Sunday, October 31, 2004

Even though I went to MSU and we live right next door to East Lansing, Son Number One is a huge U of M fan.  Can you tell which of these two pumpkins is his?

My best batch of toasted pumpkin seeds ever:

Hallowig, a la Medusa (finished at 7:45 p.m., just as the trick-or-treaters were finishing up, so no one got to see it):

Happy Halloween!

Sarah

Monday, October 25, 2004

Hi there!

I'm just popping in to let you know that I'm taking a little break to try to get caught up on

• my e-mail (I have unanswered e-mail dating back to April)
• some proposal-writing (more teaching opportunities!)
• my knitting (custom knitting and finishing jobs are piling up)
• my patterns (I'm years -- yes, YEARS -- behind on patterns I've promised to write)

These are all potential sources of income that I haven't been giving my full attention to -- shame on me!

So I'll take a week off and see what progress I can make.  You watch -- I'll be back in a week with knitting news galore and none of my backlog taken care of.  Mark my words.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with these important items:

Jill has passed Level 1!!!  Woo hoo!  She has to re-submit one swatch (#4), but that appears to be a mere formality.  Congratulations, Jill!

Apparently a little birdy flew into the clear acrylic backboard to our basketball hoop and . . . well . . . died.  I then proceeded to run its little body over with my car, but there's a little red splooty mark on the backboard, so I think it was probably a goner before I got to it.  My mammologist friend Terri sent me a link to the birdy's specs.  When I read the "identification facts", I thought one of them said "whitish underpants", which cracked me up (although I felt guilty for laughing, since I had brought about the end of the cute little thing -- twice).  My husband, always keeping track of what makes me laugh so he can try to figure me out, added that the birdy's underpants were probably perfectly white until just before it hit the backboard.  Good one, honey! 

I thought there was something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember what it was.  If it was anything important, I'll let you know.

See you in a bit!

Sarah

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Sweatergirl has moved to Pink Tea -- go say "hi!" to her there!

My local Guild (Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild) has a new blog under construction, to be maintained by Sharon of Knitknacks, so you know it's gonna be fun.  Keep an eye on that site, too!

Here are some of my photos from Tuesday night's Guild meeting:

That's Denise modeling her gorgeous poncho.  Have I shown you this before?  I can't remember, but it's worth mentioning again, if I have.  There are dropped stitches going in one direction, and black stripes going in the other direction, from which just a touch of fringe is hanging.  VERY cool.

This is Jessica with her sleeveless v-neck from my Sweater Design class.  I showed it to you recently in a boring photo on Sheila-dummy, but Jessica was very agreeable to showing it off again.  Doesn't it look great?  And she looks so pleased!

That's Jessie with her toddler sweater from my Beginning Finishing class.  Jessie works for ThreadBear, and after staring at the "Wall of Cascade" for days on end, couldn't make up her mind which color to use -- so she used a bunch!  Looks great -- and check out those little star buttons!                                                                 

This is Suzy with TWO toddler sweaters from the same class.  Look how the yarn she used (Encore Colorspun from Plymouth) makes a diamond pattern all by itself -- she didn't even notice it until I showed her the photos on my digital camera.  The top one has cute green leaf buttons, and the bottom one has little football buttons.  Adorable!

I found a strange photo on my memory card in my digital camera -- don't know how it got there, but it reminded me of some inquiries I've had about the bags from my Introduction to Entrelac class.  Here's a cropped portion of the photo:

I've been saying for a really long time that I would write up the pattern for this bag and for the larger version (the one that fit over my piano bench before felting -- remember?).  Haven't done it yet, but I hope to soon (VERY soon).  That Intro to Entrelac class is scheduled to start at the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop in Lansing on November 3rd from 10-noon.  It's a really fun class, and the technique is a lot simpler than you might think -- all you need to know how to do is knit and purl, and I'll teach you the rest!  It's available as a Virtual class, too, if you want to take it "long distance" (with my full support!).

Now I have to go figure out who's been using my camera without my knowledge . . .

Sarah

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

This is for Penny:

It's autumn!!!!

Sarah

Monday, October 18, 2004

Psst!  It's me, the Como Cardigan.  That Handknitter woman is upstairs making goo-goo eyes at that radioactive purple monstrosity she calls "Celtic Dreams" -- I call it the flavor of the week.  She's been trying to deny my existence -- has tried to pass me off as a "swatch" for that silly Combined knitting technique of hers. 

And now -- just look what she's done to me:

I've been shoved aside -- buried alive here in the land of forgotten knitting.  And all because she doesn't like my armholes.  Here's a shot of one of them, taken by my friend the Red Stash Sweater:

What's not to love?  SHE designed them, after all, so shouldn't SHE be down here in this pile of cast off projects instead of ME? 

I heard this so-called "expert" say she thinks there should be a column of KNIT stitches next to my sleeve cap, instead of PURL stitches.   Why is this MY fault?  This was HER design, and HER decision.  Sure -- she planned for my buttonband to have knit stitches next to it, but did she spend even a minute of her precious knitting time thinking about what would be best for my armholes?  No she did not. 

I ask you -- is this fair? 

I knew, as soon as I heard this Handknitter idiot lie about me way back on September 27, that she was going to abandon me.  Some of you may have noticed my cries for attention on October 4 and again on October 7.  I appreciate your attempts to help, I really do, but she wasn't listening.  And NOW . . .

Well, it's just too painful to talk about.

I'm going to try to make a run for it.  If I can make it all the way across the laundry room floor and up the stairs before she sees me, I think I can sneak back into her knitting basket without her noticing.  Maybe when she finds me there she'll be ready to confront HER shortcomings as a knitter and deal with HER "mistake".

Wish me luck . . .

Como

P.S.  Does it hurt to have your stitches removed?

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Beth is joining the Celtic Dreams Knit-along.  She's using Classic Elite Waterspun, in a color similar to mine (ooh!).  She's promised pictures soon.  Dawn has everything she needs to get started, so she's on the list, too.  More moral support -- hooray!

Here's what mine looks like right now:

I'm going to pick it up again as soon as I post this blog entry, so as you view this photo, it's already outdated!

I was busy yesterday and today making a big ol' pile of swatches:

These are my practice swatches for the TKGA knit-along.  I'm trying out a bunch of different techniques on each one, and documenting everything as I go, so I can refer back to these if I want to remember what something looked like.  I think I'm going to end up with a larger companion notebook to my Level 1 notebook, documenting all the attempts along the way. 

The turquoise samples are in preparation for Swatch #1, the coral ones for Swatch #2, and the heathered purple ones are for Swatch #3.  I haven't actually made any of my "real" swatches.  I'm not quite ready yet.   

I cranked these swatches out because this afternoon was the Master Knitters gathering at ThreadBear (meets the third Sunday of each month).  We had a few more people in attendance this time (including the birthday girl!) -- the more the merrier!  We talked about tension, and I shared what I had discovered about combined knitting and what I'm calling "reverse" combined knitting (brought to my attention by Vicki Sever, and detailed in my October 11 entry).

I also demonstrated the "suspended bind off", which I just discovered last night.  I can't believe I'd never seen it before -- it's in my oft-referenced knitting how-to books like Vogue Knitting and the Readers Digest Knitter's Handbook, but I had never noticed it.  It's worked exactly like a regular bind off (work two stitches, pass the first stitch over the second and off the right-hand needle) except for the following:  After you pass the stitch over, you leave it on the left-hand needle while you work the next stitch, then drop both of those stitches off of the left-hand needle.  This gives a little bit more length to the bound off stitches, which is handy if you tend to bind off too tightly. 

And on the subject of slip knots, which I was wondering about last Wednesday:  Most of my knitting reference books direct you to make a slip knot before beginning any cast on.  Sally Melville's Knit Stitch book and Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop both show how to start the long tail cast on without a slip knot, but not with a twist like I've always used.  Both books describe draping the yarn over the needle (without twisting) and then working the long tail cast on.

So to summarize:  Within this past week, I've learned how to cast on, knit and purl, and bind off.

Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? 

Hey!  Who are you calling an old dog???

Sarah

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Tonight, I taught here (Sweater Design):

I saw these (for the pups):

And this (Celtic Dreams!):

And bought this (Beth Brown-Reinsel's newest design):

Which I showed you before (in August):

I taught classes at Williamston Community Education on Monday, Little Red Schoolhouse in Lansing on Wednesday, my home in Haslett this morning, Woven Art in East Lansing this afternoon, ThreadBear in Lansing this evening, I'll be at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte tomorrow morning, and at Little Red Schoolhouse again tomorrow afternoon.  This is a busy, busy week, which I'm taking one day at a time.

And THIS day is officially over.

Goodnight!

Sarah

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

I've been feeling very listless and lethargic and unsociable lately.  I'm assuming that means I'm coming down with something.  Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky.  Time will tell.

I'll have photos tomorrow of Celtic Dreams and Anjuli, with which I've been occupying myself while waiting out this general poopyness of spirit.  Or should that be poopieness?  Nope -- spell check didn't like that one either.

I've also been working on some practice samples for Swatch #1 for the TKGA knit-along.  The 2x2 rib wasn't fighting with me as much as the 1x1, so I haven't had to fuss as much with this one. 

My latest dilemma -- whether or not to start my cast on with a slip knot.  I haven't used one for years and years -- I just give a little twist to the yarn around the needle and off I go with my long tail cast on.  I don't remember seeing any documentation discussing slip knots vs. no slip knots.  I'll look through my reference books and see if there's anything there.  What do YOU prefer?

Jennifer F. has joined the TKGA Knit-along, and I've added Michelle and Leslie to the Celtic Dreams knit-along.  Welcome!

Sarah

Monday, October 11, 2004

I cleared a path to my magic knitting chair today, but it doesn't look much better than yesterday's photo, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  There are too many projects that need to be done NOW (for a class, for a workshop, for a customer, for ME!), so I couldn't send very many of them to the closet for marinating.  The Red Stash Sweater and the Como Cardigan Combined Knitting swatches got bumped out of active duty for now.

I was a VERY good girl and worked hard on my TKGA swatches.  Well, on my TKGA swatch (singular). 

I spent a good part of the day practicing for Swatch #2, which I'm doing first, because that's the one I knew I'd have the most trouble with. 

I tried my regular 1x1 rib.  It looked bad, as I knew it would.  Those knit columns were zig-zagging all over the place.  I tried Annie's Combined Knitting, which I've been practicing so diligently with my ribbed purple swatches.  It didn't look much better.  I went through my notes -- a lot of people have e-mailed me a lot of suggestions, and I thank all of you for your help.  The one that worked, though, was the suggestion from Vicki.  It's kind of like Combined Knitting in reverse.  In Annie's version, you wrap your purl stitches "backward", and then work into the backs of the knit stitches.  In Vicki's version, you wrap your KNIT stitches "backward", and then work into the backs of the PURL stitches.  I could see an immediate difference with that method. 

Here's a photo of my first two practice swatches (of four) for Swatch #2:

On the swatch on the left, the bottom half of the ribbing is my plain old 1x1 rib.  See the zigs and zags?  The top half of that one, and the bottom half of the swatch on the right, are both Annie's Combined Knitting.  Still a little zigging and zagging going on, but not as much.  The top half of the swatch on the right is Vicki's version.  See the difference?  I practiced with two more sample swatches after this, and got it looking just about perfect.  Whew! 

It's all a function of how the yarn travels from one stitch to the next.  I just had to keep trying until I found the method that worked for me. 

I'll try to knit my "real" Swatch #2 tomorrow, and get started practicing Swatch #1's 2x2 rib.  I'm supposed to have the first three swatches done before Sunday's Master Knitters gathering at ThreadBear.

Felicia has ordered her Level 1 packet and has asked to join the TKGA Knit-along.  Welcome, Felicia!

Karen was anxious to see my progress on Celtic Dreams.  I snapped a shot earlier today when the sun was shining.  I'm actually about ten rows farther than this now:

You're looking at the saddle shoulders (horizontal bands) and the top of either the front or the back (it's reversible).  I held it up to my shoulders this morning and Son Number Two said it looked like I was knitting some shoulder pads for a football player.  I said "Yeah, that's right.  And next I'll be knitting the mouthguard!"

Now I have to go find a baby picture of Son Number One for his yearbook.  I've known about it for over a month, and it's due tomorrow.  I'm a bit of a procrastinator, you know.  Also known as "working to deadline" (this link came up when I was searching Google for the correct way to phrase this -- I have no idea who wrote it, but it sounds a lot like me!).

Sarah

Sunday, October 10, 2004

It's getting a little cluttered around my magic knitting chair:

A messy magic knitting chair does not make for good knitting karma.

Tomorrow (Monday) will be spent re-prioritizing projects and stuffing the ones that can wait back into the closet.

And I hope to get some more knitting done on Celtic Dreams (What?  Did I say MORE knitting?  Does that mean it's been started?  What about my gloves?  What about the TKGA Knit-along?  What about my combined knitting swatches?  Could it be that I got a little distracted?  How out of character for me!)

Sarah

Thursday, October 7, 2004

I could have taken a photo of the progress on my new gloves, but it would look exactly like the photo from yesterday, so I didn't.  Yes, I sat in my magic knitting chair.  No, I didn't cast on for a glove.  I did open up my Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns to the glove page and then put it down on my footstool next to the hank of Mountain Colors, but then I got distracted.

I picked up my yarn for Celtic Dreams today.  You know, the black yarn I wasn't going to let anyone talk me out of.

Here it is:

You may notice that the yarn is not black.  It is, in fact, purple.  Am I the only one who is surprised by this? 

It may be time for me to seek counseling. 

----------

I got an interesting e-mail today.  Here's (basically) what it said (my apologies to the author -- I didn't ask for permission to use this, but I didn't think you'd mind):

I have not considered myself anything but a beginning knitter because I feel there is so much out there I don't understand yet.  I would love to take your sweater design class someday to understand how to do that.  I want to learn more about different cast-ons and why one is preferred in certain situations over another.  I want to delve more into arans, fair isles, etc. 

Yet -- in a local Minneapolis yarn store -- here is the class offering for EXPERIENCED knitters -- 

http://www.needleworkunlimited.com/intermediate.html 

Norwegian knitting?  I've done that.

In Search of the Perfect Sock?    I've learned how to customize a sock for myself.

Flower Petal Washcloth????   I've made 4 or 5 of them already. 

I don't get it.  The only thing I would consider advanced knitting is the shadow knitting, only because I haven't done that yet, which may be the criteria for the rest of the items on the page.

My answer (oh look -- I speak in purple!):

Hmmm.  Let’s see.  You know how to do Norwegian knitting.  You know how to custom fit a sock.  You know how to knit an Aran sweater with saddle shoulders.

Honey, you ARE an experienced knitter.  Being experienced does not mean you know how to do everything.  I just read something (Annie Modesitt’s book?) that used the term “new” knitter rather than “beginning” knitter.  I believe you can be both a relatively new knitter and an experienced knitter.  Being an experienced knitter means you’ve done enough to be able to tackle something new without fear.  I think it’s more of an attitude.  I’ve met knitters who will never make more than a garter stitch scarf or a simple felted bag because they’re limited by their fear of the unknown.  They will never be “experienced” knitters.  You are NOT one of those – you’re way past that.

Based on that definition, those classes (with the exception of the washcloth, maybe) are definitely for more experienced knitters.  I can’t see the garter stitch scarf crowd signing up for any of those (again, with the exception of the washcloth).

And thank goodness there’s always more to learn, so we don’t get bored or complacent.  I’m always thrilled to find a new technique to research, or another way to do something simple like a seam or a cast on.

And her response:

Sarah, you've hit the nail on the head.  It's the attitude.  It took me two months to conquer my first sock, but once I got past that there was no stopping me. 

For some reason, once I learned the basics, knitting came easy to me, I don't know why, and that's probably why I wondered about the class list.  If I see something that interests me, I will try it.  I read somewhere that knitting is just knits and purls, and -- well -- how hard can that be?  Different needle size, different yarn, different arrangement of the stitches -- but it's still knits and purls.  Your point on the perception of the classes is most valid, and something that hadn't occurred to me when I saw the page originally.  It's all in the eye of the knitter, because indeed to someone who hasn't tried that technique it would stretch their knitting muscles, whether it be two color knitting or whatever.  

At what point does a knitter become "experienced"?  I knit for years and years and years (and years) before I paid any attention to what I was actually doing.  I was a "blind follower" of patterns (give credit to Elizabeth Zimmermann for that term) until I started to knit in the company of others.  I don't think I was actually an "experienced" knitter until I realized I had options and started making choices -- choosing this cast on rather than that one, or using a new increase I'd heard about rather than always knitting in the front and the back of a stitch. 

What do YOU think, you readers out there in blog-land? 

Sarah

Wednesday, October 6, 2004

I decided that I need a new pair of gloves, so I bought this at the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop today:

Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters in the Garnet colorway.

Should I drop everything and cast on for my new gloves?  Hmm.  Tempting.  I'll go sit in my magic knitting chair and see what happens.

See you tomorrow!

Sarah

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

The Yarn Garden has a new website -- check it out here!

Stacy has joined the TKGA Knit-along -- welcome!

My friend Colleen has started her own custom sewing business, which she may or may not be calling "Sew what?" (I think she should!).  She's an excellent seamstress (35 years of experience!) and can help with any of the following:

• Home decor
• Custom made clothing
• Alterations
• Costumes
• Prom dresses
• Wedding dresses
• Sewing lessons (children and adults)

Colleen made a GORGEOUS christening dress for Sweatergirl's Sweaterbaby.  I'd be happy to send you her contact information if you're interested.  I took a beginning sewing class from her a little over a year ago and have a very cute pair of pajamas to show for it (see my 5/12/2003 entry for photos).

At the Tuesday night knit-in tonight, Jessica handed me the beautiful linen sweater she made in my Sweater Design class.  See?

Isn't it pretty?  You, too, can make a gorgeous, custom-fit sweater like this.  Or a different one!  Your choice!  I've got a whole gaggle of Sweater Design classes starting up in the next couple of weeks.  Check the class page for times and locations.

Here's what we saw this morning, as Son Number One was heading out to the school bus:

6:53 was the time (a.m.).  10.5. was the date (2004).  65.2 was the inside temperature (degrees Fahrenheit).  23.9 was the outside temperature (ditto).

Brrrr!

Sarah

Monday, October 4, 2004

The birthday girl (in an "approved" photo):

Her cake:

The birthday boy:

His gift:

My children:

Their mother:

My sign-off:

Sarah

Your comments:

Friday, October 1, 2004

The stars moon at night

Are Is big and bright

(ba ba ba ba)

Deep in the heart of Texas Michigan!

This photo didn't turn out quite as spectacularly as I'd hoped, but since I risked life and limb (and my husband's car) by snapping photos as I was driving down a busy street late at night, I decided I'd better go ahead and post it:

The moon has been huge lately, and I was driving straight toward it on my way home from class at ThreadBear last night.  I zoomed in with my camera, but there's only so far you can zoom in to the moon.  Can you see it?  Imagine blowing that photo up to life size (there are signs for some businesses along the bottom for scale). 

As soon as I

• get dressed
• drive to Charlotte (40 minutes)
• teach a class at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte (2 hours)
• drive back from Charlotte (40 minutes)
• pack
• write up a few pages of memories of my Mom's first eighty years
• take the dog to the kennel
• wrap birthday presents for three people
• wash dishes
• take out the garbage
• get the kids off the bus

we're leaving for Pittsburgh for my Mom's eightieth birthday celebration.  I'm taking six months' worth of magazines (Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living) in the hopes of getting caught up in the car and poolside at the hotel .  Also taking some knitting, in the hopes of bringing home (and leaving behind!) a few small finished projects.

See you when we get back!

Sarah

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