Feral Knitter

Cornering the Market

Have you wondered why it can be hard to find size 1 double-pointed needles?

It's because I seem to be using them all....

(Relatively) Sad News

My faithful Honda Civic has gone to the junkyard in the sky--I was rear-ended on Monday. An unequal fight, not unlike Shadow and Raccoon: the truck that hit me was significantly bigger than my fuel-efficient, 10-year-old tree hugger vehicle. Although the damage was confined to the rear left corner of the car, it was enough to shift the balance away from "fix" to "here's your settlement."

I'm not sure what we will do next. The part of me that loves irony wants to get a giant,inappropriate, in-your-face vehicle and attach a bumpersticker:

Not gonna happen, but I can still giggle about it. This might be the time for a Prius.

Gingko and I are fine, by the way, thank you for your concern.

Unequivocally Good News

Gingko graduated with her Associate of Arts degree from North Seattle Community College! The graduation hinged on her passing Algebra--which she managed, earning a 3.5 in the class. That's my intelligent, uncertain daughter.... Now, it's off to the University of Washington next month. We celebrated by going to Chaco Canyon Cafe, a vegan/raw/organic cafe. Gingko became a vegan last month, so we've been trying lots of different places: Cafe Flora, Chaco Canyon, and Pizza Pi. I learned to cook in the early 70s from the New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook and Diet for a Small Planet, so lots of this food is familiar and comforting.   

Snow Blindness

That's the only thing that can explain the last few days: I was disoriented in the vast expanse of white Birddancing Shawl.

2,783 more stitches ripped back

After several plain rows, I was excited to begin the bird tracks--so excited that it would seem that I began the pattern on the wrong side of the shawl. In my defense, this shawl is based on garter stitch, and I'd knit a LOT of plain rows, and it was bunched up on the needle so I couldn't really look at the haiku at the start of the shawl, and I really really really wanted to get those little dancing feet going. After 5 rows I realized what had happened.

Grandmother was right: haste makes waste.

I'm so used to stranded colorwork--you KNOW where you are at all times in Fair Isle knitting!

For those who want to know how to dig yourself out of this type of hole: I pulled the needle out of the shawl (which I held rather gingerly) and I ran it through the row of stitches that I planned to rip back to. Then I pulled on the working yarn, watching a couple of hours of work disappear just like that. Well, not really just like that: the entire operation lasted from Jon Stewart through Stephen Colbert.... 

Lace on My Mind

Perhaps that explains my poor memory these days--things are falling through the YOs....

I know you are anxiously awaiting a photo of my Birddancing Shawl progress. Never one to disappoint!

Oh, you can't see the difference that 5 hours of knitting made? Well, neither can I, really, but I've marked the chart religiously and I know I've progressed. And those of you who know me know just how resistant I am to marking charts and such....

Speaking of lace, I had a chance to watch Meg Swansen's new DVD on lace knitting. I learned a lot from the three projects she walks the viewer through: a Mananita (which is basically a giant doily with a hole in the middle so it can be worn as a poncho); a small shoulder shawl with Faroese shaping; and the rectangular stole that was shown in Vogue Knitting a year or two ago. Meg is amazing, really, in her attention to the details that make a project just right. I recommend this highly.

Lace designer extraordinare Evelyn Clark has just written a new book: Knitting Lace Triangles (published by Fiber Trends).

In this 70-page book, Evelyn uses 4 basic patterns to walk the reader through the process of designing a shawl of one's own--building skills and understanding along the way. I really like this approach and can't wait to compose one myself. (Disclaimer: I know Evelyn, but this isn't just a friend's assessment--Evelyn's reputation as a lace knitter is solid!)

I have met many extremely talented lace knitters at Knitting Camp, and I was pleased to learn that Maggie has started a blog. Maggie's entry for the Devil Wears Zimmermann contest this year was a rib warmer in lace--what a clever idea, and the resulting garment--a Rib Cooler!--was wonderful. Pictures on the July 17th entry.

Shadow has recovered physically and psychically from his raccoon encounter, thanks for asking. I guess he's feeling perkier because he attacked one of my rovings yesterday--history repeated itself, however, and I broke up this fight just as I broke up the one with the tougher opponent....

 

I Think This Will Never End. Really.

I'm going to refresh your memories by re-posting the photo of the Birddancing Shawl from last week:

And here is what I estimate to be 12 hours of knitting looks like:

See how far I've gotten? (insert a snarky tone here) Bridget Rorem, the shawl's designer, stopped by the blog last week. Her comment? "You are remembering to bind off, aren't you, so that you have 2 fewer stitches every other row?  It does get faster and faster." Yes, dear--I'm zooming along now that I've reduced the stitch count from 599 to 569.   

A haiku is knit into the top of the shawl. All I can say at this point is, Thank GOD Bridget didn't get inspired to write a sonnet.... You might have read Franklin's blog about knitting the same lettering in his niece's christening blanket: "I confess that about halfway through MISERICORDIA I began to wish the Latin word for compassion were somewhat shorter." Honey, you don't know the half of it. I had to tink roughly 723 stitches as I tried to establish the letters (note that I "tinked"--ripping back implies some level of speed). The first problem involved a mistake in the fourth letter that I discovered at the end of the row. I got smart(er): I marked the pattern at 100-stitch intervals and placed markers at the same points in my knitting. Then I was able to find the problem a bit sooner. Like, only 90 stitches later...

By the third row of the lettering I had a better sense of where I was and could zip along, completing a row in about 1 hour--and a return, all-knit row in about 30 minutes! Whiplash.

Change of subject:

Last weekend I went down to Berkeley to attend a good friend's 50th birthday party. Fred and I have known each other for 33 years--I was the teaching assistant for the Hebrew class he signed up for as a raw pre-Med student at the University of Washington. He has changed career course in the intervening years, and I was the only one at the party who knew him as a scholar of ancient Near Eastern languages rather than as the anti-death penalty activist lawyer/banjo player that he is today. A joyful time--and especially fun to surprise him because he had not expected me to be there.

I was also able to show up at Maia's newly inaugurated Sunday Spin In. If you are in the Bay Area, get in touch with her. I met a lot of people new to me as well as some of the usual characters:

I will be back in Berkeley for a real visit at the end of the month, so I hope any California friends who feel up to dealing with a snarky lace knitter get in touch to make some plans.   

July 32nd

Yes, indeed--July is pretty special and I've decided it needs another day or two so I can manage a blog entry.

Last week was my birthday, which we celebrated by going to Tillicum Village, on Blake Island in Puget Sound. This is one of those touristy things I've heard about for some 35 years but never done. We caught a boat on the Seattle waterfront and sailed for an hour to this small island, where an Indian salmon feast is served and traditional dances are performed. We had some time to wander along the beach and up the nature trails (the island, 5 miles around, is a state park). This is a lovely part of the country for sure.

   

Today, Shadow decided to go one-on-one with a raccoon. Shadow lost, but luckily without much damage. Still, he's sulking and about to undergo some rude probing that I'm supposed to do, following the vet's instructions.

I have come to realize that the uber-talented lace designer Bridget Rorem is, to put it bluntly, insane. Nuts. Crackers. I've been knitting away for a full WEEK on the Birddancing Shawl and I'm now on row 22. Row 22, I tell you--and the lace hasn't even STARTED yet. Laceweight yarn, size 0 needles, 599 stitches... Jeez. And what's really weird: It's all one color!

I still feel a little shaky after the adrenaline high provoked by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...

Suzanne Pedersen, one of the organizers of the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma, Washington (February 14-17, 2008) sent out a tantalizing email:

A PEEK AT WINTER RETREAT 2008

There is always a little danger in giving everyone a peek at our plans for the upcoming Winter Retreat ahead of a full preview.  We want to make sure that you know we DO NOT have it all together yet and there are many more teachers and classes that will be at the retreat next February than are included in this "peek".  Take note - we have a lot of surprises, new teachers and returning favorites that are not mentioned in this very brief preview!

Lucy Neatby is back!  We are delighted to host Lucy again after several years and we can't wait to see the new classes she has.  We haven't picked all of Lucy's classes for the retreat so if you have a favorite or one that you have wanted to take but didn't get to, here is your chance to help us make some choices.  Let Suzanne know what your wish is for a Lucy class.  Margaret Radcliffe of "Maggie's Rags" also returns with lots of help for the newer knitter. She is the author of "The Knitting Answer Book", a resource that makes it easy to find the answers and suggestions when you are in the middle of knitting and faced with a "what to do" dilemma or problem but don't quite know what to call it. it's a "google" moment and The Knitting Answer Book is your resource! Margaret will delight you with her practical yet creative approach to all things knitting.

We are excited to introduce you to Kathryn Alexander.  Kathryn spins "energized singles" of many colors to make the most amazing colorful and exciting garments, socks and scarves.  Maybe you have seen her very popular entrelac socks published by Interweave. Nancy Bush returns with more Estonian patterns, folk socks, and Nordic knitting. Nancy and Judith MacKenzie McCuin will team teach a special spinning and knitting class.  And Judith always has a twist of the new up her sleeve or I should say in her fingers on the spinning wheel.

Some other peeks include an introduction to "Weaving for Knitters" with Syne Mitchell, the creator of the WeaveCast podcast; Jean Wong of Japanese tailored knitting and fine finishing fame will bring you a new class in addition these favorites; there will be more Fair Isle design with Janine Bajus; and more knitting tips, hints and inside information for survival as a knitter with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

This retreat always has so much to offer--if you are interested in attending, be sure to get on the mailing list (www.madronafiberarts.com) for more information as it becomes available. I'm super excited to see the Kathryn Alexander will be teaching!

I love my life, on the whole, but I have my losses as well. I'm sad to say that my friend Eileen Ovshinsky passed away last week--I'll miss her sense of style, her generosity, and her friendship. She liked to read my blog--so I'll tell her again here that her friendship meant a lot to me.