weekend index

Disclaimer: the Hipstamatically presented images below are from 2 weekends ago--not  from the weekend under scrutiny in the text. Me running around working non-stop for two days looks nothing like this.  Have you not heard of artistic license? 

This summer I'm shooting for an institute in Vermont. It's not  crafts or knitting related, in case you were about to ask.  I'm back from the first of four trips up there there in the Green Mountains, getting it underway. It is a fabulous client to work with.  Wanna know how it went?

# of knitting projects I brought along: 1 (I am serious about finishing this shawl)

# of degrees hot , in F,  or more, almost the whole time: 90  (hello? Vermont? wtf? )

# of % humidity: 99.9999

# of times I thought maybe fine mohair wasn't that attractive to handle : 0 (Can you tell I really really want to finish the shawl)

# of people attending this institute: 1100

# of languages being spoken: 8

# of conversations or interactions I am allowed to have in English: 0

(by the end of the summer I will be able to say "No worries! I am the photographer! Please make believe I am not here and continue what you were doing!" in all eight languages.)

# of these languages I can sort of communicate in: 2

# of times I stood looking at people dumbly, waving my hands saying um, uh, ummmm , AGGHHHHH : how high can you count?

 

# of stitches I knit: zero

# of pages I read before falling asleep, exhausted from trying to think in many languages while also concentrating on the photo shoot: : 1.5 (Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Highly recommend! *)

# of days before I head back up there: 4

* Curiously this is the second book I've read in a row in which a flooded southern city is the major force in the action. This one is non-fiction, and in New Orleans but in some ways feels less real than Ann Shayne's engaging novel Bowling Avenue. Go figure!  But read them both.

it snowed, i worked

 

and the Miami dog searched for a way out of snowy hell. Not on Calle Ocho anymore!

Actually, I spent today putting together my Ignite: Boston craft presentation, this Friday , should be quite the night of craft related storytelling. Ann Weaver and Maryse are also presenting, so I'll be in great company. See you there ?

it's 2011: i'm dipped AND buttered

There's been a certain bagladyish-ness to my presentation when I dressed nice in cold weather.  Black & neutrals vintage-y herringbone tweed coat, red helmet earflap hat, orange  scarf, striped noro blue/purple mitts? yeah.  I'd walk in to a job and catch clients rolling their eyes, wondering why they trusted me with their photo shoot budget. OK, maybe I didn't catch them, but I just know they were thinking that. Can't blame them, I looked one crayon short of the 64 pack. Athough with most of the colors.

No longer. I am now, officially, Put Together. This photo Thursday, thanks to Linda at Knit New Haven as I was on the last few cowl rounds, you can see the needles still in there if you look closely enough. Knit from  2 skeins of Cascade Magnum,  super bulky, super soft 100% wool. What you're looking at is $36. and not a whole lot of time either. That's a lot of put together bang for the buck, no?

details

hat (less than 1 skein of Cascade Magnum, less than 2 hours of knitting)

inspired by  Quick & Easy Ribbed Hat by Laurie Kimmelstiel

needles: us 15

my variations: Cascade Magnum is one bulky mother! I cast on 30 stitches,  did wider bands of reverse stockinette than of stockinette,  added rounds to increase the slouch factor,  with a more gradual decrease than written, ending with reverse stockinette on top.

I'm sparing you the modeled views in which I look more like Hassidic Aunt Chaya than fashionably topped. 

I love this hat .  It is not much of a hair squisher, thanks to the loft, while being very warm Win, win, win.

cowl:  imy intention was a simple cowl in bands of stockinette & reverse stockinette to mimic the hat. I cast on 48 stitches, not paying too much attention until I was well into it, when I saw I'd twisted the join. So, why not? Twisted cowl.  I kind of like it with the twist in front.
Backstory:

Before the cowl I  started  a 4x4 ribbed scarf from the yarn. It was almost done when I left it sitting on a chair. Fatal error .  My lovable new beast Bobo has a taste for one thing , in a house full to the brim of Stuff You Could Chew. That one thing is  wool yarn. 

exhibit a of lovability, boy & his dog 

He doesn't destroy.  It's more like he seeks it, places a whole skein in his mouth and then shakes his bowling-ball sized head, walking and spinning out yarn,  down halls and stairs. I've found whole rooms strewn with saliva soaked unwound skeins*. (are you thanking me for that mental image? You're welcome)

Bad news: Bobo's  big bulldoggy teeth made an impression on the scarf-in-progress. Good news: it was kind of ropey and roll-y,anyway. So I ripped and knit the cowl.

only thing scarcer than yarn sitting out unscathed these days is a squirrel in the yard, 
thanks to this welcoming committee

fly-by december

Somehow the making, the working, the dog-refereeing , the holiday cheer, and well,  life , edged out the blogging lately.

 

aerial views of Bobo & Gordo. I make Bobo sit and stay to get treats, then I hand one to Gordo and tell him he gets snacks just for still being alive. He's, like 94 or something in dog years, altho still maintains his frat boy attitude

Sister Lulu's granny square scarf request for chanukah was met. Her parameters: the colors in a photo of heirloom radishes she sent me, and "burgundy, and grey--menswear palette, please".

Sounds picky to you? Nah. I can work with it. Grow up in a family of artists and a scientist engineer, and you''l find this normal and suitably precise.  I wasn't sure about the combo myself, till I added the olivey acid green in there, then it felt OK.

All  except the purple  are Mission Falls 1824 Superwash Wool (colors 011, 015, 028 with 010 edging it all), and the (slightly heathery) purple is Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Great yarns both, but in my very limited granny square experience, the singles I used on this last crochet project were easier to crochet than these plied yarns. Splitty crocheter that I am.

Most importantly, Lulu  was  happy with it. I've seen her wearing it at least 5 times since then, so I know she means it, too.

my new dog is a metaphor

We're talking the Bobo factor.

A frisson of chaos . A sprinkling of energy. A sugar glazing of the unexpected . At any and every given moment.

Did I mention the whole point of that roadtrip last month was getting Bobo, the one balled American Bulldog to his new home with us ? Quite a bargain: not just a lovable gregarious  furry member of the family but also a whole circus of fleas, a case of heartworm and an enthusiasm for the lady dogs that matches only a 17 year old boy with his own species. Do you need to ask me how I know? I thought not.

So instead of showing the handcrafted gifts underway, accent on the under, way under, I'll give you a gift suggestion. The Color Scheme Bible.

For yourself , or for any knitter, or crafter  in your life. A friend hipped me to this at the library the other day; I can go on & on about why it is just exactly right. Starting with a spiral binding.

It hits the right approach to color theory and presentation for me. My problem with books showing color themes or combinations is they so often offer stripes of color, all even and glossy, then they show a decked out photographed room or outfit.  If I can't relate, like to a super-tztchotchkeed Victorian spread, then I can't get past the things to absorb the colors. Above is what most of this book is like.  A color theory.Like periwinkle gray as a neutral with accents. Or the pages below:

Simple  paint, flat and clear, with some size proportion to help the brain out.  There are also pages with equal sized full range color charts, but these examples work  for me, choosing  colors for knitting ( an Albers Cowl anyone? log cabin blanket? or colorwork mittens?)  . Or making pillows for a couch. Not that I sew much.  But after Bobo gets through testing how much sofa surfing he can get to while we're in another room, it may be ripe time to rev up the Singer.

1400 or so miles later...

 
The sum total of yarncraft completed on the road trip. 

I think we can safely say daily blogging and completed sweaters this month are out the window. When November began I hadn't planned on driving from Miami to Connecticut, or having a rather large and personable dog join the menagerie here, so, really, no complaints, the window has some fine if unexpected, views, along the road.

 

Bobo keeping an eye out from the motel in Georgia

 Bobo was a model backseat passenger, and those hours of togetherness let me really bond.

 

Obligatory posed photo of big boy, big dog and really big old tree. Brunswick GA

Leo was good company too. I was tickled to realize that Bobo the American Bulldog is a version of  Chance, from an old fave movie Homeward Bound, a 90's kidflick with Michael J Fox as the voice. I already told Bobo under no circumstances is he to take a cross country journey with an elderly golden retriever and a haughty cat.

Our theme, aside from driving hella fast, was grazing north.

In Florida, roadside citrus.In Brunswick Georgia, we got an inside scoop of favorite shrimp boats. We left town with five pounds of just caught shrimp on ice. 

  

Sub-theme, blue eyed bulldog mixes. I know: weird. This is QBall the shrimp dock dog. 

Further north in South Carolina, on this porch, we discovered a LOVE for boiled peanuts (edemame-ish) and in a thank-god-they-do-not-sell-these-up-north way munched on deep fried peanuts.  You eat them shell and all. Sort of like a peanut wrapped in a kettle cooked potato chip. Also, thumbs up to benne wafers. And peach cider.

See what I mean, another blue eyed fellow, Bobo romped with him outside the peanut place.

At lunch, still further north, Leo polished off the $3.89 lunch special: 2 pieces of homefried chicken, bowl of rice with gravy and peach cobbler.  (That really is $ 3.89, not missing a 1 in front.)

 

Spanish moss, Hipstamatic style. Psychedelic, baby!

 

Spanish moss, regular camera. Still kinda trippy, doncha think?

By 10 pm we were at my parents in suburban DC boiling up the shrimp, and by the next night, at home in Yankee territory.

I really do love a road trip.

postcards from the north

If you follow Norma's blog I guess you already know I was way up in Vermont having a visit with my adorable friend, Mr. Jefferies Norma.

For a quickie trip we really packed it in. There was, of course, knitting and red scarves, and photos, and blog talk, and laughter (lots).   Norma managed to find the most perfect fitting sample sweater evah at her LYS, where I met Joan. While I was distracted by, well, everything, Norma managed to acquire the yarn and buttons and a couple of new patterns too. I  tell ya, that woman can make decisions. The company, the crispy winter weather and the  great vibe at Kaleidoscope Yarns inspired: I managed to choose one skein of yarn to attempt a better fitting Felicity, myself.  If I ever do a post about knitting, I'll  show it.

goings on of note

This Friday evening (tonight!) in Boston, the Common Cod Fiber Guild is putting on Make Mine Local, a fashion show of area indie fiber fashion design. Shannon Okey was the juror and will be there in person to emcee.( Her blog. ) There'lll be some live music and plenty of interesting knits.
I'm going to head up there to photograph and wallow in fibery creativity.

It'd be great to see you there, its at MIT, 50 Vassar Street, 7 pm.
But if you can't make it -- you can see us thanks to a live streaming feed.
That should be nothing to yawn at!

fish I around

Last heard from, I was clinging with a death grip to a steel ladder welded to the back of a fast food building scampering up to the roof of a Sonic - who says photography isn't a glamorous career ? And my Gaia shawl was getting a picot cast-off.

In the mix, I had the use of a fisheye lens for a couple of days. Fisheyes are gimmicky; they are the eyelash yarn of photography . Every once in a while, fun to play with. Before I handed it back, I turned it on Farley, who passes by at 7 every morning.

And on the battle of man v. nature at my mechanic's shop.

Sidenote: when you drive a 20 year old car, you know your mechanic and his yard decor pretty well. He's got a steampunk vibe going on.

And on late summer chaos out front.
The Gaia shawl is finished, on a slow dry over this wet chilly weekend. You can see from the fisheye shots that I ignored days of brilliant sun & dry breezes, giving it a dunk n' block as a storm moved in Friday. So....show & tell next time, I'll spare you the vision of a damp striped shawl pinned out on a bright patterned beach towel, draped over a floral sofa.