tried to patch my holes and build them up with crochet. This worked reasonably well and stayed the slippage, but as expected it had a much different texture than the knitting--thick, inflexible and of course, right up front. I started to seam this but it was sort of hopeless. There is no way to make it look neat at this point. I'm all out of yarn. The only solution I can think of is to remove the sleeves, rip out the sleeve caps and some of the sleeve and then re-knit the caps with whatever yarn is available.

To be honest, this wouldn't be terrible. A lot of the finished sweaters have sleeves that are the same length as the body--it yields a sort of boxy, square shape. Shortening the sleeves would circumvent that, right? Right? I MEANT to do that...yeah...that's the ticket...

Congrats to Melissa who expertly, patiently, soberly finished a Minimalist Cardigan last weekend. We were both in our element knitting at a brewfest in Greenfield [thanks again for the excellent pictures, Melissa!]:

Speaking of old SNL, I recently "discovered" the music of Loudon Wainwright watching the Season 1 DVDs. This isn't from SNL, but it's a pretty excellent song. Enjoy!

CR

Gallery Jacket!

2007-09-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

Phew, I can post a finished object! The new Valley Yarns catalog is in the store which means it's also making its way to everyone on the mailing list. In it you'll find the sweater I mentioned in my (woefully pictureless) last post. This is something I designed and knit for Valley Yarns Sheffield, a gorgeous new yarn with amazing colors that feel new for Valley Yarns--deep teal, espresso brown, etc. This is the Gallery Jacket, named for Arts Night Out, a Northampton institution that I have sadly never participated in (Mexifest ladies, maybe on the 14th?)

Tell me, what is wrong with this picture? Why should you never trust the "I'm just fixing my hair pose"?

Because the great Maggie Righetti says you shouldn't, in Chapter 1 of "Knitting In Plain English" titled: You Can Always Tell What's Wrong With a Garment By The Way a Model is Posed, or Slender Five-Foot-Ten Inch Models Look Good in Anything. See for yourself!

The "problem" in this case is the sleeve. I intended this to be a long sleeved sweater (full-disclosure, I was trying to recreate this sweater, purchased at a Marshall's, no discernible designer) with a modified drop shoulder. I couldn't knit the twisted ribbing fast enough and was on a somewhat scary deadline for a relatively slow knitter. The twisted ribbing takes FOREVER, but I really think it was worth it in the end.

Back to the point, I decided to pick up stitches and knit down in the round, so that no matter where I was when I ran out of time, I'd a least have a sleeve! I got about 2.5 inches done on both and tried the thing on. Somehow I forgot that the beauty of a drop shoulder is that it forms the top of your sleeve! It looked just fine with the stubby sleeves, in fact, many people thought it would've lost cuteness had I continued knitting.

The Sheffield is quite warm so it was actually nice to have a mostly bare arm. I've tweaked the pattern and incorporated some decreases to take care of the pooching (technical term?) that occurs under the arm in these pictures. I think that would've been weighted down with a longer sleeve, but here it's a bit obvious. A short row cap sleeve would've been nice, but I still have my training wheels on when it comes to designing!

One last note--this was modeled WET--I blocked it about 10 hours after I finished it and in a humid July, the water barely budged. When the sweater dried it looked a lot less saggy under the arm area, I promise. It'll be in the store and again, the pattern was revised after knitting. I'll have to test knit a second version when more Sheffield arrives because I really want one of these in my wardrobe.

CR

P.S. The shawl pin in the catalog pictures and the design inspiration picture is the same, made by Moving Mud. I think I might purposely design sweaters that require these, they're beautiful!

P.P.S. More credits, the most important: these pictures are the product of Penny and David Michalak, a local couple who between them have too many design related talents to list!

Tap tap...

2007-09-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

Is this thing on?

I disappeared! And I didn't even know it but the last post I made (on August 13th) was my 100th post, at least at this blog address. Cool.

I've been busy with moving and grad school has started up again so I've been consumed with those two things. I've been having almost constant agita since moving--the yarn is just out of control and there is very little closet space so while it's a much bigger apartment than the last, the yarn has nowhere to GO. I've had to invest in a set of vacuum space bags. I thought about posting pictures, but the hard squished bricks of yarn are too sad, I could almost be accused of yarn abuse!

If there is anything that makes me feel like I have too much yarn it's calculating the amount I spend on STORAGE for the yarn. I could knit a cashmere afghan with what I've spent on plastic storage bins, no joke. And those vacuum bags aren't cheap either. I read on Ravelry that you shouldn't actually vacuum out the air because it could permanently compress the fibers.

Anyhow, I am knitting and hope to be able to post a picture of my Minimalist cardigan soon which I am close to finishing. It's looking like it will be an adorable wearable sweater and I already have two orders for them. I don't think I'll mind because it's such a straightforward pattern, really quick and easy knitting. I'll probably be knitting a second for myself as well!

My modeling has been truly exciting recently--in the next Webs catalog you'll see me modeling a garment I designed and knit in what I think is the nicest Valley Yarn yet, Sheffield, a merino/silk/angora blend. I'm actually pretty pleased with this sweater and hope it finds some fans. It was really fun to work on the entire page of the catalog, from the copy to the garment to the modeling it was all DIY!

The next job on deck is seriously fantastic but top secret for now! All I'll say is that I had to give my measurements to a very cool lady today...

I'll be back with pictures!

CR

Double sock fame!!

2007-08-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

My socks arrived! Green lace, just like the socks I knit for my pal!

My pal? Perhaps you've heard of her:

Yes, THE Alison Hansel, author of Charmed Knits, founder of Sockapalooza, all around excellent Boston blogger! I'm almost flustered by these socks, probably the way Grumperina's Sock Pal from Socka-pa-2za felt (she was the recipient of the original Jaywalker socks!)

They fit perfectly and I love the pattern (Embossed Leaves) so, so much! I'm one of those unimaginative types who firmly believes that leaf patterns should only be knit in leaf colors (granted, this does leave a lot of options). One of my jobs as marketing assistant at Webs was to organize the Charmed Knits book signing and book Alison on the podcast. She did a great job of keeping the secret, I had no idea!!

On Saturday I was heading out the door to attend a party for a friend who had successfully defended her Master's thesis (on Maxim magazine). I realized that I didn't have a bar appropriate project. I fully realize how ridiculous this might sound, even to knitters, but please remember that I commute mostly by bus, which takes forever. And what's better than a little drunken knitting, even if you have to rip it out the next day?

I threw a few balls of Kidsilk Haze into my new Monkey bag so I could cast on for the Earth Stripe Wrap, the cover design on Rowan 42. I fell in love with this when I saw it in a promotional poster at TKGA which MAY be hanging in my room, violating my post-college anti-poster sentiments. I'd assumed it was knit in Kidsilk Aura because I couldn't readily identify the colors. I soon learned that Kaffe has paired 14 shades of Kidsilk Haze in different combinations to create entirely new, entirely gorgeous colors. Apparently, all of my favorites--rooting through my stash I realized that I already had a single ball of almost every color he calls for. Single balls that I acquired on random road trips, before Webs was carrying KSH, simply because they were nice to look at.

I'm about 6 stripes in and it's a glorious, easy project. I love stockinette stitch, which makes me a knitting simpleton. Oh well. I've added 6 stitches so I can keep the first and last 3 in garter stitch. I realize that the rolled edges are probably a carefully considered design element but I
abhor rolling edges.

While I'm on the subject of Rowan, Jen had a few apt appraisals of the new issue. We both love when the designers re-knit the items--I find that without the extreme styling and ethereal sets you get a much better sense of the garment's practicality (as well as it's suitability for different bodies). They did this last fall and showed the same sweater on women from different age groups, it was brilliant. I was tickled to see the focus of this re-knit feature: the same tenets of color analysis I've been jabbering about! I created a Flickr set with excerpts from Carole Jackson's book Color Me Beautiful, as well as a few pictures of the Rowan design team in their season appropriate knitwear. Inspiring, no?

CR

Sock FAME!

2007-08-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: They arrived! My pal originally gave me carte blanche and when I investigated her site I found that she is a prolific, generous sock knitter! I inquired about her preferences and she said that she's been loving green lately, and lace. I'm not the best lace knitter...I hope the yarn is crazy enough to distract from my 'creative' solutions to lost YOs and forgotten decreases! We both grew up in Europe (she in Austria and me in Germany). I'm obsessed with Austrian art and sent her a ball of the new Hundertwasser yarn.

I'm finally mailing off socks to my sock pal--I hope they don't mind that I waited until the last possible day of the mail-off. I'm including some treats for her very adorable children. I had a lot in common with my pal but I am going to hold off on revealing more until she gets my package.

My sock pal will also have the distinction of wearing a sock that was a prop for a recent Lexie Barnes photoshoot! I love this picture, the photographer said I look like an architect's wife. I feel right at home in Lexie's tableaux and I can't shut up about the bags, especially my semi-new Darling with it's holsters for my water flask and umbrella!

Pattern: Belle Epoque from a friend's upcoming book Two-at-a-Time Socks
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Silkie in Beryl
Needles: Knit Picks, an assortment of the Classic Circulars, Options interchangeables and DPNs.

Notes: The yarn is pretty inelastic and fuzzy...I didn't love it as much as the classic Socks that Rock which is like perfectly kneaded bread dough (not the first food analogy I've used on this yarn). The pattern is written for the socks to be knit two at a time on one long circular using a sort of Magic Loopy configuration. I did that for awhile to test knit the pattern then switched to DPNs for speed's sake. This book is going to be a stunner, just you wait!

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post. Blogging is sort of like my personal pensieve but it's nice to know that people appreciate my often rambling posts. This Ravelry thread about what makes a good blog was...a bit frightening.

More soon,

CR

Eep!

2007-07-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was almost TOO exciting! Kathy and I were talking about being mini-bloggers in a world of blog superstars. That prompted me to go and check my stats (I used Statcounter) which is always fun. My favorite feature is the map--I love seeing that someone in Turkey is reading me! I don't get the flood of comments that some bloggers get...I try not to speculate about why, but my main theory is that my entries are long and text heavy, I'm guessing most people skim them heavily. Anyhow, yesterday I saw a rather engorged number of hits and I went to Visitor paths to see who had linked to me...it was none other that Blueprint Magazine!! I love Blueprint, and I'm using the magazine pretty heavily in my academic work. Last semester I compared the aesthetic of Blueprint with an indie DIY zine compliation. Through content analysis I tried to prove that there are simultaneous parallel DIY movements going on right now. My basic point? Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah! I'm trying to develop a home economics curriculum based on critical theory and texts in the consumer culture 'canon', not that there IS one =)

Oh, did I tell you? Eric is blogging these days. AND modeling!

Well, not exactly, but this doppelganger freaked us out! Eric usually wears the exact same hat and some variation of that plaid shirt. Here is a profile pic for comparison (handsome, no?)

To to keep it manly, here is Zach, a Webs intern, modeling a men's sweater (in the mailroom, natch) that will be available this fall. It's knit from the top down (our designer coordinator's speciality) in Berkshire Bulky--fast!

There is much more to blog about but I have to get to work. I'm on a special mission for Nicole from Stash and Burn (it's just more excitement!) More later!

Tschau,

CR

Potter Haze

2007-07-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else in a total Potter stupor? Book 7 made me feel like re-reading the entire series, which I've started. I'd already been heavily skimming the older books in anticipation of July's Potter-fest. I've seen the movie twice-the first time I was too distracted by the scenery! The films are so visually rich, it sort of makes the at times impressionistic take on the content forgivable in my opinion.

Of course I'm immediately drawn to anything that will translate to a knitting project. In this film I noticed a lot of Norah Gaughan-ish vests on Ginny, cables and some hexagons (maybe, hard to tell for sure). A lot of Luna's blue and lavender crochet was pitch perfect but Hermione's striped pullovers sort of bored me. I'm not a huge Hermione fan to be honest, I'm definitely over the smugness and her snottiness towards Ron...probably because Ron/Rupert Grint is one of my favorite Potter characters. His garments are always my favorite at well! The original Weasley sweater, the Animal Cracker hat, the swatch blanket (cannot find a single decent picture of it, just a hint of it in this Talk Soup parody), his ragg raglan, and now this plaid number:

I'm a huge fan. One of my job perks this summer was getting access to the Rowan image database (I know, heart attack, right?) and getting to see all the garments from magazine 42. There happens to be a sweater that resembles the latest Ron sweater, it's a saddle shoulder cardigan knit in Wool Cotton and 9 colors of Felted Tweed (hello, leftovers!). Oooo, awesome, I can link to it, there is a tiny picture here. The best part is the name--Striven. If you look at the definition for the word, you can't help but think of Ron.

There are projects on my mind that tie to Deathly Hallows, as well. I finally see the appeal of the Invisibility Cloak projects, I might use Jade Sapphire cashmere with a touch of sparkle. If you're on Ravelry, you can see my thoughts for the project I'm most excited about, Hermione's beaded bag with the Undetectable Extension Charm. I'm waiting for a purse frame to arrive before I get started. I'm actually knitting two versions, one lavender and one pale green. I've started the lavender one and it features a beaded cast-on with some smoky amethyst glass seed beads, size E/6.0. It will be a drawstring pouch with a rather obscure lace pattern. The green bag will be somewhat more formal, sort of like these (minus the odd fringe). If I had a million dollars I would have bought this amazingly apros pros Lion Queen purse frame.

I realize that some of you might be a little sick of Pottermania. If that's the case you might want to watch this, another parody that sounds like it was dubbed by a Moonanite (not work or kid safe!)

CR

I just don't know what to do with myself.

2007-07-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book Seven...

It took 24 hours and it was entirely beautiful. I want to re-read everything. I hope you all enjoy your Hallows experience as much as I did...

CR

Welcome to Linkland...

2007-07-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am still without photodock, so no photos can be uploaded. The battery life is pulling one of those biblical stretches of longevity, I'm trying to avoid creating too much of a backlog for myself. To compensate, it appears I've gotten a little link happy.

TKGA was, to quote Count Blah once again (scroll way down), 'aiii-ig-it'. Kathy and I were immediately deflated when we learned that Brooks Farm had to cancel due to floods in Texas. Our sadness about this was at least 51% not about yarn. I'll be making my usual beeline to them at Rhinebeck.

There were some purchases, a skein of deliciously speckled Koigu for a Purl beret (not unlike the birthday cake version I got at Stitches West), some hilarious albino (#269) Silk Garden, Lexie bags and some patterns I'm really excited about: a steeked Fair Isle wrap knit in Reynolds Whiskey (if I ever finish Enid I'm sure to have leftovers to work with) and a drop dead cute cardigan with (channeling Anne Shirley) short PUFFED SLEEVES. I'm sorry I can't link to either of these, Google yields nothing! I do know that the latter is a new Jordana Paige design for Stitch Diva and it's called the Trapeze Jacket. I love their patterns with all the excellent information but the layouts are so cramped, it gives me mee-graine!

TOO BAD IT ISN'T AS USER FRIENDLY AS....RAVELRY!! What else?? Just as Kathy and I were flagging on a slow Saturday in the booth, Jess and Casey stroll by, causing me to short circuit. Speaking of Johnny Five, I can totally picture the two of them replicating the encyclopedia massacre, hands flailing saying "Imput, moorrrre IMMMPUT!"

Picture borrowed from Jess, but I'll post my own when my dock arrives. Fun fact: out of all the Ravelers, my #1 neighbor (based on # of projects we have in common) is Jess! Casey is on the verge of joining the ranks of needleworking men, who never cease to amaze me with their fearlessness. I almost pulled one of these:

More later, with pictures (bitte Mutter, padded envelope, automated mailing center...I will send yarn in exchange...)

CR

Bum-OUT.

2007-07-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

So I left my camera charger/USB stuff at my mother's. And I kinda refuse to make pictureless posts. I'm actively trying to improve my picture snapping skills for the sake of the blog. Jenna and I are about to GEEK OUT and leave work early to see Order of the Phoenix, I might have to pick her photojournalist brain during the previews...

Anyhow, my point is that I will be on a brief blog hiatus while I wait for the charger to arrive in the mail. I still have a lot of pictures to show from D.C. (thanks for all the store recommendations!) and a fair bit of knitting as well. And of course...plenty of new yarn =)

I'll be busy for the rest of the week up at TKGA, please stop by if you're attending! If it turns out that lots of New England bloggers will be there, I'd love to have a meet-up somewhere.

Since I must be multimedia, I'll leave you with the videos I watch to keep myself from bursting into tears about the summer heat wave we're "enjoying." If Kathy is a lizard, I'm a polar bear!

Scene/song from Flight of The Conchords (Jemaine's scatting KILLS me):

Cutest commercial ever:

Check you later*,

CR

*I was once ridiculed for using this salutation, is it deeply uncool? I'm pretty sure I cribbed it from someone who is not uncool, but in fact quite gnarly. Don't you love old websites?

Blush!

2007-07-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about the hat! 100% of the praise belongs to Kathy for writing such a flattering pattern--NOT easy to do when it comes to hats, esp. berets.

I'm down in the D.C. area visiting my mother and sister. Ever since I reformatted my laptop I've been having a load of trouble getting online, it's incredibly frusturating and I even threw a tantrum when Eric the Electrical Engineer couldn't counsel me over the phone on how to fix it. Guilty of the sexist assumption that all hot geeks know how to fix any computer problem I might have? Yes *hangs head in shame*. Lately everyone I know has been loving their new Macbooks, and after many snide remarks about rampant Apple lust I have to admit I've finally started considering one.

I finally started my Sock Pal's socks, and it's really the only project I brought (lie: I also brought a ball of Trekking just in case!) so I'm hoping to be done very quickly. The pattern is sort of a secret, I'm test knitting for someone! My pal will have mega-exclusive, mega-pretty socks!

Besides Knit Happens (been there a million times) are there any D.C. area yarn stores I need to check out?

CR

She's Snoody...

2007-06-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry for the punny title but I couldn't help it, I love puns! I'm up late playing around with new Interweb tools after spending most of the day laptopless (I reformatted, all by myself--Eric, didn't think I had it in me, didja?

Time for a finished object!! It's the Art Deco Beret by Grumperina, from the fall issue of Knitscene. The yarn is Sheep Shop 3. I have a few hints--it is much, much easier to knit from two balls. I tried to knit from the outside and the inside (you alternate knitting with the beaded and non-beaded strand) of one center pull ball and it was a massive tangle fest. Another tip--look for knots. The unexpected knot on your beaded strand will BUM YOU OUT. When I was about 2" from finishing one ply finally gave out. I was at Eric's and the crafty engineer whipped out an old guitar string for me to use as a big eye needle. After carefully restringing my beads I knit about one round and found A KNOT. Knot cool.

Anyhow, the yarn is gorgeous and I love the fit, I'd wear this as a snood but blocking it over a dinner plate definitely yielded a beret shape. It was a fun, addictive pattern with a very cool cast-on...tubular-ish but I'm not sure. I'll have to investigate, it looks like it'd be great for socks. Now for tons of pictures!

My tribute to Emily (I think she'd like my golden mirror):

Okay, I know that was probably a FEW too many for just a little hat...but I can't help it, I love hats! Oh, that dress might look familiar because it's a dress version of all those Built by Wendy tops I was making awhile back. It's aight (did anyone watch Greg the Bunny? I loved the episode where Count Blah got a new catch phrase and couldn't pronounce it--"It's ah-ig-it!"). I like the fabric but it isn't very soft. I had to add a sash because it was tent-ish on its own. It has pockets which makes it good for housecleaning, so I call it my Hausfrau dress.

Over and OUT,

Let's get ripped.

2007-06-20T04:56:00.001-07:00

I've been knitting a lot lately. If this semester was about collecting yarn this summer is about knitting it up. I find it hard to sleep in the summer so late-night/early A.M. knitting is the name of the game. I'm re-watching some gems, including the LOTR trilogy and Clarissa Explains it All.
I WAS Clarissa growing up, from the crazy ensembles to the mom enforced tofu and brewers' yeast laced diet. The only trouble with my knitting is that it's been a total RIPFEST. Things are going wrong left and right and to be honest, I haven't minded the ripping one bit. It'll all be worth it in the end.

Next in the to rip pile is Coachella:

I tried it on this morning and the armholes are reeeeeeeeeeeallly right. I think Suede might stretch a bit but I was planning to neaten the edges with a crochet border but that would make it unwearable at this point. I'm planning to lengthen the racer back strap and change the rate of increases before re-joining in the round.

Also ripped, a store sample, Grumperina's Art Deco Beret (pre-beaded chart knitting, so no big loss):

Knowing myself I didn't knit a gauge swatch (ahem) but just dropped my usual needle size. This made the cool (tubular-ish) cast-on ribbing too small by a few inches.

Also being ripped a decent amount for minor tweaking is Bamboo Grove, a cleverly constructed top-down henley in the works for the fall catalog. Kirsten in customer service is the queen of top down!

Last but not least...my summer job rules. People ask me if I'm getting sick of yarn and the answer is "HECK NO." One of my tasks is writing descriptions of nwe yarns, which puts me in a really good mood. After awhile you sort of feel like you've seen it all and it's easy to slam a yarn or pattern book but the description writing requires a sort of Pollyanna, best case scenario outlook. It carries over to other things, which is awesome! Oh, and today I arrived to find a big sack of new Rowan yarns on my chair. There are some fantastic new colors of Kracksilk Haze and one of Kid Classic that I'm over the moon for. Kidsilk Aura (the heavier version of KSH) promises big things, and it was a long time coming. So many patterns for KSH start "with yarn doubled..." Love the fabric is produces, but it can be annoying.

Speaking of color, I've been obsessed lately. This day at the printers only added to it! This is Kathy and Penny checking color accuracy with total focus!

This was so fun, it was straight out of another childhood favorite, Reading Rainbow.

Rememeber Color Me Beautiful? I'm trying to purge my closet (and yarn stash) of colors that don't agree with me and I've finally submitted to reading this book. According to some online quizzes I'm a Deep Winter! I can live with that =) I hope this Shi Bui color will be okay. If not, hey, it's for feet!

CR

Shedding!

2007-06-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who purchased yarn from my destashing sale! I still have quite a bit of good stuff if you're looking for some cheap stash enhancement.

I've cast on some new projects. Don't roll your eyes, I might actually finish these!! The first is so addictive to knit and such a cool shape that I might actually complete my goal of knitting and wearing a garment in the SAME SEASON. I quickly fell for Coachella in the new Knitty as it covers up an unfortunate tattoo I have (racerback=my friend). Details to follow!

Speaking of Knitty, Gudrun Johnson, a former student of mine and loyal Webs customer scored the cover, deservedly so!! Looks like her daughter will be joining me in the elite ranks (ha) of knitwear supermodels!

I'm using another Knitty pattern for my sock pal socks (after many, many starts I've finally settled on a yarn and pattern): Sweet Pea in Socks that Rock Silkie, Beryl. She professed a new love for green and lace (funny, those were MY preferences) so I ripped the pink baby cable socks I'd started and cast on for these. I realize I'm under the gun but I have a bit of travel in my future so I'm planning to bring these along. I finished a pair of socks the last time I visited Mom in D.C. so maybe the luck will continue!

The real reason I'm posting is because of Berroco--have you seen the fall preview?! I am totally, totally INFATUATED with the following (and one of the new yarns, Ultra Alpaca LITE anyone?!):

Kaino:

Annikki:

Chantal:

Manon:

Peso:

Pinot:

Also adorable: Aune, Aamu, Parchesi, Poska, Piccolo, Josepha. The Stash and Burn ladies recently sung the praises of KnitBits and the free pattern archive on Berroco.com and I have to second them. The patterns are always well-written and I have to say, my Berroco sweater is one of the only ones I actually wear.

Enough gushing for one day,

CR

As promised...

2007-06-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

EDITED TO ADD: Chloe, the yarn is yours, I just need some contact info! Unless this is Chloe who I know in real life. Please comment again or email me =)

I'm destashing! I think I've got some really decent stuff but you can see for yourself. Eric saw the bag of yarns I was giving away and had a cute reaction--he said "can any of them be for my blanket?" then dove, saucer-eyed towards a huge skein of Burlyspun. It was adorable! He tends towards the weirdest yarn he can find--tweeds, thick and thin, self striping (no novelties, though). Below is one of the prize items, in my opinion--7 balls of 100% cashmere in 70s pinks and browns. Hard to give away but I suspect it has a greater destiny than languishing in my stash.

Started my "new job" yesterday, which is really just a new position at Webs. I'm helping to put together the upcoming catalogs! It's awesome! Sneak previewing yarns and patterns, making lists, waxing rhapsodic about yarn...I'm loving it! Also, Malea my office mate plays Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Schoolhouse Rocks (the Remix album!) and Frou Frou all day. AND I get to see stunning sweaters like my coworker Mary's Beachcomber Tunic! It's drop-dead pretty and the work(wo)manship is A+. It's Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in a really cool mint green...inspiring. I love the banner on Mary's blog...you KNOW how I feel about clotheslines...clotheslines with yarn dangling from them, forget about it!

I've been a bad blogger of late (no responses to comments, no comments on your entries, etc.) but things are settling down at long last. Did I mention how much I hate moving? These two made me particularly jealous when I was moving last week:

An odd whole car hauling vehicle (it's in the background, and definitely on the road):

A wandering turtle on the UMass campus. So carefree!! Who knows though, maybe she has a little ball of laceweight tucked underneath her shell.

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm the guest on Ready, Set, Knit!, the Webs radio show/Podcast this weekend! I gave a few shout-outs to some favorite movers and shakers in the knitting world.

I'll leave you with a view from my new bathroom's clawfoot tub, easily one of my favorite features in the apartment. The rest is still a mess of yarn (that is, until I mail some off).

Bis dann,

CR

Yeah, I got some problems...

2007-05-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Remember when I was going to not buy any yarn in 2007? Well, as you can probably already surmise, I "forgot" about my oath promptly after I made it. Last weekend I moved and came close to weeping when I realized how much yarn I've stockpiled in two short years. Eric was ridiculously patient with me and I suspect he finds the mania a little endearing but it was just unfair--his belongings took up about 1/6 of our tiny dwelling and of my 5/6s, 4/5 was yarn! Ugly.

I have plenty of stuff that I am no longer in love with and will try to sell, trade or donate. There is also some that I am in love with but I have a new philosophy--Knitter, know thyself. Maggie Righetti and the Stash and Burn ladies have really helped me with this, as well as knitters like Melissa, Ysolda and Adrian who design from scratch and make things that they actually wear.

What's troubling is the random loose ball/half balls...those aren't worth selling unless I put together some sort of grab bag. I think I've come up with a solution though. Maybe I will knit a bunch of hats with the beaded flowers I like so much. Come fall I'll try to get a table at some craft fair or farmer's market and maybe put the rest up on Etsy. I know I'm a slow, non-finishing knitter but I can make hats! That I can do. Come to think of it, I can probably make hats for little girls who hate wearing hats, like 8-year-old me, who quit the Brownie's because I thought the brown beanie was demoralizing (read: unflattering) chapeau. I have no television this summer and limited Internet access...kinda by choice. Of course I love both and I'm not morally opposed to either indulgence but when I thought of the reading and crafting I could get without them...the decision was easy.

End rant,

CR

Cummington 2007...

2007-05-27T23:19:00.000-07:00

...was WAY TOO FUN! I am so happy to have a gang of ladies nearby who are as over the moon about spending a day huffing lanolin and giggling at bleating animals as I am. I was on the fence about Rheinbeck but I decided that Sheep and Wool festivals are pretty much the best ever.

As we arrived, Jenna's car passed THE ELKINS-MOBILE exiting. That whole adage about logging 'facetime' with your bosses is all the better when it's accidental! We (Jenna, Huelo and I) were half-shamed and half-proud to be revealed as total wool junkies. But I'm pretty sure the Elkin's knew about our collective habit the day they hired us!

There are a lot of pictures of adorable animals and happy knitters over at my Flickr. Just a taste:

You can't see my contribution, but this is Val, Spunky Eclectic and I modelling our handpainted hair!

Happy Knitters! Huelo, Jenna and Dena:

Bloggers...bloggers who blog bloggers...are the luckiest bloggers in the worlllld...(Megan and Melissa)

After a hard and fast deliberation, Jenna decides that this lamb burger probably had an excellent life on a posh farm...

This picture reminds me of Carnivale...maybe it's the empty pew-esque seats or the old fashioned fonts on the posters...I love it!

You want to see what I bought?? Not THAT much, but definitely more than I expected to!!

Greenwood Hill Farm Merino 2-Ply DK in Pewter, a blend of natural greys. This was the only thing I was "looking" for...I wanted a soft, rustic wool for a really basic garter stitch shawl, like the Prairie Shawl from Folk Shawls. This stuff is really, really, really nice.

Spunky Eclectic spinning fiber, 8 oz. of South African Fine in Rocky Mountain High. Jenna has generously agreed to spin this up for me! I can't tell you how excited I am about this! Hopefully enough for a hat and thrummed mittens with whatever is left over. I just noticed that this matches a favorite fabric of mine.

Shearling inserts! Probably for the inside of some felted slippers that I've been promising to make for yeaaaaaars. A pair for Eric and a pair for moi, both doing first position in this photo. All the comfort of Uggs, but on the DL.

Now to commence with my crazy week. First, to tackle these:

Then, to move. Lots and lots and lots of yarn. Then, working the Harlot event and easing back into Webs life in general (after this school year, it will actually be more like a 6-year-old running towards a pool to do a giant cannonball!). Speaking of her, she has written that when you move, somewhere in the old house, there is yarn. My apartment is so small that I doubt this could happen to me but I sort of feel like leaving a ceremonial ball anyway.

Speaking of yarn, JENNA AND KATHY, YOU WERE RIGHT. I have seen the light, and it is Log Cabin-y! To Jenny and Nicole of Stash and Burn, this is what you do with the "stupid single ball of Noro," of which I have puh-LENTY. P.S. ladies, I don't want to freak you out or anything, but I love you both. You had me at Macintosh square!! Hey, maybe I can Log Cabin a Macintosh square!!?!

Over and out,

CR

Minuteman Pride...

2007-05-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Andrew Card was booed throughout the presentation of the advanced degree he didn't earn and doesn't deserve. Pretty amazing that the UMass administrators refused to acknowledge the almost university-wide rejection of this action. While I'm being a bit political, I would like to say that I'm truly bummed about Rosie stepping down from the View early. It was exciting to see a show honor the fact that some people are spitting mad about the actions our government. It did sometimes devolve into bickering but it was bipartisan bickering, from ladies, on daytime TV! Elizabeth made an excellent point--male pundits engage in the same sort of hotheaded arguing all the time but no one reduces their passion as a symptom of gender.

In keeping with my spring cleaning frenzy, I got rid of even MORE hair!

With the blue bangs it's looking a little Cookie A. which is funny because I just bought a few of her sock patterns at Webs--Flicker and Twisted Flower, both very botanical. Since I've finally mastered the short row toe/heel, my sock confidence is on the rise.

Gotta say, I'm not in love with the Fleece Artist Merino Sock. I love the non-pooling/striping variegation, as I've said before, but the yarn itself is almost wire-y. It could be because I'm knitting it on size 0 needles, my 1.5 Knit Picks are in use and it felt a bit loose on those anyway. I'm hoping a wash will relax it a bit. I can't wait to try the zig zag bind off on the toe!

Speaking of Webs, I'll be working there over the summer. That will probably mean a decline in yarn purchases arriving via post, but it's been fun to be a "civilian" yarn shopper this year. One of my favorite sites is so good I feel like I should keep it a secret, but that's silly. A lot of people are already fans of Handpaintedyarn.com. There is a link between Malabrigo and Handpaintedyarn.com...the main differences seems to me Malabrigo's focus on merino and the very good prices at HPY.com. I prefer the heartier wool over at HPY.com, it's still plenty soft and reminds me of Manos. By the way, how adorable is this tiger hat?!

This is Colonia in Madre Perla (top) and Marmol.

This is the lace weight wool in Lettuce:

And Emerald Viv:

All delivered within days, and for a song! So pretty it almost doesn't have to be knit...almost!

See some of you tomorrow in Cummington! Here's what a friend of mine had to say about it:

"I hope you have fun at your Sheep Versus Dog event. I think it's pretty effed up that you get such pleasure from seeing such cute animals rip each other apart, but who am I to judge? I'd put my money on the dogs."

Ha,

CR

Ahhh...

2007-05-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

I recently decided to start going to therapy again as I'm smack in the middle of a quarter-life crisis. One of the screening questions was "Do you have trouble getting rid of things?" and I actually laughed when the analyst asked it. I LOVE getting rid of things! In fact, there is nothing more cathartic for me than emptying old Tupperware, recycling old magazines, shredding old schoolwork and making piles of clothing to drop off to the Salvation Army. Whenever I go on any sizable shopping trip I feel like I have to get rid of some older stuff to maintain equilibrium. A lot of old shoes have had to go to make room for the summer beauties! The Remix shoes have yet another fan, this time an actual fashion editor. Blueprint magazine is my new favorite, full of DIY projects and witty advice.

I'm moving into a new place for the summer (really close to work!) and I've been chucking stuff left and right. Some of you might be horrified to know that I'm not above donating or just plain tossing handknit items. Moving means facing the stash (no, this isn't all of it!) and I've mentally 'let go' of a lot of projects.

I usually follow Jean Railla's advice in Get Crafty for cleaning out my closet. It's very common sense advice (toss it if it's damaged or worn out, not flattering, unused, illogical for your life, or if it causes low self-esteem/discomfort) but it helps to have the pep talk. While I seem pretty spendy, I'm dead cheap when it comes to clothes so I usually have a fair bit of thrift store/clearance rack flotsam to toss and I force myself to do it often.

As for knitting, I have to accept the fact that grey stockinette will probably see more use than crazy Noro (I can always knit blankets out of it...). I really agree with Stefanie's post about not really loving the outcome when knitting from published patterns. I'd like to start designing from the ground up a lot more. That said, I think there is still great inspiration out there. These were some of the things that caught my eye in the summer Interweave:

Little Smocked Top:

Josephine, especially the sleeve detail:

Bella Blouse, free online:

Another bit of Gaughn greatness:

Lacy Yoga Bags:

Spiral Boot socks:
And just like last time, some pretty tempting ads! I love Tulip from the summer Rowan:

And the latest offering from Blue Moon Fiber Arts:

Over and out,

CR

Puesta del Sol

2007-05-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

I ordered the yellow shoes! Eep! Since my first yellow shoe lust was sold out, I specified a back-up choice at Remix. Thing is, I'm going to be walking a lot this summer. To and from work (back at Webs!) and around that...not small...store. We once wore pedometers and were blown away at how many miles we all logged in a single day. I've actually got a bunch of sturdy looking sandals coming (along with a new incarnation of my favorite Hepburn-y go-to, the black ballet flat (currently Crocs Primas). The Primas are pretty great, but they can be embarrassingly squeaky and a little sad. I mean, even if it's fancy rubber, I'm still wearing rubber shoes. I can hear people think to themselves, "Jellies are okay for 8 year olds, but geez..." Still, they're bouncy and fun to wear. And, a friend of mine spilled soup on my foot the other day and I just rinsed it off! Anyhow, I'll be trying on and send back as needed. I hate shoe shopping any other way, Zappos rules.

Anyhow, shoes--I momentarily feel guilty for how much I spend on them BUT, here is my reasoning--I have BAD feet, painful shoes can ruin your day, since I don't own a car I can consider shoes to be a transportation cost (tires for my feet!), I spend woefully little on my wardrobe...uh...they cheer me up when I look down...

Okay, that's enough of that. One of my main reasons I'm so excited about the Remix Shoes is that I have a new dressing goal. After seeing Pan's Labyrinth I decided that I really needed to wear more: leather satchels, tweed, utilitarian aprons, shawls, Mary Janes with socks and dresses. Oh, and a little knife hidden in my skirt's waistband! The best accessory. (Mom, if you haven't seen this yet, we're watching it together in June!!)

Thanks for all the awesome comments about my dress idea! I don't really intend to over dye it unless I look truly appalling in that much yellow but I will certainly be dunking these swatches into a dye bath out of pure curiosity! Swatching normally doesn't happen this swiftly but now that I've 'leaked' my idea I felt compelled to get going! First up, some simple eyelets, which I imagine would form an empire waist:

Could thread a ribbon through it, but that might be too twee for me:

This is the wrong side (flash is on, heightened orangeness!), which is the right side for the Eiffel Tower eyelets right above ribbon eyelets. I don't know, they remind me of getting a run in one's tights...not exactly a look I want to emulate. Blocking didn't straighten them out at all. Blocking didn't help my drunken attempt at Dayflower, either! Why did I save the hardest for last again? I was a goner after the last minute of The Office and the lace suffered. I blame John Krasinski completely!

In case you haven't had enough yellow for today, here is an update of my travel project, my April/May Project Spectrum sock:

If you can call that an update...it's on zeros and I'm actually leaving it at home when I head to the library. Simultaneous read-knit days are pretty much over for this semester. I love how perfectly variegated it's knitting up, it's veddy pretty. I should be working on my Sock Pal socks, but my order from Little Knits is lost in the ether, apparently...

I'll leave you with a tease, a project that has come out of hibernation and will actually come in handy during some of the chilly thunderstorms we've been having lately.

More soon,

CR

Sketchy...

2007-05-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

*EDITED UPDATE: As naturalbodycare notes in the comments, the called for yarn from Fitted Knits is indeed a Knit Picks yarn. I am all for saving money and I do appreciate the effort that goes into knitting new garments. I still don't understand why they wouldn't focus on designing, or feature the photography and model from the book (which is totally allowed). It's a beautiful shot and I know firsthand that a lot of work goes into those photo shoots! I am a Knit Picks customer and am really pleased with some of their products (needles, in particular). This wasn't meant as a disparagement, I just wanted to see what other bloggers thought.*

First things first...I'm feeling snarky about something. I got the Knit Picks catalog in the mail the other day, I'm thumbing through and something starts to bother me. It's been bothering me awhile but I can't quite figure out the 'rules' of the situation. To promote books and their own yarn line Knit Picks, will knit a garment in their brand of yarn (versus the one called for in the original pattern). Many of us do this to save money without any prompting and there are definitely guidelines surrounding the use of free patterns published on the Internet (Hello Yarn's in nice and clear, as is Knitty's)...but what about this?

I suppose it's okay and I'm sure they've researched the legality of it but it's a little out of hand.

This was the most egregious offense in the recent catalog--not only have they replaced the yarn, it looks like they've replicated the photoshoot!! Is anyone else a little perturbed by this?

Could've been accidental...I've unintentionally produced a Japel-ish design myself, my Trinket tank has a twin in Fitted Knits. Stefanie and I do share a birthday, so it could be Virgonean kismet.

As I mentioned, I've got a big project planned for my summer (and knowing me, far, far, beyond) that involves a fuzzy bag of gold. The inspiration was a dress from Urban Outfitters:

I like the puffed sleeves but since the color I picked isn't as sweet as the lilac I might try to do something more like a petal sleeve. Still dainty but simpler. Another option is a slight puffed sleeved with a button closure:

I've trolled my B. Walkers and this is the stitch pattern I've been most drawn to, Sunspots:

This particular pattern seems to be popping up everywhere I look. Right after I fell for this one and sketched out my ideas I came across this on Facehunter and I cringed. NOT exactly what I am going for, but eerily similar to my notes!

Some other stitch patterns I'm considering. I'll have to swatch to see how they show up in the Kidsilk Haze...

I was thinking about the yellow...I thought long and hard before settling on that color. In a way I was being a contrarian, there are so many amazingly beautiful colors! I think it could be fantastic in the late summer and fall, especially with a contrasting dress or slip underneath. And if I hate it, yellow can become a delicious green. I couldn't find any blog entries about people over-dying Kidsilk Haze...is it risky, sacreligious, unnecessary, what?

CR

Mother

2007-05-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

Your childhood was eclectic and I know your teen years weren't easy, even if you were Miss Houston Technical Institute. Besides having really cool clothes and lots of stories I know that whatever I'm going through you'll have been there before. You made it out alive, so I'm sure I can as well.

My childhood was also eclectic--in retrospect, I'm really glad I was raised on buckwheat pancakes and apple juice popsicles. Homeschooling, constant trips to libraries and craft stores and music always--habits you gave me, ones that I happily continue.

You have taught me how to be a friend. The simple act of checking in or doing what you can to cheer someone up is something I've learned from you. You surround yourself with friends and they are lucky to have you. This DOESN'T mean that Vinnie and I forgive you for singing Twila Paris' "Forever Friends" in public throughout our youth!!

You are always changing, always improving. Being a mother of three hasn't precluded you from going back to school, persuing careers and generally being a hot ticket.

This is a card you gave me for Valentine's Day once and it is one of my favorite things. I am able to live in a world of possibility and beauty because of what you've taught me and what you continue to teach me.

I love you!

Cirilia

Incongruous.

2007-05-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, it's officially spring here in Massachusetts, and it is almost glorious. I say almost because I'm going through some love life tribulations that are sorta neutralizing my spring high. To be honest this whole year has been one big trial, with graduate school and relationships. I'm doing my best to keep my spirits up and that means a lot of walks, water, fruit (I've finally developed a taste for it, thank goodness) and of course, crafting! Between the AMAZING RAVELRY (are you on it? Let's be friends!) and Project Spectrum, I've got plenty to keep my mind off of sad things (and you know, my schoolwork...)

Speaking of Project Spectrum, here are some scraps...

My February/March project is finally done. Here they are, very pleased with these. If they look a little fuzzy it's because I've already worn them a LOT. They are the ever popular Jaywalkers in STR Lightweight, the Lucy colorway.Those who are sensitive to pooling might want to avert your eyes now...

YELLOW: I've just now opened a package from Blue Moon Fiber Arts and one of the skeins was looked like it would be brilliant sunny yellow, but it's actually more like delicious peach ice cream, a soft orange:

I can learn to love it, but I'm in a serious yellow phase and I am a little bummed. I'm so into yellow at the moment that I'm seriously considering getting some serious shoes in 'avocado'. I learned about Remix from the painfully adorable Emily and it was perfect timing since I've recently committed myself to wearing REAL shoes at least 80% of the time. My feet are too bad for flip flops and canvas flats. Anyhow, yellow is perfect when your wardrobe is mostly grey and black, something I have in common with the lovely Jenny Gordy.

I have some big plans for this golden yarn that may not have been the wisest color choice. I know I can't wear yellow, but that doesn't stop me from liking it!

GREEN: My love for green yarn is well-known, and it hasn't weakened any. I'm planning on doing some sewing tonight, a dress out of this lovely branch-heavy print. I'll be sure to post it when it's done. Oh, the STR Hoofle Foofle had a friend, Jade:

PINK: I started a sock in a colorway that might as well be called Project Spectrum April/May, because it's a lovely lemon yellow, a deep raspberry and a bright emerald. It's actually Fleece Artist Merino Sock in Paris, and it's lovely. The pattern was a freebie that came with a Hello Yarn order. Thanks to Ravelry I realized that I'm kind of knit-stalking poor Adrian, I've knit about 6 things inspired by her knits! You know what they say about imitation...

Another 'pink' thought I had was on avoiding sun damage. It's become more and more important to me over the years and I'm channelling almost all of my frivolous cosmetic money into my stash. After several CVS sales and coupon cash-ins I finally have the ultimate non-sticky, non-smelly, non-irritating, non-blemish inducing stash of sun protection. You can read all about it at my Flickr page.

In other news, I was the happy recipient of a random act of kindness from a UK blogger who sent me a little project bag after I mentioned I liked hers. It's adorable, and this was such a nice surprise to get in the mail. I love getting mail, especially crafty mail.

Speaking of surprise mail...I'm starting to understand why the Sockapalooooza is bumming some people out...I haven't heard from my secret sock knitter or from the person I have. I've emailed my pal and left secret comments on the blog. I have to be honest, I was a little perplexed by all the people freaking out when they didn't hear from buddies after a few days but now I'm starting to feel like a....loooza. Ha.

Okay, I have killed a good couple of hours with this post, it might be time for me to get back to the schoolwork.

HI!

2007-05-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

I'm alive. This is the View (pun intended) from my office, also known as my couch butt dent. Also known as the reason I haven't posted any finished objects of late. To be completely honest, I also started a few NEW projects...which have been distracting me from the ones I could finish and post. Casting on seems to be my little coping mechanism.

The detritus on the floor. I am doing a paper on DIY/craft consumption, so those Blueprint magazines are my primary sources! The sock yarn...well...

It's just more coping! It's a two-circ-toe-up for Brett, my best grad school friend. It's Regia Silk 6-Ply, perfect since he's a fancy lad, whom you might remember from this massive post. My star tattoo (1 of 11) is fading!

To my left (allergy season requires tissues and BIG sunglasses!) That little stack of books are all about women in comedy, for my Politics of Sexual Representation final paper on Sarah Silverman.

To my right, my Bible and my best electronic friend. I've been texting so much this year I'm actually considering some sort of Blackberry for my next phone.

My hilarious dollar store mug, which I only pull out on stressful days.

It's true, I don't have anything finished to post. I got my sock pal, that's exciting! We have a fair bit in common. She is open to anything and it seems like she leans towards the utilitarian...maybe I can spoil her a bit. If my pal is reading, HI! I promise to post a bit more between now and August. Should be easy since I'll be working at Webs over the summer where it's okay to think about knitting 24-7.

There has been a lot besides knitting on my brain lately and some of it is apartment related. I've been trying to figure out whether I'd like to live on my own next year but for the summer Eric and I have a sweet sublet with an option to renew for the year ahead. We signed the lease this A.M. and I saw bunnies and two black squirrels! The landlady told me that one was a baby (she could tell because of it's puny tail). Cute animals and a savvy landlady, where do I sign?

Oh, I cut my hair! I wanted it even shorter but the smart stylist (his name was Butch) sensed that I would've just whined with it super short. Baby steps. I also dyed it black and the bangs are Manic Panicked Midnight Blue. It's all part of my plan to convince the world that pale is the new tan.

Okay, time for some Alavert and big shades, I'm going for my catwalk. Brett has his daily promenade and I have my catwalk. It's absolutely essential:

CR

P.S. I'll be wearing my Croc Primas, not those killers!

Reduced.

2007-04-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

My time for knitting is at an all time low. Graduate school has gotten much better but that means that I'm working much, much harder. I felt pretty much gobsmacked for most of my last semester, for a number of reasons, but mainly because I felt so behind in so many ways. The body of theoretical knowledge I was expected to be conversant in was just vast and the tactics of being a graduate student don't reveal themselves easily. Anyhow, I'm finally in my element doing work on consumer culture and though I'm pretty much working (reading, writing, grading, holding office hours or attending lecture) around the clock I'm happy. It probably has something to do with the massive amount of online shopping I do during my breaks! Mostly, I window shop and make carts that I abandon, but I have made a jusssst a few sock yarn purchases.

Since so many of them come in 100g hanks I started to worry about running out. I followed the lead of a very inspiring fellow scholar and got scientific. I bought a little scale! My finished Jaywalker weighed in a 52g.

I put my OTHER set of Knitpicks DPNs and a duplicate "stitch marker" onto the scale to set my tare for the other sock in progress. Why do I have a stand-in set of needles? I love the Knitpicks needles so much that I bought a second set of all the sizes I'll use for socks. Those suckers get lost, and with all the sock yarn I'm buying I didn't want to risk not having a full set at any given moment. The needles are just as pointy as Inox needles but they have a much smoother finish. I've always felt that the Inox needles were almost gritty. To borrow from Grumperina, Blunti Stumpos had a much faster finish until I met the Knitpicks needles. Because the points are so sharp I've started to break my habit of tapping/pushing the top of the needle to move stitches forward! I win. Anyhow, the metal parts of my sock in progress weighed 17g:

I hit tare to bring it to zero:

And then plopped my second sock and alarmingly teeny ball of yarn onto the scale. Guess what? I'm fine! I would have never been able to 'eyeball' this on my own. I highly recommend this for nervous knitters.

Oh, and did I mention? I'm finally at the fun part of Enid! Sleeve island wasn't so bad, but I did have a slight mishap. I'm knitting the body is knit on size 3 Addis. Everyone at the Knitalong was complaining that the sleeves were coming out far too large, they were changing stitch counts and all sorts of mess...I decided to be lazy and just drop my needle size! I ended up magic looping with Inox, 2.5mm, that size that is basically 1.5 US. It was perfect until I fell in love with the Knitpicks needles and switched to those. I wish I had a picture to show you how dramatic the difference was. They were the same exact size so I'm guessing the texture alone changed my gauge and the appearance of the stitches, too. I knit almost a whole sleeve figuring the difference wouldn't be noticeable after blocking but Eric convinced me to rip it out and start again with the Inox. I'm glad I did, it was hilariously 'before and after' looking and even non-knitters would've spotted the weird demarcation.

Wow--that was a ton of actual knitting content! Who knew I had it in me?! I promise the next post will be a return to the tangential...we'll be talking diets and Montreal! See you soon.

CR

Itchy.

2007-03-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

I've got a raging case of the mean reds. Could be because sewing is so distracting to me that I can hardly get any real work done or leave the apartment. I've taken up watching The View for a number of reasons, but I've got to stop. It derails my day. I get up around 9 (late for someone who used to row and work a 'regular' job) and do some organizing/reading/craft planning. Eric makes coffee and eat cornflakes really noisily. I glower. He leaves. At 11 I'm watching the View and eating a little brunch. I started off just watching the opening 'hot topics' segment but now I usually watch straight through. By noon I still haven't showered (there is a reason I'm admitting to this publicly--I NEED TO BE SHAMED!) and I don't have to be to campus for any particular reason. This isn't just a spring break schedule, it's like this every week. The earliest I'm expected to be anywhere during the week is 3:30 p.m. Yeah. It's bad.

Anyhow, the View. Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck have the most ferocious political arguments, I am just waiting for the day it turns physical. Rosie jokes about not liking her job as 'gay mascot' of the show but the fact that she discusses alternative sexualities on an almost daily basis and gets applauded for doing so blows my mind. It's not the lesbianism that I'm necessarily impressed by it's her voiced attraction to various celebrities regardless of gender. She endorses a carnivalesque approach towards human attraction, claiming that we're all on a spectrum that is above all things mutable. She pulls no punches politically and it's a thrill to see it happen on daytime television in front of audiences that I'd (perhaps unfairly) assumed to be the very opposite of forward-thinking.

Oh! And on a lighter note, her and Joy Behar talk about what it means to be a woman in comedy almost daily. I'm currently cobbling together a paper on Sarah Silverman for a conference in April so anything about the subject catches my interest these days.

So anyway...I've been sewing more than knitting these days. Here are some pictures, and all the details are over at Craftster:

It's only Tuesday and it feels like my break is flying by...I've been buying a crapload of sock yarn lately and I swore I'd finish some very old chunky weight projects (I just typed 'problems' instead of 'projects'...is that a sign?) so hopefully my next post will be...yarn-ier.

CR

Home Ec x 2

2007-03-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling you're all going to get soooooooOOooo sick of this top!

It's another Built by Wendy Home Ec top, and anticipate making about one zillion of these! My size takes just under 2 yards of fabric and it's the perfect project for trying out lots of different seaming/edge finishing techniques. It's getting super fast and I absolutely love wearing them, they are super comfortable. This one is also a size 10 but I've since purchased a new pattern and my next will be the right size, a little less fitted. Right now it's a bit snug under the pits and the back is a little blousy:

The best part--my very own label!! I had these made at Namemaker.com, I also have some 'skrillaknits' ones, I'll debut those as soon as I finish a dang sweater. I haven't come up with a good way to sew them on, any tips? This is the best I could come up with...

Lastly, it appears that my worrying about Interweave was for naught--the scholarly, reverent Eunny Jang is taking the helm! This is by far the coolest blogger hits the big time story yet. I'm psyched, I bet it's going to reach encyclopedic proportions!

Speaking of being excited about academics...I've been really up and down about graduate school this year. On the bad days I feel incredibly inept and frustrated, but on good days I feel the way Emily does about her artwork/cottage industry:

"It's strange to say, but The Black Apple has been pretty much a best friend for the last few years, even before I had my online storefront or blog. It has been my constant companion through two different wonderful-but-difficult-in-their-own-way relationships, the changing and shuffling locations and closeness of friends, and two big moves. People ask all the time for tips, or pearls of wisdom about the success of my cottage industry, and maybe it's as simple as that. It's my companion and if I'm not working for it, I'm thinking of it."

I just dug through some old papers looking for a syllabus from a colloquium I taught as an undergrad and it was really heartening to see that I'm pretty much following the trajectory I dreamed about 5 years ago...it's hard to stay the course, but I think I will. Speaking of Home Ec (my name for the easy peasy top), I'm cornering my thesis idea more and more, I'll tell you all about it soon...

Oh! A public thank you to all the Western Mass. blogladies who joined me on Sunday for a knit-together. We were all tempted to photograph it for our respective blogs, but we showed remarkable restraint. Inside joke time:

Laters,

CR

Stitches West 2007

2007-03-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I know I promised to stop making such infrequent gigantic posts, but I've decided...maybe that's just how I roll. Onward:

I had to laugh when I read Yarn Harlot's freak-out about white paint. I recently re-organized my pattern stash and had to find a way to decorate that outer spine since they hog so much of the shelf. I dug out my stash of paint sample cards and settled on all watered down versions of primary colors, but not before flipping through about 20 cards of 'whites'. My reaction was more 'awe' than 'rage' but I can totally see her point.

I'm glad so many of you agreed with my Interweave makeover reaction, which I felt wildly snarky about. I fully acknowledge the need to innovate, especially aesthetically, but I couldn't help but feel a good deal of loss. To get over it I placed an order for color cards and yarn samples at the decidedly old school (in the best possible way) Schoolhouse Press. I threw in a wheel of unspun Icelandic and look how neat it is:

It's supposed to be 'nested' in a box, not wound into a ball, and it's like working with cotton candy. Very soft, very lovely.

Project Spectrum: My first Socks that Rock ( lightweight in the Lucy colorway, my mini-review to follow) totally fits this month's call for blue, white and grey, neutrals that I love. Yes, blue is neutral to me. In another 'late to the game' move, I picked Grumperina's Jaywalker for my pattern. If I'd known how addictive and easy to memorize it was I would've knit these a long time ago!! BTW, my new Knitpicks double-pointeds are JUST the thing for all those double decreases.

Stitches West 2007 haul/highlights, or The Gluttony:

Grass green hemp from Lanaknits for a lacy summer top. This booth was an oasis of calm--burlap lined walls just like Moving Mud, clean and modern designs, and a fun 'by-weight' way of buying that A) evokes a farmer's market and B) feels a lot more accurate than buying by the skein. Did I mention hemp is a dirt cheap fiber? For $100 bucks I could have purchased a whole new summer wardrobe. I exercised restraint but I did show a slight moment of weakness when I purchased a...wait for it...poncho pattern. The lovely designer heard me making jokes and said "no no, it's a ponch-ETTE!" Absolved! And a good thing too, since I've admired Winnie's for...3 years now? Yikes! I've got a bit of a backlog going, eh?

I had a blast at the Knitterly booth--the 'creative consultants' (stealing that title!) were decked out in some amazing aprons and their entire booth looked basically like my apartment. I stocked up on that limited edition Soak wash, which I would like to bathe in, and some random stuff--a cute leather bag strap, a funny tote and some pink Koigu that looks like kiddie birthday cake!

A kit for a Habu bag that I've stalked for 4 Stitches now. Takao works her booth with one of these draped across her small frame, knitting swatches with the yarn nested in the bag. I'm thrilled to finally have the pattern, and to have found a kit in such atypical colors (for Habu)--instead of the usual stony neutrals, this one is orange and deep plum. I've started to play with this--it's slow knitting, but so cool. Hmm...I'm just now realizing that the pattern was living in a magazine of mine all along. Oh well, it's still fun to play with the new fibers.

Socks that Rock--I finally joined the cult, in a big way. I walked away with 6 skeins of sock yarn, many patterns and a severe sinking sadness that I wasn't in the Club (for serious, that first kit for this round is so 'me' it hurts!') I started working with the stuff and all I can think of is the sort of ice cream I enjoy--really heavy, extremely rich, full of exciting surprises to excavate with my spoon (or in this case, with each new round) and what gourmands call 'good mouthfeel'. This yarn has fantastic mouthfeel! I'm sure you've heard it called 'delicious' or 'yummy', I never knew how literal the evaluation really was until I started knitting it. Besides the two bright skeins picture first, I gravitated towards all of the colorways with a good dose of white. Odd, since they're so famous for their saturated brights, but I went with it! To my dear friend Andra, it isn't just hype, you have GOT to knit this stuff sometime! I UPS'ed my purchases home and was shocked that it was 8 lbs. In my defense, I had several bottles of wool wash, lotsa hemp (yarn, heh). I had to laugh when I came across this site that calls the yarn "atypically dense". Amen to that!

The lovely Tina at BMFA (I think) laughed at me because I declared myself cut-off many times but kept stalking this amazingly soft top knit with their Bambu--it literally felt like water running through my hands. In the very last TEN MINUTES of the 4 day show she aptly cried "You're obsessing!" and gave me the "pitiful grad student" discount. I couldn't have been more thrilled, I truly did stalk the garment, and probably sold it to ten people while I did so! I was a total pain in the ass picking a color, she said Thunder (stormy pinks and purples), I was contrary and took Savannah (sandy browns and blues with a shot of rust orange), then switched at the last minute, in that panicky insane/typical Stitches customer fashion. Anyhow, I was quite the pusher for their booth and dragged my co-workers Sarah and Karen over before the show opened. They were smart and snagged the Bambu top ingredients the first night, but not before witnessing the stam-PEDE of women running towards the booth the minute the market opened. We kept making bathroom detours to get a fix--a skein here, a pattern there--it kept us sane (make that elated) through the madness!

Lastly, I got a good deal on some Manos del Uraguay. I ripped out my heavy, droopy chunky alpaca version of Hot Lava and will hopefully have more success with this yarn, the one called for in the first place!

Okay, do I feel appropriately guilty yet...? I'd say so. Time to get to work.

CR

It's been awhile!

2007-02-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

I can't post long, I'm heading off to Stitches West in, oh, 4 hours or so! I can tell you that

A. I cheated: I bought yarn! From our competitors, no less! It's for Thermal!

B. I finished: I finished a sock in Gail's Franklin for the store, isn't it gorgeous?!

C. I cheated: I sewed! And I love it!

Mensch, ich muss jetzt schlafen! Bis spader!

CR

First Interweave Review?

2007-02-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

I picked up Interweave Knits Spring 2007 yesterday and after Googling for reviews today and not finding any it occurs to me that I could be one of the first to review it! This never happens! Except you know the whole thing about if you don't have anything nice to say...?

Well...first of all, they've re-designed the magazine. Pam Allen does a great job of explaining the reasoning behind this in her editor's letter but I really don't think I'll get used to it as she urges us to do. I really loved that the layout of Interweave was different from the typical fashion layout with patterns in the back approach. I loved not having to flip back and forth to see a close-up of something. Patterns are now arranged in thematic 'stories' and I hate to say it but I thought it was an ad for several pages before it clicked that I was in fact looking at the heart of the issue! This move towards a more commercial look just doesn't do it for me. But! I'm sure many will love it. Example:

How about a moment of silence for all those involved with the silk thong--designer, future knitters, wearers, um...beneficiaries? I actually love the two camisoles and the socks.

I'll be honest, I was sort of more excited by the actual ads. I tend to not care much for the warm weather issues. I finally 'cheated' on Webs and purchased a set of Options needles:

Shh, don't tell anyone, they might revoke the Ms. Webs crown! Then I'd have to blubber at a podium for a 'second chance'. Speaking of the ads, have you ever seen me so very groomed??

This ad from Blue Moon Fiber Art has me thinking that this will be the year I finally buy some Socks That Rock yarn at Stitches. In the past I've thought my sock knitting skills too shoddy for $$ yarn, but these colors...I just hope they aren't exclusive to the Sock Club. Because I'm a vendor's employee I will have the distinct pleasure of getting a crack at it before the masses descend upon it which, truth be told, is the real reason I haven't purchased any so far. The melee (which I'm sure some of you have been party to!) is downright ugly, I think the word 'scrum' is really accurate.

On the crafty front I made some book weights! This was great practice for making straight seams and just generally getting aquainted with my machine. I made several, tweaking the design as I went. They're filled with popcorn and (I think) adorable! This was all inspired by Anjali asking what to do with very precious fabrics and by Ysolda's amazing Reading Jumper. Ysolda and I even have some reading in common!

My set-up (the awesome mixed-up fairy tale fabric is from the swap I had with Anjali!) EDITED TO ADD: I started whipping these bad boys up for all my grad school friends and one of them called (just as I was sewing his, no less). I excitedly told him about it and he said (in a very HIM tone) "Is it particularly tiring to hold your books open?" I realized that the main reason I was making these was because I knit and read at the same time unless the book won't stay open. Other people don't necessarily have this problem, but I did make a pretty good case for free hands leading to better notes. I tell you, as a grad student reading is no laughing matter. We continually have debates about favorite highlighter brands, scamming free copies and holding books hostage from the library. Good times!

That is a Zimmerman book in the back there, I needed some reading knitting of my own so I cast on for a Baby Surprise Jacket (my first!). A professor/friend is having twins soon (a boy and a girl!) and while they wanted gender neutral, I couldn't help putting these colors together. They will most likely have dark hair (who knows, but one of the parents is Italian and dark hair IS a dominant traits...) so I hope the brown is suitably non-traditional for them. Now to decide which side is cuter...I'm thinking 'wrong', the one with more striping!

Lord knows I love my stripes...

CR

5 Things+then some (a F.O., even!)

2007-01-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Into the Fray quite awhile ago! I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy. These 5 things might not fall into the 'weird' category, but they are frivolous little factoids about me that the average Skrilla dabbler might not come across.

1. I have always had a love affair with magazines. I used to think that I wanted to be a magazine journalist and pursued this for about 2.5 years in college. I made a zine in high school called Wit's Ashtray under the pen name Rebel Without Applause. A highlight was when a local (this was in Germany) hardcore band mentioned it at a show of theirs while I was in the audience. Now I just cut my mags up and use them for design inspiration. Here are some pages from my notebook that is full of these clippings:

2. I have a serious salt problem. I often joke that I want a salt lick, like a deer. Eric is always begging me to go easy, and he's right. It's in my blood (no blood pressure pun intended), my Nana loves her salty Italian cold cuts and Dirty Martinis. For me it's salt and vinegar chips, French Fries (with mayo no less, what's up heart disease??) and popcorn. I get by with nutritional yeast sometimes.

3. I am fastidious about school/office supplies and anything related to them. This is slightly OCD, but I can't bear smudges, crinkled edges, sudden pen color switches. I once wrote and performed a song (spontaneously) that sums up the level of crazy this involves--it's called 'Tape Lamination' and it is sung to the tune of the Bee Gee's 'More than a Woman'. Crazy, I know, but when I spill coffee on my notebooks I just WIPE it off!

4. I actually hate shopping. I am very sad that my beloved local Trader Joes is getting more and more crowded. It used to remind me of the old mini-market exhibit at the Boston Children's Museum. I am in love with Internet shopping because it allows me to A. not drive, B. comparison shop until I'm blue in the face without getting the eye from store owners, C. support friends with stores and fellow crafters, D. act like Veruca Salt and get basically anything I want in the world. I know that sounds terrible, and fear not, I support local merchants as often as I can but places like Ex Libris Anonymous and the like make me very happy. Also, like all humans, I love getting mail.

5. I can't believe I'm going to turn 25 this year. I still feel like a little girl.

Time for a mini book review! I've gushed about Built by Wendy enough, and I sorta feel like it's already old news in Blogland. And a quick Google search just turned up a far better review for this book than I would've written.

I'll just add that I find the clear pictures very helpful for a new sewer like myself. They are probably embarrassingly simplistic but I think the assumption that a verbal description is sufficient is a major failing of most sewing books.

The photography is gorgeous, spare, tres chic and all that. I have been batting around the idea of writing a paper on the Anthropologie aesthetic that seems to authoritatively dominate anything geared towards young crafty types with cultural capital to spare. The A-word has been uttered by stylists at several of the photoshoots I've done and it seems to be heavily ripped off in the catalog world in general. There is also the influence it has with crafters--I wonder what the numbers are for people like me, who get the catalog and pore over it (sometimes going as far as interpreting the designs) but can rarely afford to buy any of it. I'd like to get to the bottom of its appeal.

This is my favorite project in the whole book. I still die laughing everytime I see a granny cart because it reminds me of Grumperina's saga about her granny cart breaking and no one in Cambridge helping her. I can't for the life of me find the post on her blog, but it was super, super horrible/funny.

I finished some socks for a friend who recently turned 31 and will be starting to write his dissertation soon. He claims that he loves tweed but doesn't wear it because he doesn't want to be a 'professorial cliche'. I figure this way no one has to know. I knit them toe-up because I was wary about my yarn, but each sock took less than a ball of Regia 6-ply tweed. I knit it them on size 3 Susan Bates. I'd started them on 2s but that was nearly cardboard. These were supposed to have an 'embossed' (read: purl stitches) monogram but it looked crap so I skipped it. It was also supposed to have a 'princess foot' (read: reverse stockinette sole) as a joke (as in, he is a delicate flower) but it looked odd and I skipped that too. Yawnsville, but still, a finished object(s).

The best part of this process was taking my pattern book to a copy shop and having them chop the spine, drill holes and spiral bind it for me so it will lay flat! I can't take credit for this (a Webs customer came in with all of her books sporting this treatment once) but that doesn't stop me from feeling WICKED CLEVER whenever I look at it.

Still with me? Here are some randoms, Eric wearing a LOT of handknits at Mass MOCA (it was great, you have to go and see the Notion Nanny):

Just a few more sew-y pictures including my ham (hee hee!):

Some more fabric:

A few more 1.99 patterns:

And my current WIP, for the store. This is Valley Yarn's new sock yarn Franklin in Mountain Spring, dyed by Gail the Kangaroo Dyer. Very pretty and knits sort of like Lorna's Laces. It's hanging out with my new textbooks right now. I should quit blogging and attend to both...

Have a great week and sorry for the sporadic and massive posting habit I've gotten into =)

CR

SYNERGY!

2007-01-27T07:26:00.000-08:00

Wow--so the whole world wants me to be a sewist. At least that's the pep talk I'm giving myself.

As I've said in my recent post, my yarn diet has mutated into a sewing notion, fabric buying monster. It's ugly, but awesomely fun. The notions live here:

And the fabric lives in these:

At the helm is wonderful Wendy Mullin and her book Sew U. I'm treating it as an old fashioned 'home correspondence course' and working my way through the book. I'm still in the 'getting all my gear' phase but soon I'll be tearing into my 15 yard bolt of muslin (one of the items on the gear list) to test out my new and fantastic retro looking machine. Did I mention that while trolling Wendy's past collections I've come across amazing 'models' like Amy Sedaris, David Cross and Amy Pohler? Well, I have, and this is proof that I'm chosen the perfect mentor.

Anyhow, I've been making a pest of myself at my local Jo-Anns (they did not appreciate it when I giggled after asking where I could find a dressmaker's ham) and I purchased one of Wendy's Built by You patterns. Later on, as I inspected my receipt, I realized that it was only 1.99!!! This had to be a mistake. I returned, learned that it wasn't and promptly got almost all of them, for less than 1/2 the price of just ONE at full price!

I am sending some to my favorite knitwear designer Stefanie, who is also feeling a bit of bobbin lust, a thank you gift of sorts. I needed to hear advice from an academic who is having a hardcore affair with crafts and she was just the lady to ask. Thanks again, Glampyre =) Oh, and in a show of solidarity at being photographed for knitterly purposes:

"I have to take like 50 photos and then go back through and throw out the badhair ones and the fatface ones, and all of the crazyeye ones…it’s so hard. I hate it."

The latest Webs catalog is hitting mailboxes soon. The sweaters are awesome again, especially Kirsten Hipsky--I don't understand why her fingers aren't bloody bones by now. Sorry, too gruesome? She manages to whip up sweater after sweater, all of them ingeniously constructed and truly unique in some way. In between amazing top-down gansey creations she creates gorgeous, gorgeous lace as if bewitched. I'm serious. She is one to watch people (though sadly, blogless).

I'll refrain from harping about my lazy eye and...Rubenesque face...and more questionable expressions. Let's just say I'm thrilled to be wearing such stunning, eye-catching sweaters. Heh.

Back to Built by Wendy--I'm reading my favorite magazine and I come across a piece on Kansas City. I saw a girl who looked familiar--Jenny Gordy, who entered the Sew U contest and is apparently another awesome Kansan designer/crafter/blogger. Inspiring? Yes.

That is all! I'm off to Mass MOCA free day! And it's snowing, finally!

CR

Neophyte

2007-01-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

Um. I may have...purchased another sewing machine? It seemed like a really good deal at the time...which was 4 a.m. I've had a raging case of bronchitis, and I'm not getting a whole lot of oxygen to the old brain. It still seems like a good deal to me 24 hours after the purchase, it has a metal frame and button hole function which are really the only two things I wanted that my awesome Hello Kitty machine doesn't have (also a Janome). I will work up the courage to get my 1940s Singer up and running...one day. Ambika over at the Fray is also working up the sewing nerve.

My knit from the stash vow has actually morphed into a glut of sewing purchases. I should really just stop going to Emily's blog so often, it always ends in monetary bloodshed, this time on a formidible (for me) Reprodepot haul and a nice selection of cheap New Look Simplicity Patterns to supplement the Sew U and Vogue Sewing I got for Christmas. I've read a lot of the Sew U book and I'm really digging the way it's written. Very reassuring.

A lot of cute freebies in the package! Maybe because I'm sort of their neighbor? They're based in Easthampton in Eastworks, same building at Lexie Barnes. I've been dying to make an order since I walked by their mini-warehouse during the photoshoot, drooling.

Details on all of this on my Flickr page.

This one is yet to arrive, and there is a mini-saga surrounding it:

I went on a cloth-y vision quest to score this beauty. After seeing an amazingly cute 21 wale corduroy Robert Kaufman print crop up on several Northwest blogs, I went on a copycat rampage hunting for it. A British site was selling it for double it's ordinary price, and I didn't feel up for paying that in addition to international shipping rates. I found some on JCaroline, but I really just wanted this plummy colorway.

I started to write a pleady email to Mariko begging for a one-time Super Buzzy "special" order then it occurred to me to just call the Fabric Depot where all these ladies bought the fabric. It isn't listed on their website but after many calls back and forth, they found it for me and are sending me yardage in my #1 color choice! They were short staffed because of the huge storm they're dealing with but they were great. I know first hand how hard it is to deal with a crazed crafter on a hunt and they were awesome. I'll be using it to make this very cute dress.

Anyhow. Clearly, I can't wait to get sewing. Next post, I promise to knock your SOCKS off (wink) with a couple of very clever things...

CR

Wa-wow-whee-whoa!

2007-01-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

So. The world is conspiring against me and my habit. I got a clever, but irritating email from Knit Picks offering me a plethora of ways to organize my stash. I have it pretty under control but I've been making an effort to photograph it all so I have a inventory that allows me to "look" at my yarn without digging it out of its various hiding places. After reading these posts from Dena and Veronique I realized that my stash is a monster. This was affirmed when I started uploading to Flickr and had to upgrade to a Pro account to fit all the pictures. Here are the grand totals for my tags (I'm new at Flickr, and for those who are also: those are the labels I put on each picture)--be aware that there are some overlaps and exceptions! I've included WIPs, some of the yarn was tagged with 'sweater' and 'cardigan' because I haven't decided yet.

Sweater: 50
Cardigan: 39
Coat: 3
Jacket (really, this should just be lumped with the Cardigan category):9
Tank: 16
Vest: 6 (meaning I'd wear a shirt underneath, in true 'sweatervest' fashion)
Socks: 43 (pairs)
Lace: 15
Shawl: 12
Scarf: 21
Wrap: 7
Hat: 16
Gloves: 6
Handwarmers: 4
Bag: 7
Toy: 3
Pillow: 1
Random: 60+ balls of varying sizes

The only stomach turning parts of this exercise? Realizing that I don't have any crappy yarn. I've edited all of it out and now I'm left with a huge stash that I don't want to give up. Sigh. Also, I hardly ever finish the socks I start but I find sock yarn to be the most collectible thing in the world--cheap, colorful, fun...gotta stop!

What does this mean? Sign me up for Knit From Your Stash 2007. It seems like everyone has a long list of clauses that allow them to enage in stash enhancement but I'm really interested in reducing my stash so I've kept mine to a minimum:

-if I'm running out of a project yarn.
-if it's already in my hold bag or on order as of 1/10/2007 (I just edited my hold bag at work, and I have two orders out for small bits of yarn).
-if I'm out of state and happen to find something really cool that will commemorate a trip (I'm hoping to travel much more this year, and then there is Stitches West...)

Okay, that's not so minimum...time for me to get knitting!

Oh, and hello to all the new commenters! I promise, most posts aren't as photoshooty as the last one.

CR

P.S. ETA: I just placed an order at Namemaker for two different kinds of custom labels. This will hopefully be incentive to finish, finish, finish!

Resolved.

2007-01-02T17:23:00.001-08:00

Hi, Happy New Year! I just installed Photoshop which should help me to be a better blogger in two specific ways--I would like to venture out of the apartment for more of the photos I take, and I'd like to update more frequently so that I don't have to make these massive photo-heavy posts every two weeks. I've been "busy" but in a very scattered way, but I promise that 2007 will (hopefully) see a more focused Skrilla...

Eric and I went to Salvie's in Spencer, MA and I cleaned up quite nicely. I wasn't expecting to find anything, but I found some irresistible basics. Too 'boring to photograph': a black merino cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves, a tight and tagless black cashmere (?) sweater with some holes that make it look very cool and deconstructed, and a big wooly saddle shouldered sack the color of pea soup. Also, a cashmere/silk/wool (79% cashmere!) cardigan, with huge already mended holes in the elbows, which I patched!

Clearly, I'm quite happy with the result. I wanted to go with fuschia or lime green but Eric talked me into a nice neutral brown. It's some brand of alpaca knit in seed stitch. If anyone would like specific directions, let me know. This was quick and I feel like it's a whole new, much cooler sweater now.

Since I pretty much only shop Salvie's and sale racks, I've started to splurge on good shoes. This is kind of justifiable because I have a tarsal coalition that I don't "treat" in any other way, but it can be quite painful when I'm standing or walking for a long period of time. Anyhow, I suddenly get the fuss! I tried the felt ones at first and couldn't get a good fit, but these are amazing! I saw Kate wearing these at Webs and instantly realized that the strap would keep me from falling out and twisting my (already bad) ankle. She also made me realized that they're the perfect way to show off handknit socks. Now, to knit them...heh.

Occupying both the small improvements/thrift store score category is my Ganomey with an (improvised) flower pin. If you want details, I can give 'em but I'm actually planning to make a lot of these and then post about my 'technique'. Also featured: my 100% lambswool scarf, woven in Scotland, a whopping $1.50!! Look at that sky! That's my favorite, pastel sky and black black trees. Nikki McClure does a lot of that:

Earlier today I saw beautiful tree that looks like a woman in a backward yoga bend:

What next? Knitting? Clothes? I suppose this 1/2 an Enid is both:

In other news, I hacked up an old sweater, felted it and covered a little lumbar support pillow with it. The rest of it will become a new apron for Stitches West in February. Maybe this year the temps in Cali won't be freakishly cold again. We rented a convertible and it was miserable! P.S. Why haven't I been privvy to the amazing Nigella before today?? I mean, I knew of her but I was sort of over all the celeb-chefness...she is so so cool. I should've known, two favorite bloggers are always raving about her.

Another clothes/knit combo, a Calorimetry in Alchemy Lonestar in my new favorite color and an amazing wool/cashmere jacket that I scored for under 10 bucks.

I suspect it was homemade from a Vogue Pattern, a lot of the seams are lumpy and look at this label:

Another score, a little boy's school blazer:

Uh, I've been watching a lot of America's Next Top Model reruns...Eric just said "ohhh, are you in the Strokes??" Yeah, so I'm practicing poses because I was more than a little stiff at my last faux-toe shoot. I seem to be stuck with the hands-jammed-in-pockets approach.

And my last ridiculously lucky find, a grey J.Crew all-wool sweater with lonnnng PUFFED SLEEVES (what's up, Anne Shirley?) and a cute keyhole closure in the back.

Lesson for the day--one ladies trash is another's treasure =)

CR

Ack.

2006-12-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

That's right, ack. I'm trying to finish end of the year work and it's not...working. I was planning on NOT gifting this year because A) I didn't have time for a repeat knit performance of last year and I didn't have time to shop for everyone. I happen to come from a long line of very finicky, very wise shoppers, and it's a daunting task. I didn't want to resort to scratch tickets or Dunkin' Donuts gift cards (though I would if they promise to never hire a new ad manager, ever). So I did this:

I have about 12 more to make. They're so fun! Pattern in Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick. They make me laugh an inordinate amount. Anyhow, back to work with me...

Cirilia

Heh...

2006-12-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

If I were a smoker, my knitting would be the equivilent of chain smoking--only taking several drags from each cigarette before I stubbed it out and cast on--er, lit up another. I got an itch to have a nice cozy sweater that I could, oh I don't know, wear this winter. I cast on for Spray in Rowan Plaid and one bad Audrey Hepburn movie later (Paris When it Sizzles), I had this:

Soft stuff, if mostly acrylic...

And again, with the goofy hats! I can't get enough of them, though I think they seriously embarrass those around me. The old lady in me doesn't give a hoot! This is an Elizabeth Zimmerman Ganomy hat from the Knitter's Almanac. Everyone--do yourself a favor--skip two lattes and BUY THIS BOOK. This is honestly my bedtime story. It's so oddly soothing, and funny.

I get such a thrill out of clever hats. I think the amazingly engineered ear flaps on this one make me look like a little Dutch girl. And look, it's my unblocked Weasley sweater--she wouldn't have blocked it, so I didn't either. I just put all the HP films in my Netflix queue--nothing makes me feel Christmas..ier.

Before I start swatching for the Enid-Along, I wanted to finish this old knit-along garment. I can't wait to have it done now that I've picked it up again--top-down/Stefanie Japel, you never fail me!

I even have the perfect buttons picked out...

This week, two very exciting things occur. The second Webs catalog photoshoot, with actual hair and makeup people, so key to me looking not wan but instead super-fancy. Also, Cinemaknits moves to the Valley!! SO excited about this. A knitter's party is totally in order and will happen after the holidays.

I've had the itch to travel recently. To London, or Montreal. Somewhere where there is an actual winter! I'm dreamily gazing at these fantastically modern Icelandic pieces to tide me over.

New Knitty--EHHHH. I mean it. Very impressed by accessories. Namely these lovelies. I wanted to dismiss Calorimetry as a cheap Panta rip-off but I think it's different enough to start it's very own craze.

I'll leave you with a better picture of Eric in his Cycling Aran, since the last ones were all doom and gloom. We're going to see the Evens tonight--a wool-respecting couple if there e'er were one.

Over and out,

Cirilia

P.S. Eric, spot the ancient history reference in this picture. Prize: High five.

Knitting for Boys.

2006-12-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

I present, Eric's Cycling Aran, as seen on HelloYarn! Knit in Lamb's Pride Bulky, Bulldog Blue, zipper ordered from Zipperstop, a hilariously patriotic and efficient zipper dealer who I will order from again.

These pictures are quick and dirty, he was flying out the door. I'm just happy that it fits! That is a relative 'it fits', by the way, I can see that the sleeves are really baggy and that it might be too short, but I blame Eric, aka Stretch's gangly bod for that.

The cool green lining, Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere. In honor of the fact that Eric eats about 19 green apples a day. His way of telling doctors to bugger off.

Yeah, I can see how much it is rippling. I should've figured out how many stitches to pick up instead of just winging it. This was already the second collar, so I was getting impatient. The first strangled Eric. This one closes, at least, and the puffy lining serves as...an air-insulated pillow...for maximum...comfort...yeah. No more detail pics, I'm not proud of my finishing. Sigh.

In case anyone was wondering--the curse did indeed strike! Since Eric is a knitter I don't think it was the constant fussing and fitting that did it, but in any case, feel free to use us as more "evidence" in the case for the curse. Sigh.

I came across this picture on MySpace:

It is Yoni Wolf, lead singer of a favorite band, Why? Earlier this year I had maybe the best time ever ditching a Boston Yo La Tengo show he was opening for and running to the MFA with him to see Joanna Newsom play outdoors in an idyllic garden. Anyhow, I knit that hat for him! He is vegan so I used Knit One Crochet Too Wick which is made from tofu industry waste...and...polypropelyne.

It was cool to work with but there were KNOTS, tons of them, and the stuff sure as heck doesn't spit splice. The hat was a mess, but it was a birthday present so I just sent it off, not even thinking he'd really wear it. But here he is, out on the road somewhere, wearing it! I don't know who that rosy-cheeked hussy is...hey, look, another hat of mine!

Speaking of Knit One Crochet Too, I just finished ANOTHER HelloYarn inspired knit! Wow, I think I have a knit-crush. This one is out of four colors (which four? I forget!) of their lovely Paintbox, which feels the way I wish Reynolds Lite Lopi did. It is LONG, and I actually am proud of my techniques on this one. I carried the yarn up the side and slipped a stitch on the other to get equally neat (though not identical) edges. It's lovely. I call it my Liminal scarf, since I've been buried in Victor Turner all week, heck, all semester, really.

I've been noticing lately that I do a lot of "easy" knitting. I think it is because I am always multi-tasking, and can't handle complicated patterns while doing something else. There is also a 'playing it safe' element in operation...I usually don't wear/use the knits I spent the most time making. How about you?

Please, do yourself a favor and watch this fricking hilarious clip from SNL. I am a Bust Magazine subscriber and the last issue featured an interview with Amy Poehler wherein she advocated the return of 1970s bush, or what she calls the "high and wide". I am so happy that this line of thinking has a place in "mainstream comedy". Using humor as a rhetorical device is a completely under-utilized form of feminism in my opinion. To be honest, I'm really excited about the prospect of studying this next year when I take a course on the politics of sexual representation with Lisa Henderson.

The end!

CR

P.S. I'm going to a cocktail party hosted by a contributor to Bitch magazine this weekend--jealous?? ;) Also, I found an Enid Knit-Along and will be starting with them on the 1st of January.

New Lexie!

2006-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

SO, as you know, I've been modeling a fair bit this year. It all started with Lexie Barnes, who hired me after I helped her pick out some prop knitting paraphernalia at Webs and basically had an epileptic fit over her be-skulled Hermosa bags. I dressed as TWO of her prints for Halloween
and the rest was waterproof, pocketful history. Like the Hair Club for Men dude, I'm not just the model, I'm also a hardcore fan. I rarely drive and every time I get caught in some shite weather I look at my laminated bag and say "BLESS YOU, LEXIE BARNES."

Well, Lexie's newest batch of beauties has arrived. I can't tell you how fun it is to hang out with my psuedo-baby (her actual baby) all day in Eastworks especially because her aesthetic goals are so rad. Since I have been obsessively watching Audrey Hepburn films (for academic reasons, I swear ;) I found myself feeling inspired by "Funny Face", dancer feet and black flats, etc. In one picture, I'm reading a Rome travel guide. It's like a mini-homage!

Here are some pictures from last time:

Time to get ready for the thanks giving! Have a happy day.

Cirilia

Enid, anyone?

2006-11-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know of a knit-along for Veronik Avery's Enid cardigan in the latest Interweave?

I loved it in the magazine and even more when I saw it at Stitches East--the details on this sweater are fantastic and I think it's the perfect balance between challenging (for me) techniques and long stretches of stockinette in the round that I can do while reading. Which is all the time.

I have concerns about this off the shoulder issue, though. Could it just be a poor fit for the model, or does that look like a design flaw?

I'm pretty terrible at knit-alongs and have joined several and then put the sweaters aside. Because of this knitter's A.D.D. I don't think I want to be the head of a knit-along. Then again, I have been much better at finishing things lately. In fact, Eric's Cycling Aran is all done, just waiting on a zipper!

Time to go proctor an exam (whoo hoo!),

CR

Belated Stitches East Wrap-Up

2006-11-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

Once again, Stitches yielded plenty of cool encounters with knitting personalities. I fawned over an older woman's hip, Sgt. Pepper style jacket and realized that I was chatting with none other than Jean Frost, probably the knitting world's master of jacket design. She wasn't wearing a nametag and said that she prefers to go "incognito" when shopping. I spotted Brandon Mably knitting fantastic stripes with Kidsilk Haze and he reavealed that it was his Christmas knitting but that might end up in a Rowan magazine. He joked about how awkward it'll be to give the gift then snatch it back to be photographed. Saw Kaffe Fassett as well, he wears red pants. I have a rule about people who wear red pants or shoes--I like them. The impracticality, the non-neutrality, I just like them. Oh, and Andra wore these high-tech killers for the whole show, so naturally, we're BFF.

Speaking of knitting being photographed! My Stiring Cloche and many other fabulous Webster-designed patterns are now available for purchase in One-Skein Wonders! I was at Barnes and Noble the other day for a meeting with a professor and after I wandered over to the knitting section...there I was! I almost told a total stranger, I was so excited.

I got to see my little sister and my mother while in Baltimore, but I think I was a bit of a killjoy. I was ex-HAUSTED and we went to the aquarium, where there was a frog exhibit. I have a real problem with frogs--a serious aversion at best, a crippling phobia at worst. After stepping into realistic rainforest display I was in immediate need of an emergency exit. See the post-panic sweaty face?

Onto the haul! Some Lexie factory seconds, these are mostly "minis", which are like the fanciest, handiest, biggest Ziplock baggies a girl can have. I collect them like they're baseball cards. Also, a prototype needle case. We just had another photoshoot (mega fun), so watch for updates on her site and here.

Delicious chartruese Koigu, for gloves or socks and one skein of a delicious plum for...something.

Brooks Farms (of course). This was a very special one-off sort of yarn called Limited Edition II. It's a 50/50 wool/mohair single ply. It's so cool, it's fingering weight but thick and thin as well...I didn't really know this was possible, and I've certainly never seen anything like it. I indulged in two 420 yard skeins and I'm hoping to make a version of Ella from Knitty. I saw one at Stitches and it was really off-kilter and unique, I think it'll look amazing in this yarn.

One skein of Duet in a truly vibrant turquoise. Kathy (Mrs. Webs) couldn't resist the booth either and scored many luscious skeins. I've stashed quite a bit of it now and it's all destined to become wraps.

Last little bit of yarn (with some Lexie bags in the background!): rosy pink Primero for a flower, scarf-ette, lace beret, something...

I also found old copies of some great patterns, including the knitted stitch motif pullover in Wool Gathering #70 and an adorable duo from Cottage Creations.

Speaking of scarves, I made a version of the Purl Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I held a strand of Malibrigo Super Bulky in Sealing Wax, a strand of Classic Elite Miracle in Cuban Sunset and a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Marmalade. It's seed stitch, very long and fringed. Basic basic, I didn't fuss over getting a detail shot, but I like this aerial view of my ugly pug rug.

Another one is in the works, this time inspired by Hello Yarn's two color Noro scarves. I used Knit One Crochet Too's Paintbox in four different shades...don't remember which ones...heh. I'm carrying yarn up the side and slipping one stitch on the other edge, they're looking very tidy.

It's not mine, but this lady had the nicest striped shawl at Stitches...she just "made it up" with her scraps. Love that. After seeing so many Clapotis, it was like lemon sorbet.

Oh, Tim arrived! Amy of Webs got it for me as a going away gift and he is currently presiding over my every study session, urging me to "make it work". His head isn't as bobbly as most other bobble heads, but that's fitting somehow.

I've saved the best for last--thanks to the dear Andra I was able to grab a picture with Berroco big guns Margery Winter and Norah Gaughan. Andra made the ultra-flattering remark that I'm going to look like Margery when I "grow up". This is a super exciting prospect for me, and with a nod toward the Margery, I just purchased my first pair of Danksos (she has patent leather, I got these). These ladies (the Heathers of knitting, and I say that with total adoration) joined me at lunch one day, along with an editor from Vogue Knitting. We talked shop (ha) and I got to take a look at what's in store for spring/summer Berroco. Very modern, deconstructed (but clean) lines, very cool. Later, Norah borrowed a tapestry needle, which will now be bronzed.

I'm only half kidding.

CR

P.S. I seem to have a uniform for meeting knitting superstars...

Are you ready?

2006-10-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The post I've owed for over a month! Speaking of the temporal (mmm, tempura...) my Blog-o-versary has occured since my last entry. It's so nice to have a record of what I've been up to this year. My entries might be slowing but it doesn't mean my craft-love has!

First things first: Anjali and I had a little swap toward the end of the summer and I never shared the haul. Everything was mega-kawaii, even the envelope:

There was an awesome Japanese sewing magazine, some kinako (to make these, mmm) tons of her famous Friday candy and the greatest bobby pins ever made! These things are industrial strength, and they work wonders on my heavy, psuedo-Asian hair.

A close-up of some of the awesome fabric which will come in so handy when I fire up my new, not-just-a-toy sewing machine. Supposedly it's the same machine as the well-reviewed Janome Sew Mini. Anyway, check out those red pencil hair sticks! They could be chopsticks but I was using them to secure scary teacher buns, they're so funny!

Onto the finished objects! I made another tree pillow, this time for my father's wedding. The pattern specs remain the same but this time I used Misti Baby Alpaca Chunky in Forest Green Melange. The crocheted edging is Reynolds Rapture a substantial and slightly shiny yarn. The backing fabric was a total fluke, it was just in my meager fabric stash and saved me a trip to the fabric store. Overall, a lumpy but hopefully charming throw pillow.

Next up, a beret! I feel about beret's the way I did about my Panta last year. I knit it in two days and wore it for a week straight. Knit from very affordable, very effin' lovely angora. The flower is my favorite part, it's the same as this bloom, knit with scraps of RYC Cashsoft Aran and Kidair. This is with the self-timer and candlelight setting on my new camera (which totally RULES):

And a normal one, more representative of the colors. Oh, see my necklace? It's from Emily/the Black Apple and I love it. Her post about vanity is, like her artwork, delicate and frank at the same moment.

Speaking of amazing artisans, this was my birthday present this year! Her name is Scrunchfaced Redhead and she'll be done veddy soon. Also upcoming: chunky winter accessories (multiplying like bunnies these days ) and Eric's cycling Aran.

Oh yeah, Bloom. I forgot to mention her...because she is the plainest sweater vest I e'er did knit. The Felted Tweed is DIVINE but this was my reading knitting, barely anything thinking required. It turned out too long (gauge issues most likely, I couldn't be bothered to check...) and it's folded under in this picture.

Lastly, isn't this the prettiest wine bottle you've every seen? I went to see "Marie Antoinette" today and it was similarly gorgeous. I'm not one for rococo but I still loved the explosion of color and structured silhoutttes. Jason Schwarztman and Kirsten Dunst were quietly enchanting and she was impetuous without a hint of brattiness. The film opened with a scene involving a pug that hit a little too close to home but it was uphill after that.

Until next time,

Cirilia

Hi!

2006-10-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

Knitters, not only am I not dead, I've been finishing projects like mad and just can't find the time to post about them. Or respond to your awesome comments, which always make me smile a weak, coffee-stained smile. I hope everyone had a great time at Rhinebeck--I managed to not make it AGAIN (pout). Bummer, too, it's probably the only time I could've gone and been half as famous as some of the bloggers out there (for being the Webs summer cover girl).

Oh well. I have LOTS to tell you, LOTS. SooooOOOooon...

CR

Happy Birthday to me (and Glampyre and Knitting Iris!)

2006-09-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ich bin vier und zwanzig! That's a big deal for me. I feel like I'm now squarely and fairly in my mid-twenties. It's nice. I've got a minor cold so I'm celebrating with some soup (chicken/lemon/rice/GARLIC), some ice cream (those two guys from up North...) and a DVD (The Dreamers).

I have been treating myself to lots of prizes lately (as my Nana calls them) so I didn't really expect anything grand for my birthday. I obnoxiously begged Eric to get me a custom Monster Hat Kit though (first time I have ever requested a specific item!) and I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival. It's funny, I've spent a lot of time lately thinking of ways to look a little older than the undergrads I'm teaching but I still usually want to dress like a crazed toddler/bag lady. Think Clementine in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I've made some new friends but I don't know if they're ready to be seen with me when I wear my loud, full-length anti-winter defense, which starts with long underwear and ends with this, but in blue. And soon, a Monster!

The other presents were the direct result of me ready Mariko's amazing blog Super Eggplant. I bought some Crocs, which I regret mocking all summer! They are so super comfortable! And the new ballet flat shape I picked looks pretty mod, in my opinion. The funniest part of this purchase is that I bought one size smaller than usual because I'd heard they run really large. They ended up being just a little too small and since the place I got them doesn't pick up the tab for shipping like Zappos so I put them up on eBay. I have MORE than recouped my cost, it's ridiculous!!

While I was on eBay I looked around to see what Kodak EasyShares were selling for. I bought one on the cheap at Staples and it just wasn't thrilling me on any level. One of the few times I've regretted cheapin' out. I stumbled across one of these in icy blue. The auction was several moments away from ending, the price was right....happy birthday to me! I love it! To herald it's arrival, a pictorial tour of my new digs at UMass:

View from my office windows, which I hear are very easily infiltrated by brazen squirrels (non-sarcastic yay!)

My desk, which came complete with coffee stains!

A close-up of Dolores, my new and lovely laptop.

Homey, eh?

Just a few of the books I've been intimate with the past few weeks.

Gratuitious exploration of the "retro" feature on the camera.

A bitchin' updo that only lasted a few hours because it exposed way too much sickly tired face for the good of mankind. Thanks to Anjali for the Japanese bobby pins--they were made to hold hair that is the weight texture of some grandiose satin drapes (not as fun as it sounds).

Last thing: a beautiful commerical which I found at the beautiful blog Black Apple.

Have a beautiful Saturday!

CR

Edit/update: Just saw these in the window of Artisan Gallery, these shoes are works of art, especially the women's vintage line. Also, for people in the Valley, Zen is very delicious and reasonable!

Sojurn...

2006-09-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

I owe emails left and right and I'm sorry I've been away. I am totally swamped with the transition from Webs to graduate school so I'm not doing much knitting...but I should be, I have a few pressing knitting "assignments", all due before the middle of October.

I also have a new laptop (which is black cherry metallic and super helpful) and camera (which may be a piece of crap)! This means that when I do have time to knit I will most definitely make the time to blog it.

My cohort is great, everyone is very honest and bright and the existing grad students seem like a fun group as well. We'll see how I feel at the end of this week after my first courses (on both sides of the educational exchange).

<3,

Cirilia

Edging toward adulthood...

2006-08-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from Stitches Midwest. Once again, it was great fun. I feel like they're little five-day internships for me because I learn so much from Andra and the Elkins, directly and indirectly. They're all very shrewd people and I mean that in the best way. I feel like a broken record saying this but this year has held so many surprises for me, and so much unexpected training. I just wanted to have a way to pay my share of the rent but instead I discovered a whole other career possibility and got a crash course from people who are right on top of the industry--ridiculous luck, eh?

But enough about that, you probably want to see my haul, eh? Well, it is small but precious. The first thing that caught my eye was this giant shawl pin hanging on the burlap walls of the Moving Mud booth. It looks like a huge piece of cherry candy!

The artists and owners staff the booth and they (Sarena and Jon or maybe Serena and John) are both lovely, hilarious people and their glass has to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated. They just had a tiny newborn baby, Scout and she was super fun to make faces at and coo over. I ran into Jillian Moreno and she agreed--Jillian by the way is gorgeous!! Perfect skin and blue eyes and her hair is a mass of curls the color of my shawl pin! She wore a rocking black vintage shirt-dress with big yellow roses on it--Girl is straight-up fashion plate.

Some Brooks Farms Primero in a very mermaid-y color, a gift! Thank you, giftee =) There was a mega-soft sample with a halo that looked and felt more like angora but Sherry the dyer confirmed that it was just well-loved Primero. While I was talking to Randall from Brooks Farms he noticed my name and asked if I would be okay with them using it! I said it'd be an honor, their stuff is gorrrrrrrrrrrgeous! We'll see what happens with that.

Speaking of hand-dyed yarn, Gail's yarn did VERY well and I had to reserve this one for myself because it looks exactly like a real rainbow. Oh and it happens to match the other shawl pin I picked up from Moving Mud:

Shelridge Farm was right across the way and after squeezing a few of the super soft woolie skeins I had to buy a few.

Believe it or not, I got tons of crap from my co-workers every time I bought something. I was called a sucker a number of times, which only pissed me off the 18th time I heard it. Whatever, it was a welcome change to be the yarn customer and not the yarn seller. I want to make something vaugely Icelandic with this.

I also got a few things from Habu, a booth filled with modern, Matrix-y sweaters knit in very cool fibers. It got more of what I bought at West, a kid mohair silk thing in greenish pewter and some vegetable dyed cashmere.

Koigu, in a wildly pretty coral pink:

And a demure beige/sage/purple mix that will become gloves for me:

And guess what--I actually knit! This is the first of two Blooms (like this one), about 1/4 done:

The color (Treacle--think Harry Potter would find me fetching in it?) is soooo cool, a reddish brown-black with yellow and blue tweed nubs. I'm really into yellow these days, oddly.

Well, that's everything. It's the final countdown at Webs. Graduate school starts soon and if I stop to think about it I'll definitely start to fret about it. Guess I'll just dive into the fall magazines and start sketching so that when I get my birthday present to myself I will be ready to rip.

Hardwood floor,

Cirilia

P.S. Yeah, I know, I gorged. I feel slightly guilty. I'm having a tag and/or eBay sale soon to make up for it. Speaking of guilt and eBay...I just purchased my shoes for grad school. In an effort to look a little less teenaged I have been slowly inching toward shoes that are more substantial than my favorite Reef flip-flop/Vans slip-on rotation. I refuse to be uncomfortable and I am wildly picky about shoes, but I finally settled on these Frye Campus boots. I have always liked the look, it's been around since the 70s and everyone on Zappos swears that they're sturdy and comfy. I like the heel and the height and I think the robin's egg blue/grey is something that will force me to put together creative outfits. I hope. Fingers crossed!

It's TOO NICE!

2006-08-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

To stay indoors. So Eric and I finally went to Look Park. It just made us want to go camping or hiking for real, but it was nice to be out in the lovely non-scorching sunshine. Plus, there was a petting zoo!

Pigmy Goat butt! I swear he was posing for the people on the other side of the fence.

Spooning bunnies!

This guy was so mellow!

Even though we didn't have any wholesome foods to offer.

The best/worst part of the day was watching a crappy Dad climb over barriers to take close-up pictures of a bald eagle. Bad example, Pops. He also called a pair of owls "fuckers" for not doing anything interesting for him to photograph. They're nocturnal, genius! Not to mention caged.

Good day,

Cirilia

"It's TOO GOOD!"

2006-08-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

That's what Carrie Bradshaw said over and over again when she first stepped into The Vogue Closet. That's how I feel at work now. By the way, I love the fact that the Internet knew exactly which scene I was talking about and had a supporting image for me. Thanks, Internet.

Between the Noro and the Rowan and the Nature Wool, I'm feeling like the world of yarn is going to be very hard to leave. My bosses have been joking that this is all a timed ploy to keep me from going to graduate school, and I must say, even as a joke, it's mighty tempting What won't help any is that I'm leaving for Chicago next Wednesday to work at Stitches Midwest with Andra Asars, who totally amazed me last time. She is a yarn rock star and had such good dirt on the industry. She was also full of good advice for someone who is trying to reconcile divergent interests in the academic and fiber worlds.

Everywhere I turn there are stories of people who started off in one realm and then ended up in yarn. I was very careful to balance all my critical communication courses with practical business classes so that I'd know what I was deriding...but somewhere along the way I feel like I've turned into an avid marketer, almost a shill! Something about it doesn't feel corrupt or exploitative because in selling yarn, I'm promoting the act of creation which, in my view, is entirely beneficial for the consumer. No, producing your own clothing isn't cost effective, and it isn't necessary, but something about the process seems to close the modern chasm between consumer and producer, however infinitesimaly.

More on the Why I Like Rowan So Much question...I've often felt like I don't have a discernable style. My closet is a hodgepodge of Salvie's finds and sale items, and it causes much distress (and mess) in the A.M. If I had an infinite supply of money to create a "look" I wouldn't really know how to go about it--I like so many disparate things that I'd end up looking like I did when I was 5 and my well-meaning mother let me dress myself. But! When I flip through the pages of Rowan I think to myself "I would totally wear that, and that and that..." It's nice to see it all in one place. Just a few favorite To-Knits...

Over and out,

Cirilia

Permission granted...

2006-08-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

...to spill the beans. Starting today, Webs is carrying ROWAN. Details at 11!

This is all the Nature Wool:

The warehouse, a.k.a. Noroland, a.k.a. The Happiest Place on Earth! But not for long...some colors were sold out before they were even unpacked.

And some of my precious...Rowan.

I have been earning store credits like mad in preparation for this week, and I think I've spent wisely so far. I snagged 8 skeins each of Kureyon in 116 and Silk Garden in 34, two of Noro's best. They're destined for sweaterdom, maybe a Rosedale and something of my own design. I got Cash Iroha in a bronze and a light bright robin's egg blue, I'll probably stripe them in some way. There were a few randoms and some Rowan patterns--magazine 40, 34 and A Yorkshire Fable. The Rowan Yarn will be here, so I'm not in such a rush to buy that. I'm planning to get a whole palette of the Nature Wool, the Chunky for an afghan and the worsted for various colorwork. Even one skein equals a hat, so I'm thinking holiday gifts.

When the radio ad was in production the Elkins asked me to describe why Rowan has so much pull with knitters. I feel somewhat silly about how effective their sales pitch is with me, but I can't help it, and I don't really mind all that much. It's a complete aesthetic and one that I find really appealing. I gushed a lot more than that but I'm getting shy now. Anyhow, I'm really glad to have ready access to the stuff.

I should mention that all of this stuff arrives on a week where Eric has finally declared that he thinks I have too much yarn. He said he knows he can't stop me from buying it, but he's a little "impressed" with how much I have accumulated. I can't argue with him, and I really do know that he's right...but I don't believe in diets of ANY kind, least of all stash diets...

Sigh,

CR

I'm busting at my mattress stitched SEAMS!

2006-07-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

For serious. But I can't talk about it just yet. But here is a little scrap: There is a giant, awesome closeout at Webs for Noro Silk Garden, Kureyon, CASH IROHA, Transitions, Kocheron...and Arucania Nature Wool and Nature Wool Chunky. My readership is modest so I'm confident that promoting this closeout here won't totally wipe out the supply of wonderful wool that I will get my hands on today...I hope I'm not wrong!

More randomness that I'm going to blame on the heat:

Yesterday at lunch my coworkers and I had a lengthy conversation about superheroes and comic book movies--it was awesome. The only thing missing was the swapping of my health food for someone elses' Fruit Roll-ups. It's fun to work with people my age who totally aren't afraid to geek out. Apros pros of that, check out this totally spot-on quiz (thanks Melissa) :

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

I was 100% Spiderman!

Eric got a Macbook and I'm thinking of maybe getting one too but I think most of the desire stems from wanting to knit it one of Leigh Radford's stripey laptop cases...

That is all. Try not to melt today.

Cirilia

P.S. Isn't this cute?

Antsy!

2006-07-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, I'm sorry. Summer and I just don't get along. I enjoy sunny days just as much as the next girl but the heat turns me into an ineffectual pile of sludge. I hate it. Bring on the Fall!

Since I never seem to post any out of the apartment pictures, here is one of two lucky girls watching Stars at the Siren Fest thanks to a boost from their Daddio. It's good to have a Daddio!

No knitting to show. Shame! I've been watching all sorts of summery stuff on the tube and the screen and sort of zoning out as I watch. When I'm not knitting I'm attending Sock University, trying as many different ways to knit socks as I can. So far, there has been a lot of reading, a lot of ripping and no socks to show for my efforts. But it's okay! I'm learning so much, and that's good. Socks intrigue and challenge me. They remind me that I'm still very much a beginner when it comes right down to it.

I've been seeing a lot of cute jackets out there. This jacket is simply adorable, as is this sketch by Eunny. We had the Berroco trunk show for Norah Gaughan's visit and after trying on Trixie, I am still a fan. And I even developed a new sweater crush on these which can be unisex, methinks.

I have been beading. It's fun, expensive and too fast. Pictures soon. Oh, speaking of pictures, as soon as I get permission from the designer I will share the photos from the latest modeling job.

Okay, I will now accept my award for World's Boringest Blogger. Thank you!

Cirilia

Hulked out.

2006-07-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Do you remember what happens to the Hulk after he Hulks out? He gets feeble and sick.

D.C. was mostly fun, but there are always issues when family convenes, and this time was no exception. I am slow moving, ache-y jointed and generally tired, and I've been that day ever since I spent half a day yelling and bawling my eyes out in D.C. I thought "good cries" were supposed to release toxins and leave you euphoric, WTF?

I explored the District a little further, this time making it to Dupont Circle to find the National Textile Museum. Let me tell you, if I'd seen this aerial view of Dupont before I walked myself silly I would've saved 10 bucks on the cab I finally hailed to get to the Museum. I thought about how lame I'd feel if it was only a couple of blocks away but the long ride confirmed my utter lostness, and made me feel slightly better. What struck me about the Museum was a. how small it was compared to other "national" museums around D.C. and b. how modern some of the pieces looked! The motifs were graphic, geometric and simple, the colors were cool and complex, and they'd all look completely current adorning today's fabrics. The main exhibit was on embroidery, which interests me only so-so as it is chiefly a decorative art and I'm much more interested in the functional when it comes to fiber art.

Which brings me to some KNITTING CONTENT, finally.

What I knit on my summer vacation: socks for my little sister Jovon. I was knitting them for myself but the top was feeling a little snug so I just decided to gift them since she was checking them out as I knit them and said they felt "comfortable" when she tried them on. They are Gull Wing Lace socks from XRX's Socks Socks Socks/also here. I did a twisted rib at the top but other than that didn't change a thing. The yarn is Lorna's Laces in Gold Hill, a hard to capture color, it's like a melting bowl of rainbow sherbert. Ha ha ha--sherbert. Are you supposed to pronounce the 'r'? I don't think so, but I do.

Fun lace pattern, nice yarn and I only used 1 skein for a pair of socks to fit a 7 year old! AND I have a sizable ball leftover. It has been my goal for awhile to learn more about sock knitting and knit through my stash of sock yarns, I'm glad to be getting started with that. Next thing to tackle is toe-up since I really didn't like having left over yarn, and I really love long socks.

A bit of synchronicity: Eric and I watched Nova last night and heard this great quote from Issac Netwon: “I do no know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

And this morning I read this great post from Anjali.

And this weekend I'll get to visit La Mer herself when Eric and I go to the Siren Fest on Coney Island. I'm only really excited about one band this year (Stars) so I'm going to have to bring a good knitting project...maybe I'll run into some Brooklyn knitters??

Cirilia

Update: Oh man, I just saw a Humira arthritis commercial and a lady was knitting on the bus! The best part was that she was using bamboo circulars! I hate that all TV knitting is usually restricted to huge chunky yarn and big silly needles.

Art shopping.

2006-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I bought my first piece of official art. It's "just a print" but whatever. I'm still going to have such a good time picking a frame and a place to hang it. Posters are getting on my nerves. I sort of own a couple of actual paintings and they definitelyh class up the joint ;) One can be seen in the background of this picture (past the Radiohead poster):

I sort of got them in a "divorce" settlement...or...I just never gave them back. Way better than CDs or a huge sweatshirt, in my opinion.

That picture is incidentally my MySpace profile picture and has landed me ANOTHER modeling job. This makes the grand total of photoshoots FIVE. Why am I caps-locking? Because I tried to be a model already and it was a bust. I'd get scouted in malls and the like and when I showed up at the open calls the girls looked like beautiful aliens. I'm not making any eating disorder claims but they were all abnormally tall girls with the long gangly limbs to match. They look normal in magazines because they all share that body type, but next to them, I'm stumpy and guitar shaped. I was told I could be a plus sized model or drop twenty pounds and MAYBE get work. Sorry, I happen to love food and dislike cardio (I even dislike the word "cardio"). I did a few favors for friends in film school and then it was over.

Unti this year. The first Lexie shoot, then one for an emerging knitwear designer (that's still sort of secret) then one for the Valley Yarns catalog, now one for a friend of a friend's sister's clothing company, Dressed in Yellow, and then another Lexie shoot. What happened?? I really hope I'm not coming off as a braggart, I'm just in shock at all of it. The Dressed in Yellow shoot might yield some payment in the form of clothing just in time for graduate school, fortuitous, no? I wonder if any of it will help me look more like this little vixen:

Speaking of graduate school, I'm wholly looking forward to it. I met with my University assigned Buddy (stupid name, right?) and she was great. I feel like I have permission to stop worrying so much. I also feel like I'm doing exactly what I should be doing in terms of preparation and self-evaluation. I really can't wait to get started. I even bought a new notebook from my favorite DIY company Ex Libris Anonymous:

Too bad it was lost it the mail! I'm totally bummed because they include lots of pages from the original book and it would've been a trip to read this retro Communication text...oh well. Please order from them the next time you need a notebook, journal or gift! They're only $12, free shipping and you're simulatenously recycling and supporting crafters.

I think I'll sum up my D.C. sojourn another day, I want to get down to the Farmer's Market before work so I can grab a loaf of dark chocolate bread (believe me, it's good).

Love,

Cirilia

P.S. New favorite reads: Brooklyn Tweed and Giant Jeans Parlour! And don't miss Giant Jean's Anjali's food blog Delicious Coma! Links to the right!

Going, going, gone!

2006-06-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

To Washington D.C. to visit my mother (sorry, no links), half-sister, Knit Happens, the National Zoo and the National Textile Museum! Yay!

See you on the flip side,

CR

Burned again!

2006-06-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

I sustained a blocking injury! This is going to sound sick, but I get a kick out of knitting injuries. Not the real kind like carpal tunnel syndrome or repetative stress injury but little mishaps like these. I was once knitting with size 00 needles and one of the shiny metal suckers dropped out of the knitting and having cat-like reflexes, I grabbed for it. The thing went straight into the fleshy bottom part of my middle finger and horrified the friends I was talking to. It was an Inox (now Prym) by the way, and even though they drew blood from me, I still love them for their pointy tips.

Anyhow, back to the blocking injury. I was using my new blocking acoutrement, very excited about this and I was hunched over it on the floor. Maybe the Rowenta my nana gave me is too much iron for me! I was so absorbed in distributing the steam power that I didn't even notice that I was perilously close to ironing my own toe...and then I did. My pain was dulled by the gorgeous vest that came off the board after it's water-Eucalan spritz and steam (sounds like a spa treatment). When I was in Boston a few weeks ago I picked up some napkins on sale at Anthropologie. one of them has become a kerchief and the other is now my ironing cloth! Perfect, and the cheapest thing I'll ever find there.

I wish I had a better picture, but this is already living at Webs. It is the One Cable Vest by Blue Sky Alpacas knit in their luscious Blue Sky Worsted, a 50/50 alpaca merino blend with a dense hand that shows cables off in high relief.

Speaking of Webs, I taught an Internet Resources class this weekend! The class was my idea and I think it went really well! If anything, it sure is nice to know that all of my time "slacking" on the Internet is actually a marketable set of skills. This is my teacher bio:

Cirilia Rose is called the Human Search Engine by WEBS co-workers because of her extensive knowledge of on-line knitting resources. A recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cirilia designed her own major (Consumer Culture) and approaches her knitting with an instinct for invention. Her grandmother Irene Rose taught her to knit at age 7 and she remains an avid student of both technique and the socio-historical aspects of the craft. Cirilia has singlehandedly brought some of our technological dinosaurs kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century!

That last sentence was added without my consent ;)

Oh, I almost forgot. The Webs catalog is going out...the one that I'm...uh...on the cover of! I can't quite believe it but I'm going to be in people MAILBOXES soon. It reminds me of a favorite book from childhood, Flat Stanley. This catalog is amazing, and the new yarns are amazing. Andra Asars (spent many hours in California with her at Stitches West) would say that I'm "drinking the company Kool-Aid", but they ARE amazing, just you wait.

The cover (want to guess how hot it was that day? 91 and humid):

My Clara Cardigan (it isn't as A-line as that in real life):

In a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern knit in Berkshire:

My Trinket Tank:

Me in the fabulous Making Tracks designed and knit by Melissa! And next to it is Marianas, a nautical top-down pullover designed by Kirsten Hipsky who I co-teach with a lot. It is SO CUTE!

And last but not least, my Stirling Cloche, which will be in a book this fall!

I've got a few more modeling stories to tell, but I'll save those for another day. It's been really hilarious to me to write "Photoshoot" in my Slingshot more than once this year.

The last thing for today--my psuedo-studio!

My bookcase (which still needs a back...and my new curtains which I shamefully bought at Wal-Mart. They are cotton/linen and they have crewel on them. They were made in India. I love them and visited them three times before finally deciding to get them.

Well, I have to get ready for this afternoon's PIG ROAST in Bernardston (to quote Jerri Blank "it's just more shame...").
Maybe I'll run into Kristin Nicholas, who lives there...

CR

Burned.

2006-06-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

By Debbie Bliss' Firey Bolero in last summer's Interweave Knits.

This project made me it's bitch for the past couple of weeks. It was languishing on the needles for almost a year before I took pity on it recently. The finishing was kind of arduous, to be honest. Between picking up 250 or so stitches for the ribbed edging, screwing up the short row shaping on the collar and squinting like mad to see everything (still, I love black) it was a rough time. Get this, there weren't corrections for the part I screwed up--there were expanded instructions. Aight, whatevs...

I ain't mad 'atcha, D-Bliss. I didn't get to meet you this week because I was at my father's retirement ceremony, but I heard your fall collection is really something else. I have a newfound appreciation for your simple but totally flattering and wearable garments. And this Cathay! Like I say to customers, it reminds me of a great pair of jeans, soft and sturdy with a little stretch. Perfect.

Most valuable lesson learned--no more stairstep bind-off/decrease edges!! They are impossible to seam to my satisfaction. I've learned several ways to get around them (short rows, slipping first stitch of bind-off group) and thank goodness. I ended up doing a back stitch to seam parts of this puppy, vertical grafting looked like total crap.

This is a picture of the bolero being steam blocked. On my body. It's roasting in here. I'm not smiling, I'm baring my teeth at Summer.

Time to sleep (read: toss and turn and sweat and toss and curse and toss and turn...),

Cirilia

P.S. I'm sorry for not returning comments quickly, I've resolved to be better at that but progess is slow!

Pic-tour of my weekend...

2006-06-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

...which was just Sunday. But what a Sunday it was! Eric is constantly making fun of what he calls the "domestication of Ms. Cirilia Rose", but I have plenty to tease him about too. For instance, he finished staining the bookcase he made me:

I promptly filled it with knitting paraphenalia. I'm planning to get some particle board for the back...and I have some decopage planned, oh yeah! The stain (Bombay Cherry) matches the floor, totally intentional. My "real" books are still living in crates. See them pushed into the little corner there? Don't feel sorry for them! Stacked up they make a perfect little table for stuff like this:

Eric bought the tiniest grill and made delicious veggies, and lemon-garlic sauce. He picked a fantastic wine, too! For a non-carnivore he sure loves to B.B.Q.

None of his domestic activities can compare to this though:

Me, hanging clothes on the line, wearing the apron that Melissa gifted to me. Want to see how happy this makes me?

Today was bright and breezy and it was perfect for hanging up the laundry. Doing this makes me unspeakably happy. I don't know if it's:

the fact that I don't have to spend $1.75 on a weak dryer that barely does anything,
that I'm saving many, many units of electricity,
that I'm doing something that reminds me of my landlord in Germany and (imagined) pictures of my Italian predessesors,
that the clothes smell wonderful, and look ironed and starched when they come off,

but it is so awesome. There are cons, though:

I'm pretty sure the neighbors and passerbys think I'm weird
I kinda do feel weird hanging my clothes up so publicly, especially camisoles and stuff
bird poop!
wily squirrels!
really strong winds!
theft?

It'd be terrible, but probably moreso for the thief, since most of my clothes are from the Salvation Army or EONS old.

I was checking out the new Berroco patterns...I don't know, they're usually butt of every knitting joke but I have knit and enjoyed their patterns before and I think I'd do it again. I can see doing Addison, most likely severely downsized. And I flat out like Trixie. There, I said it!

We went for a hike today. I knit, of course:

Whoooa, check out those pale knobbly GAMS! Eric, who is suddenly Mr. Fashion Plate totally made fun of my get-up, but I didn't really care, all of my jeans were being dried economically by Mother Nature (thanks, Ma) and my skirt is a super practical skort. Yes, I am wearing a skort. Eric can just get over it. I think I pushed the limits with this though:

This little rock and roll fist-pump is actually me tugging more yarn free from my backpack. To me, odd stares=humble amazement ;) I was knitting with this by the way, #19 for one of these.

View from the top of the Amherst portion of the Robert Frost Trail:

I like this photo because you can see my future in it. Really! See the tall red building? That's the Library where I will spend many hours for the next two years. In fact, the books that I need are mostly on the top floor, so I get quite a nice view while I'm in the stacks.

Just a few more pics, for my parents (sorry everyone else =)

He is totally disgusted by my neon lemon-lime nails!

One last image of domesticity for the knitters:

A freshly organized stash closet! Altogether now, oooh, ahhh...

Cirilia

Yawn...

2006-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Was pulled into a meeting today with yarn reps to offer opinions. That's happened a number of times since I've been at Webs and it's always quietly exciting. Today was especially so because I got to discuss the merits and pitfalls of Lycra fortified yarns with Norah Gaughan herself! She was very sweet and dressed the way she designs, simultaneously casual and sharp.

It's incredibly humid in Massachusetts and that pretty much crushes my will to live. I have noticed that the American affection for air conditioning is in full force, which makes me happy because it necessitates sweater wearing (and knitting) well into July, at work and on my bus commute.

My knitting thoughts are all pretty boring these days. They involve stripes (nautical, candy cane, Freddy Krueger), very simple shapes and buttons along shoulder seams.

Okay, this snoozefest of an entry is official over!

CR

A keeper.

2006-05-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely effin' insane at Webs. There is no delicate, euphemistic way to put it. I feel like the team of six that worked today are now in a sorority of sorts. Why was it so busy? Take your pick:

1. Cummington Sheep and Wool.
2. Graduations/reunions for many of the 5 area colleges (UMass, Smith, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, also known as Scooby, Velma, Fred, Daphne and Shaggy).
3. Paradise City Arts Festival.
4. A bus filled with NY knitting and spinning guild members.
5. The last day of the anniversary sale!
6. General Saturday mayhem.

I have never been so glad to come home. Don't get me wrong, short of being

a. a Ben and Jerry's taster
b. a gossip magazine inspector
c. a squirrel whisperer

I can't imagine a more fun way to spend my time than working in one of knitting's bustling epicenters, but I've had it with this week. And just look at what I came home to:

Eric made me a bookcase! He just told his mother that he "karate chopped the wood with his bare hands". It's not done, it's missing a shelf and whatever stain/paint/decopage finish I can dream up but it's a BIG SHELF, for all my treasures!!

He also put my clothespins to use! This makes me happy since it was a big goose hunt to find them. I had to go to Wal-Mart (boo, hiss) to find any at all:

I'm 2 deep into a 6-pack of my favorite libation Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat (when I lived in Germany, it was common to mix beer and fruit juice and my favorite combo was hefeweizen and 'saurkirchensaft'/sour cherry juice) and I have absolutely no knitting content for you. I'm sorry. I recieved an unexpected store credit this week and spent it all very quickly. I have a lot of designing to do (for myself and maybe the Craftsters) in the next few days. Until then I'll leave you with some randominity. A picture from one of my favorite television shows, Everwood (cancelled?!), featuring Bright Abbott/Chris Pratt who will star in the LONG ANTICIPATED (by me) Strangers with Candy movie due out this summer.

Yeah, he's a babe, she's a babe, but do you see what I see? NORO!

P.S. The Cardigans? Really good band. Sexy. Incidentally my favorite item to knit since I wear them as much as possible and think they are the most versitile and economical use of knitting resources.

Last cool thing for today, a picture taken at a recent outdoor show which was pure Western Mass magic (it is Phil Elvrum from Mount Eerie). This was taken when he was singing a new song--he had to consult his notebook for the lyrics. There was a bonfire, marshmallows toasting and the bass drum is lit from behind. During Jason Anderson's set he asked us to leave the warmth of the bonfire and go to the middle of a field. He asked us if we wanted to "get tribal" and improvise songs. It was dark and though we started out shy it slowly became beautiful. Jason asked "is this too weird?" and someone shouted "let's make it weirder!!" It was super fun.

Das ist alles!

Cirilia

Tons of words.

2006-05-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

The tent sale is OVER!! It ended with a hail-storm bang, and while a group of us frantically tried to move everything back into the garage, the yarn-buying persisted. My boss offered a perfectly decent bag of fuschia merino wool to a woman for FREE and she balked: "But it's for a boy, it's the wrong color!". Insantity. But, I will miss it. I don't think I'll be able to quit Webs cold turkey come September, and I hope I can be useful there once or twice a week at least.

It occured to me that the past few months have gone by in a blur and I haven't done a thing for Project Spectrum, except by accident. Well, no more. My interest in color is multi-faceted, informed by art theory and spiritual association. I am not a religious person by any means but I like the role color plays in Southeast Asia, specifically in Indian culture and yoga practice. I have never chosen a favorite color because I am drawn to almost all of them at different times for different reasons. This makes it hard to dress myself sometimes, since my closet is a cacophony of color!

May is for green and green is the closest thing to a favorite color that I have. For me green most often represents verve. It's energizing for me and I find it beautiful in almost all it's incarnations, from the quietest olive to the most exuberant lime. After two weeks of solid rain here in New England, the landscape is such an intense swath of lush, flickering green that I am almost overwhelmed.

This love for green defintely manifests itself in my knitting. My stash is overflowing with the shade and I have to make a conscious effort to not make it a default. Since I started knitting swatches for the store, you can see all of my little green flags hanging on hooks next to shelves and shelves of yarn. This is a mini-sweater I made with green scraps, and it's only a tiny fraction of my greens:

This picture is a totally unintentional homage to Zach Braff, who I love:

In my spiritual context, green is the color of the fourth chakra, located at the same level as the heart and it represents love, especially unconditional, empathetic love. It links intellect and spirit. It's interesting to me because according to yogic belief we spend about 7 years in each chakra, and it's the one I'm currently in.

In case this sounds like crap (and believe me, I'm the world's biggest skeptic) there are parallels between developmental psychology and the chakra stages. For instance, adolecents are in the third chakra, which is located at the solar plexus and concerned mostly with personal power, self-esteem and self-image, and willfullness. Sounds like that age (14-21) to me!

This might be getting in too deeply, but I consider myself a Unitarian Universalist (I'm in good company!) so for me these ideas about chakras are interesting and useful, but are by no means the only thing I believe.

Hope you're having a nice Monday,

Cirilia

P.S. Check out this hilarious transformation from knitter to junkie. Can't say I don't relate!

Blogger's block.

2006-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I've got it. No good reason, I just have been feeling a little burnt (burned?) out by the 24-7 yarnfest that is my life. There are way too many things I want to knit and since I'm trying to sleep/read/exercise more, I almost feel resentful of knitting sometimes. Is that crazy, to have a contentious relationship with an inanimate thing? Don't answer, I know it is.

Things that are good:

1. A cloche I designed was accepted and will appear in a book edited by Gwen Steege at Storey Publishing. It is due out this November and the best part is that all the patterns submitted by my Webs coworkers were accepted!

2. My knitting model career just gets better and better--now I'm going to be appearing on the cover of the next Webs catalog, as well as in the ads that go in Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting--eep. I'll be modeling the gorgeous Guernsey designed by my co-teacher and co-worker Kirsten. iIf you ever call Webs, there is a good chance you've talked to her. I make fun of her for the way she coos "Hello, Webs", like a knittin' vixen.

3. On a particularly draining day I came home to this, compliments of Chef Eric:

Sorry for using the hardwood floors as a go-to background, I can't help it. I stroke them and croon the James Blunt song to them daily (your're BEAUtiful, you're BEAUtiful, it's truuue....")

And sorry for the lackluster posting.

Cirilia

Meet Clara.

2006-05-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's early and I really should be getting ready for work, just wanted to post the sweater that kept me busy for the past month. I'd also like to apologize for A) being a lazy blogger and B) not responding to any of the nice comments I've been getting. Eric installed Linux so he's been hogging his computer and I've been sitting across the room staring bitterly. Yes, I have my own but it's in another room and I like to be right in the middle of things, if that makes sense.

Like the piece in the previous post, this is an original design for Valley Yarns. The yarn, Deerfield (available soon!) is an alpaca silk blend that is delicious to work with. The finished fabric is so nice I couldn't believe I'd knit it myself.

I had started this sweater intending it to be a deep v-neck wrap but a miscalculation totally screwed up the slope and it wasn't as vixenish as I wanted it to be. No matter, I put it on the mannequin and immediately the two crochet-edged fronts flopped over. Maybe because of their shape or maybe because of the 4 stitches of 1x1 ribbing I did at each front's edge...it looked perfect! Like I'd planned it all along! Like lapels! What's better is that instead of the ribbon ties I bought to sew on, you can get a cool shawl pin from the lovely couple that someone at Stitches West called (affectionately) "neo-hippies", the Moving Mud people.

Oh, I call this one Clara, after Clara Bow:

A note about the last sweater...the fact that I had to improvise a strapless bra and the fact that I have an abnormally long torso make the tank look really kind of immodest/not flattering (by my standards). I assure you it looks nice on properly undergarmemtted others!

Lastly, a recipe! My favorite summer treat, and delicious if you like Brussel sprouts.

Wash and cut sprouts in half lengthwise. Boil, steam or stick in microwave with a few inches on water for 2-3 minutes on high. In the meantime chop up the best bacon you can find and fry, fry, fry. When sprouts are soft enough to eat, drain and shake dry to prevent splattering. Move the bacon to the sides of the pan and place sprouts cut side down onto pan. Do no disturb for several minutes. After sprouts are browned on one side, stir in a tablespoon or so of spicy brown mustard. Remove from heat and devour.

Can I get any scientific opinions on how much I negate the goodness of Brussel sprouts with bacon?

Cirilia

Half-nekkid.

2006-05-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

Meet the first of my two designs for Valley Yarns. I'm calling this little thing Trinket for now and I hope to add pictures of it's more substantial friend Clara the cardigan very shortly.

This skimpy little number brought to you by Sugarloaf. I assure you that it isn't quite as...sparse on women with shorter torsos.

CR

P.S. I got a haircut, can you tell?

Opportune...

2006-04-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

...that I should happen upon such a thought-provoking band when I decide to shift my mental energy from the crafty to the cerebral. I've been listening to Why? all week and it feels like being in the bathroom at the Montague Book Mill/Lady Killigrew.

I'm not saying that crafting isn't cerebral, I think it is. I feel like I've had a very lucky perch here in the knitting craze and what I notice more and more is a trend of sameness. The best designs/yarns/bloggers quickly attain cult status and they're deified in a way I find almost embarrassing. That isn't to say they don't deserve this, but it seems counterintuitive to the DIY ideal of self-sufficiency and creativity...

Anyhow, lately I have been thinking about weaving. I had my reasons for resisting it, despite the fact that I work at weaver's mecca (before the knitting craze, Webs was known for being the source for weavers). It takes a ton of yarn, space and know-how. I didn't dare take up another fiber hobby lest it take over the apartment entirely. Then I saw these linen towels woven by Sharon Alderman. They are beautiful and functional and all of a sudden weaving made sense. My plan is to use my last few store credits to buy the simplest of looms, a rigid heddle loom.

I took it as a sign when I found Learning to Weave for a 1/4 it's usual price at the Book Mill.

Over and out,

Cirilia