Donna and I went to the craft show yesterday (sometimes I think we're joined at the hip) and had a great day.
The top floor has the 'craft labs' - a lot of the indie designers and crafters have stalls there; really cool hand printed fabrics, softies and sewing projects - it's very, very inspiring. The Audrey and Maude dachshund with her puppies almost made me die, and I think I also finally saw the appeal of wonky handmade bunting.
It's a cornucopia of cute - with birds, birdhouses, matryoshka doll fabric, owls, wonky monsters, hippos, pinnies, dresses, cushions, hand screened linens, and bunting. My daughter would have had an ecstatic fit!
Next year I'm going to take more money.
BTW - I saw the most recent YARN magazine, hot off the press yesterday. My pattern for the cloud mantilla is in there - made with one skein of luxury Louet Mooi (the softest fibre I've ever tasted), it's a multifunctional piece; a cowl, a hood, a scarf, a skirt. I'm pretty pleased with it, and thanks to Donna for actually knitting it for me.
So, that's it from me, have a great weekend everybody.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Visualise your knits
I always have visualisations (possibly known as 'hallucinations' or 'imaginations' - but I'm doing psychobabble today) about how my knitting is going to turn out. I find the stronger and more appealing the visualisation, the more likely it is that it will be actually finished and that I will be happy with it.
Case in point:
Recently, on the knitabulous ravelry group (go join it), Diane said she was thinking about making Fiona's Top in yellow softsock yarn. I clicked that link and instantly fell in love with that little top too.
Imagine my delight when not days later, an adult version of this top (or one very similar) became the featured pattern on ravelry.
My imagination pictured the following: I am wearing this this burnt orange top over a grey short sleeved marle tshirt with inky blue linen fisherman's pants and leather sandals. Comfortable and tanned, I skip from the gym/cafe/school arpark/beachlooking relaxed and stylish in my loose tunic style top. (I am always slim in my imagination, that could be why I spend a lot of time daydreaming!)
The urge to immediately begin this project was so strong, and I had just wound a skein of wollmeise twin in kurbis (which was, in my defense, way over 160g and looked immense), it seemed like a perfect choice for spring, so away I went.
So now, a week later, here I am. Faced with a dilemma all of my own doing. Top 1/3 complete. 1/3 of the yarn remaining.
Which under normal circumstances might be annoying, but not impossible. But, in this instance, well it would have to be the fecking Wollmeise wouldn't it?
So, I have three options:
1. Trawl and beg on ravelry for another skein of kurbis to finish the top for summer. Expensive, time comsuming, and more than a little pathetic, but an option nonetheless.
2. Frog it and re-do a smaller one for my daughter, buy her a grey marle tshirt and some linen pants and let her do the summer skipping.
3. Frog it and make socks instead.
And quite frankly, I am so disappointed by the sheer waste of a week's knitting time that I just can't decide. Also, the 'visualisation' of the finished top - well it's very appealing to me still. What should I do? What would you do?
Of course there are other demands too:
*Mum wants a scarf in the silk leftover from the Aeolian Shawl.
*I've got strong imaginary visions of the Sage Remedy Top hiding all sorts of ills this summer.
*I want to knit some samples for the shop.
*I nearly dropped everything and cast on for an identical (but, um, bigger) one of these yesterday when I saw it.
*The new twist collective came out, and yarnissima's sock was an instant buy.
*I haven't finished assemblage, autumn arbor, the bear claw blanket.
*I want to knit either a spanish peacock or a mediterranean lace for the Easter Show next year - and by the way, where did the first half of 2009 go?
*I haven't started so many of those projects I love on my ravelry queue like Maude (that's coming on to three years old now) and I still want a firm knit jacket, and a dress, and and and..
*I have a few ideas for patterns that could surely be a success if I could just knit them and/or size them and/or write them out.
*There are cones of merino sock in the dining room that need skeining and dyeing this weekend.
And they say knitting is relaxing!
Case in point:
Recently, on the knitabulous ravelry group (go join it), Diane said she was thinking about making Fiona's Top in yellow softsock yarn. I clicked that link and instantly fell in love with that little top too.
Imagine my delight when not days later, an adult version of this top (or one very similar) became the featured pattern on ravelry.
My imagination pictured the following: I am wearing this this burnt orange top over a grey short sleeved marle tshirt with inky blue linen fisherman's pants and leather sandals. Comfortable and tanned, I skip from the gym/cafe/school arpark/beachlooking relaxed and stylish in my loose tunic style top. (I am always slim in my imagination, that could be why I spend a lot of time daydreaming!)
The urge to immediately begin this project was so strong, and I had just wound a skein of wollmeise twin in kurbis (which was, in my defense, way over 160g and looked immense), it seemed like a perfect choice for spring, so away I went.
So now, a week later, here I am. Faced with a dilemma all of my own doing. Top 1/3 complete. 1/3 of the yarn remaining.
Which under normal circumstances might be annoying, but not impossible. But, in this instance, well it would have to be the fecking Wollmeise wouldn't it?
So, I have three options:
1. Trawl and beg on ravelry for another skein of kurbis to finish the top for summer. Expensive, time comsuming, and more than a little pathetic, but an option nonetheless.
2. Frog it and re-do a smaller one for my daughter, buy her a grey marle tshirt and some linen pants and let her do the summer skipping.
3. Frog it and make socks instead.
And quite frankly, I am so disappointed by the sheer waste of a week's knitting time that I just can't decide. Also, the 'visualisation' of the finished top - well it's very appealing to me still. What should I do? What would you do?
Of course there are other demands too:
*Mum wants a scarf in the silk leftover from the Aeolian Shawl.
*I've got strong imaginary visions of the Sage Remedy Top hiding all sorts of ills this summer.
*I want to knit some samples for the shop.
*I nearly dropped everything and cast on for an identical (but, um, bigger) one of these yesterday when I saw it.
*The new twist collective came out, and yarnissima's sock was an instant buy.
*I haven't finished assemblage, autumn arbor, the bear claw blanket.
*I want to knit either a spanish peacock or a mediterranean lace for the Easter Show next year - and by the way, where did the first half of 2009 go?
*I haven't started so many of those projects I love on my ravelry queue like Maude (that's coming on to three years old now) and I still want a firm knit jacket, and a dress, and and and..
*I have a few ideas for patterns that could surely be a success if I could just knit them and/or size them and/or write them out.
*There are cones of merino sock in the dining room that need skeining and dyeing this weekend.
And they say knitting is relaxing!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Internet is back, and so is knitabulous
I have a skeining callous on my finger, which is not good.
What is good, though, is the amount of yarn I'm updating into the shop over the next few days. My biggest update yet.
I've got 20 or so skeins of merino sock to dye over the weekend and hopefuly list on Sunday night/early next week, but in the meantime, here's a preview of about a third of what's coming tonight.
Have a knitabulous day!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Yooo hooo - Anybody home?
It seems to me that nobody's knit blogging any more. I went for a ride down my sidebar recently, and so many of them haven't updated in months! I also noticed that, ironically, an apology for a long blog break and an undertaking to blog more in the future is often a sign of a blog's finality.
I don't read parenting blogs (for a lot of reasons, but mainly because, quite frankly, I don't give a shit about how anyone else does it). I do like interior design blogs (I'm deeply shallow), don't mind a bit of food photographed well, don't like spinning either unless it's very well photographed - on the whole it's really only knitting blogs I like - and they're disappearing!
Not only that, the ravelry boards are boring me senseless lately. (I think they're WAY overmoderated - not just the Aussie ones, all of them - they'd be feral under my control no doubt).
I swear to you, if it weren't for iphone twitterific and my 'mad spend money on the internt skillz' (a phrase coined by Donna, stolen by me) - I'd be bereft. Really, it's very rude of all those strangers not to be more accommodating of my need for internet stimulus. Come back knitting blogs, I miss you!
Anyhow, in between dyeing and looking at the ageing final pages of so many knitblogs, I started a new project. It's completely different from anything I've knitted before and it's BURNT ORANGE.
I am knitting the Elvira, all grown up in Kurbis Wollmeise twin.
More doom and gloom : this internet shaping thing has been exacerbated by the rumblings of a computer about to die. There seems to be a bit of that around lately too I've noticed - computer death. It's not the buying of a new one that worries me (that might be fun actually), it's the remembering all those passwords and settings that will be the real hassle. What a pain!
I don't read parenting blogs (for a lot of reasons, but mainly because, quite frankly, I don't give a shit about how anyone else does it). I do like interior design blogs (I'm deeply shallow), don't mind a bit of food photographed well, don't like spinning either unless it's very well photographed - on the whole it's really only knitting blogs I like - and they're disappearing!
Not only that, the ravelry boards are boring me senseless lately. (I think they're WAY overmoderated - not just the Aussie ones, all of them - they'd be feral under my control no doubt).
I swear to you, if it weren't for iphone twitterific and my 'mad spend money on the internt skillz' (a phrase coined by Donna, stolen by me) - I'd be bereft. Really, it's very rude of all those strangers not to be more accommodating of my need for internet stimulus. Come back knitting blogs, I miss you!
Anyhow, in between dyeing and looking at the ageing final pages of so many knitblogs, I started a new project. It's completely different from anything I've knitted before and it's BURNT ORANGE.
I am knitting the Elvira, all grown up in Kurbis Wollmeise twin.
More doom and gloom : this internet shaping thing has been exacerbated by the rumblings of a computer about to die. There seems to be a bit of that around lately too I've noticed - computer death. It's not the buying of a new one that worries me (that might be fun actually), it's the remembering all those passwords and settings that will be the real hassle. What a pain!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Funday
I'm loading a new product into the shop tonight - and here's a sneak preview of it.
It's a sock blanket kit!
Packed in a cute box, ten 10g balls of softsock yarn in 5 co-ordinating colours, two balls of each colour. Just the thing for a start on a sock blanket, or a pair of fair isle socks or mittens, or a stripey toy - it's a box of delicious fun!
But I'll have to go to my mum's place to do the upload, because World of Warcraft seems to have busted our download limit for the month - won't be re-set until TEN days time, and apparently there's no negotiating the situation between now and then. this post alone has taken almost half an hour to upload. Frustrating isn't the word!
Considering taking a working laptop to McDonalds ...
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
And one thing leads to another ...
Late one night last week I was happily clicking away through the beloved Ravelry patterns section, I noticed the Aestlight shawl was one of the most popular patterns (for a short time).
I liked it, so I joined the 'Shetland Trader' group.
I bought the pattern.
I have always wanted a fingering weight triangular shawl, but have never knitted one.
I also have been wondering how long a skein of fiftyfifty really is.
So one thing lead to another, and here we are, a finished Aestlight.
Project Details (all ravelry links)
Aestlight Shawl (why do I keep typing Aestlake?) by Gudrun Johnson of The Shetland Trader
I made the smaller size, as the pattern says the larger one needs more than 400m of yarn.
Yarn: knitabulous fifty fifty (50/50 wool/silk, 100g, 400m), 1 skein with about 15g left over.
Colour: Your place or mine
Needle Size: 3.75mm addis
Modifications: The pattern calls for a kfb at both ends and in the centre to increase. I used a yo instead, and incorporated the birds-eye lace into the work as I went along. At first I thought the kfb in the sample pictures looked a little clunky, but on completion of my own version I'm not sure it is really an improvement. However, there is a noticeable difference, so I thought I'd mention it.
Comments: I very much enjoyed knitting this shawl. At no stage does the number of stitches get overwhelming (a big advantage of the fingering weight yarn), the variation in technique makes it interesting and quick to knit. I didn't mind the Bird's Eye lace part although I know Bells didn't enjoy it, I found it was over soon enough. I'm not normally a massive fan of garter based lace, but it is the fundamental element of this shawl and it works really well. It's very squishy!
As for the yarn - it actually exceeded my expectations, if I don't say so myself. The combination of the dry soft silk and the springy wool (which is more than likely Australian merino - I'll explain that another time) is great for easy knitting. Sometimes silk alone is a little harsh on your fingers, due to the absence of any elasticity, but that isn't an issue with the fiftyfifty.
It's so springy in fact, that I am going to try it on a pair of socks soon, a rarity for my knitting. Now to choose a pattern - catch you all on ravelry ...
I liked it, so I joined the 'Shetland Trader' group.
I bought the pattern.
I have always wanted a fingering weight triangular shawl, but have never knitted one.
I also have been wondering how long a skein of fiftyfifty really is.
So one thing lead to another, and here we are, a finished Aestlight.
Project Details (all ravelry links)
Aestlight Shawl (why do I keep typing Aestlake?) by Gudrun Johnson of The Shetland Trader
I made the smaller size, as the pattern says the larger one needs more than 400m of yarn.
Yarn: knitabulous fifty fifty (50/50 wool/silk, 100g, 400m), 1 skein with about 15g left over.
Colour: Your place or mine
Needle Size: 3.75mm addis
Modifications: The pattern calls for a kfb at both ends and in the centre to increase. I used a yo instead, and incorporated the birds-eye lace into the work as I went along. At first I thought the kfb in the sample pictures looked a little clunky, but on completion of my own version I'm not sure it is really an improvement. However, there is a noticeable difference, so I thought I'd mention it.
Comments: I very much enjoyed knitting this shawl. At no stage does the number of stitches get overwhelming (a big advantage of the fingering weight yarn), the variation in technique makes it interesting and quick to knit. I didn't mind the Bird's Eye lace part although I know Bells didn't enjoy it, I found it was over soon enough. I'm not normally a massive fan of garter based lace, but it is the fundamental element of this shawl and it works really well. It's very squishy!
As for the yarn - it actually exceeded my expectations, if I don't say so myself. The combination of the dry soft silk and the springy wool (which is more than likely Australian merino - I'll explain that another time) is great for easy knitting. Sometimes silk alone is a little harsh on your fingers, due to the absence of any elasticity, but that isn't an issue with the fiftyfifty.
It's so springy in fact, that I am going to try it on a pair of socks soon, a rarity for my knitting. Now to choose a pattern - catch you all on ravelry ...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Swine Flu of the knitternet
I've fallen victim to knitternet swine flu. I have caught not one, but THREE viral knitterly things this week.
The first is that I joined a sock club. Something I never thought I'd do.
The second is that I bought three skeins of Wollmeise after being tipped off by mobile phone of an update in progress. Yeah, thanks Donna.
The third is that I knit and Aestlight Shawl. Not quite the ubiquitousness of the Ishbel, but still a lesser viral knit.
There must be some kind of pill for this?
In more viral knit news, here's another virus I'll be catching as soon as it's released. You've all heard of the new book by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed fame?
The internet knitting design industry is a viral environment that most yarn companies and magazines can't seem to get their heads around, much as they'd like to. The reasonably successful ones try to add more than just an online shopping experience to their internet presence. Interweave Press have made a consistent and steady push in this direction, Vogue have a dreadful 'video preview' and that's about it for them, Berroco has a blog and the internet darling Norah Gaughan herself, whilst others seem to make a token effort with a dodgy free pattern and vacant community forums.
Companies like Classic Elite Yarns have recruited from the magazine industry, with Pam Allen (previous editor of Interweave Knits) as artistic director.
Can you beleive the lengths Classic Elite Yarns have gone to in this 'deal' with Jared Flood? It's mind-boggling how many balls of yarn they think are going to sell off the back of this publication - because I can't see any other value in it for Classic Elite. Have a look at the terms of the deal (that we know of ..)
"Classic Elite would give an independent designer like me the opportunity to create a publication of designs in which I was given complete creative control over designing, pattern writing and photography, while retaining the rights to my work and the ability to distribute them as online PDF downloads as well as having them available in print at your local yarn shop." (from the Brooklyntweed blog).
Either this is a massive step forward in knitting designer rights, or Jared Flood is a design heavyweight beyond the likes of even Norah Gaughan herself.
I predict that others will follow; can you imagine Ysolda Teague for Rowan or Laura Chau for Knitpicks or Kirsten Kapur for Cascade?
Interesting times indeed I think.
The first is that I joined a sock club. Something I never thought I'd do.
The second is that I bought three skeins of Wollmeise after being tipped off by mobile phone of an update in progress. Yeah, thanks Donna.
The third is that I knit and Aestlight Shawl. Not quite the ubiquitousness of the Ishbel, but still a lesser viral knit.
There must be some kind of pill for this?
In more viral knit news, here's another virus I'll be catching as soon as it's released. You've all heard of the new book by Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed fame?
The internet knitting design industry is a viral environment that most yarn companies and magazines can't seem to get their heads around, much as they'd like to. The reasonably successful ones try to add more than just an online shopping experience to their internet presence. Interweave Press have made a consistent and steady push in this direction, Vogue have a dreadful 'video preview' and that's about it for them, Berroco has a blog and the internet darling Norah Gaughan herself, whilst others seem to make a token effort with a dodgy free pattern and vacant community forums.
Companies like Classic Elite Yarns have recruited from the magazine industry, with Pam Allen (previous editor of Interweave Knits) as artistic director.
Can you beleive the lengths Classic Elite Yarns have gone to in this 'deal' with Jared Flood? It's mind-boggling how many balls of yarn they think are going to sell off the back of this publication - because I can't see any other value in it for Classic Elite. Have a look at the terms of the deal (that we know of ..)
"Classic Elite would give an independent designer like me the opportunity to create a publication of designs in which I was given complete creative control over designing, pattern writing and photography, while retaining the rights to my work and the ability to distribute them as online PDF downloads as well as having them available in print at your local yarn shop." (from the Brooklyntweed blog).
Either this is a massive step forward in knitting designer rights, or Jared Flood is a design heavyweight beyond the likes of even Norah Gaughan herself.
I predict that others will follow; can you imagine Ysolda Teague for Rowan or Laura Chau for Knitpicks or Kirsten Kapur for Cascade?
Interesting times indeed I think.
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