yarn n. 1: a continuous often plied strand composed of natural or man made fibers 2: a narrative of adventures
Alex knitted this bag for my birthday. I LOVE IT! She is the most amazing knitter. Look how beautiful it is. The funny thing is, she used yarn I gave to her for her birthday. You know what this means? It means I’m going to have to get a new outfit to go with this bag.
Happiness is attending a fiber festival –
See more festival photos here.
What an experience! I went with Maria and Jocelyn, two experienced MDSW festival attenders who showed me, the newbie, the ropes. We did so much!
Day 1:
Day 2
I’ve been reflecting on my knitting projects status.
I had a difficult past year with my CTS/RSI - trying to find the right doctor, going through physical therapy, worry that I won’t get better, etc. As someone who has been using her hands as an artist all her life, this was a huge stressor. I am so grateful to have healed under the care of a great doctor and PT. I am now mindful of my physical limits and taking care of my wrists/hands but - my past injury has made me very skittish when it comes to my knitting, crocheting or any other fiber work - and then I realized something (here comes the epiphany) -
I am afraid to knit a sweater.
I have been very happy with my projects since I’ve been able to begin knitting again but I’m afraid to knit something that isn’t a short piece of fabric. Where is this fear coming from? Is it fear of injury? Always a possibility but I am very careful to take breaks or to stretch. Fear of startities? Wouldn’t be the first time. Fear of seaming? There are patterns in the round.
As a first step in examining my reluctance to knit a piece of clothing, I decided to go to The Point. I did not go in with a plan. I decided to just look at the yarn, browse the book shelves and see what happens. I lusted after the Rowan Calmer yarn and then casually flipped through some pattern books. A couple of things caught my eye but I didn’t want to make a hasty decision, back to lusting after yarn. Then I slowly sidled my way back to the pattern books, should I, shouldn’t I? Yes!
I walked out with Classic Elite Yarns Summer Book 1 and Rowan Yarns Classic Summer Book Eleven. I’m smitten with the Four Season “Man’s” Vest (CEY) and the Ralph Shetland vest (RY). And then I realized something else -
Maybe I’m just afraid to knit sleeves?
Chelsea, NYC - walking from work to the subway
Artist Miki Lee at Lyons Wier Ortt Gallery
Spring leaves amidst urban concrete
Fire escapes and water towers
Looking into a window shop
Classic straight New Yorker talk to the dog owners
I made these to help a friend who was having trouble with Ruth’s Perfect Baby Booties. (You can find the pattern here and here.) She could not get row 2 to come out even with the number of cast-on stitches so I said I would take a look at it and see if I could figure out what was happening. It was pretty simple - I had to cast-on 31 stitches instead of 26 stitches.
I knew these unplanned booties would soon be snapped up because someone is always having a baby, My neighbors, who did not want to know the sex of their baby during their pregnancy, just had a little boy.
This is not a blog entry about the University of Kansas men’s basketball team winning the NCAA championship after twenty long years*, that tie-making, three-point shot (me screaming wildly) that sent the game into overtime and then the glorious, sweet taste of victory. No, this is not what this blog entry is about.
Instead, this is an entry on the completed Fair Isle Hat! (Pattern specs via Ravelry.)
We’ve been having a cold spring here in NYC so this hat is being put to good use. (Notice the sweatshirt - rock chalk jayhawks!)
Here are the obligatory various-point-of-view shots -
And for a different attitude, Darren turns up the brim -
*How scary is it that I remember exactly where I was when we won in 1988? It was my college spring break and I was in Fort Lauderdale, wearing a sparkly, red bathing suit and when we won I ran around the house whooping it up!
I was so close to finishing the Fair Isle Hat - but one does have other priorities at times - such as the Elite Eight.
This is me right after Kansas beat Davidson.
All I have to do is sew down the brim. I decided to try sewing down live stitches rather than binding off then sewing the hem. I know I have just started to do this but I am already thinking I should have picked the second option. I like the look of sewing down the live stitches though, it seems much neater.
I have until April 5th to finish the hat. Oh, to be in San Antonio!